Bournemouth Uni Short Design Courses
Looking for professional development in your design career?
Bournemouth University are launching a range of innovative short courses aimed at media professionals already in employment, or with recent professional experience.
On the successful completion of a short course, attendees will be awarded 20 masters level (M) credits, and each course is assessed 100% by coursework. All of the short courses are conceptually and contextually orientated rather than providing training in software/hardware skills.
Fees total £800 per course, and the university offers advice on funding and scholarships. Funding Page >>
which courses?
Out of the media design courses available I feel the following are probably of most interest to graphic design professionals:
Advertising in society
Character design
Fundamentals of computer graphics
Intellectual property law and content rights management
Managing creativity
Multiculturalism in Marketing Communications
There are however many more short courses to choose from.
from the university
Out of the courses listed above I would assume that the ‘branding and brand management’ course would be of fair interest to most graphic design professionals.
This short course aims to provide students with the theory, tools and techniques of branding and brand management to maximise effectiveness. This creative retreat takes place on the 7-8th May and is followed up by 7 weeks of online supported tuition.
The course is delivered by Graham Goode who has 25 years experience in leading international marketing teams, and implementing branding and re-branding strategies across global markets.
Graham has kindly agreed to answer some of my questions about the short courses available through Bournemouth University and one rather grilling question about Wolff Olins. Who could resist eh?
AMANDA:Out of the short courses running in 2010, which three do you think are THE most important for a graphic designer working the industry today and why?
GRAHAM: Apart from the Branding and Brand Management course, which will provide a wider perspective on brand communications, including visual identity, we would suggest that the Future Media Platforms and Environments (running in July 2010) and the Word of Mouth Communication courses would be useful subjects for graphic designers to consider. It’s clear that one of the things that will increasingly matter to businesses as we move into the next decade is getting attention in a post scarcity world. It used to be the case that if you spent a moderate amount of money you could buy people’s attention. With an increasing plethora of new platforms, spaces and media it’s becoming increasingly difficult to do this.
So understanding future media platforms and environments and word of mouth communication will be increasingly valuable skills that clients will expect designers and agencies to provide.
AMANDA: The short courses available are intended for media professionals who have been working in a relevant industry for at least two years and thus already have a level of experience, do you think the University will at any point offer short courses like this to people who are new to the media/design industry?
GRAHAM: This is not something we plan to introduce as we believe students with experience benefit most from the short courses. If new to the industry, we would recommend an immersive exposure through a full-time Masters course such as the MA in Advertising and Marketing Communications course.
AMANDA: Do you expect a high level interest in the short media courses and if so will there be competition for places? If so what can interested professionals do to make their application stand out from the crowd?
GRAHAM: Yes, the portfolio of courses is new and attractive to media professionals; we are seeing around 1,000 expressions of interest in each cycle of the programme. In order to create standout we would suggest applicants emphasise 1) current experience and their reasons for wishing to do the course and 2) how they might apply the learning gained on the course in their role/work.
AMANDA: Are there are future plans to expand the short courses range at the University? If so will any of the new courses suit the needs of graphic designers, and do you anticipate you will at any point offer courses suited to those interested in working in, or already working in the field of Illustration?
GRAHAM: The aim is to focus on areas of current interest, which do not include illustration at the present time. It is likely that we will introduce an interactive strand in 2010, which could be of interest to graphic designers. We are also working with Adobe on new courses.
AMANDA: As someone who has 25 years of experience in corporate branding and marketing on an international basis;15 years of that at senior management level, I’d be interested to hear your opinion on the controversy surrounding the recent brand identity works of prestigious branding agency Wolff Olins.
They’ve been heavily criticised in the design community over their identity designs for 2012 Olympics and more recently AOL. It’s been suggested that the designers at Wolff Olins have become more proficient at ‘selling’ their designs in the pitching room, than actually developing high quality brands.
Some have speculated that perhaps Wolff Olins are so innovative that the design community just aren’t ‘getting it’ and that maybe their ‘fluid’ designs are the future of identity design.
Also there is speculation that the criticized designs are deliberately ‘poor’ and that the ‘innovation’ referred to is more about generating an outstanding level of PR through brand identity that gets people talking.
No one can argue that in both these instances we have witnessed a furor over the designs, which has led to high exposure for both brands.
So what is your take on the recent criticisms? Are Wolff Olins innovators and ‘inventing a new future’ for their clients as they state on their website, deliberately generating media frenzy, or selling emperors new clothes?
GRAHAM: I see the visual elements created by Wolff Olins as part of a wider branding strategy for the organisations concerned. So what really interests me are the underlying business and marketing strategies, represented by the identity creation and/or rebranding. To me, branding is an investment in a marketing asset with the aim of creating value for stakeholders. These strategies are formulated within a competitive context; for example, the Aol. rebrand in the light of Yahoo’s rebrand and the creation of Google Chrome. The aim, then, is to generate a return on the investment through increased customer retention and loyalty, new customer acquisition etc in the face of competitive forces and a dynamic market environment. The test will be in the use and implementation of the brand by customers; does it deliver on the promise e.g. for Aol. the promise around customisation and access to content?
In terms of visual identity, to me the key questions are: to what extent do the designs for 2012 and Aol.com have a clear, strong visual representation of the core values of the brand; to what extent are the identities capable of use across a range of media platforms and in different formats; how cost-effective are the identities in creating recognition and identification with the brand; to what extent do they allow for flexibility in future development of the identity? In my view, it is possible to construct strong arguments in favour of the identities on these points. Overall, my evaluation of the Wolff Olins’ approach, then, would be a positive one.
interested?
Short Media Course Main Website: http://mixtape.bournemouth.ac.uk/
Courses Schedule: http://mixtape.bournemouth.ac.uk/Downloads/CSC-Delivery.pdf
Fees/Funding: http://mixtape.bournemouth.ac.uk/feesfunding.html
Entry Requirements: http://mixtape.bournemouth.ac.uk/entry.html
Apply Here: http://mixtape.bournemouth.ac.uk/apply.html
