The network for creative professionals in Devon
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR DESIGNERS IN THE SOUTH WEST
We are all aware how tough the current economic climate is, and the design industry is no exception. However, based on research and feedback from design businesses across the South West, the South West Design Forum (SWDF) have been working on ways to help the region’s designers keep their heads well above water. As a result we have developed a series of five innovative workshops to meet the needs of the industry and to help them to attract and win more business.
Working closely with the Higher Skills Project and Higher Education providers across the South West, the SWDF has collaborated with industry representatives and the Good Design Practice campaign, run by Lesley Morris at the Design Council and Bel Reed at Creative & Cultural Skills, to develop an innovative series of bespoke design focused Continuing Professional Development (CPD) provision to meet the planned targets outlined in the CPD for Designers in the South West report. The objective is to develop a range of flexible, industry-specific offerings for designers. The workshops will give SW-based design businesses the edge by offering a unique programme of training that will help their businesses not only grow but thrive.
Roger Proctor, Chair of the South West Design Forum and MD of Bristol based agency Proctor and Stevenson, is thrilled the project is going ahead, stating the importance of the workshops taking place in the region. “This programme has been devised by the design industry in the South West for the South West. It will deliver real value and benefit, being high quality, affordable and accessible. This is just the first of several initiatives the South West Design Forum is beginning to deliver in order to help encourage an innovative, entrepreneurial and highly skilled design industry.”
The series of programmes have become a reality after the project was awarded approximately £70,000 in development funding by the HERDA SW Higher Skills Project earlier this year. This contribution has enabled the project to recruit a Project Manager to coordinate and ensure efficient delivery of the 5 courses. The lead HEI is the Arts Institute at Bournemouth and the project will be overseen by Matt Desmier, Head of Enterprise who added, “At the Arts Institute we’re acutely aware that some of our graduates are leaving with skills that are sometimes alien to the companies that they go and work for. This really needn’t be the case and with this training programme in place, if they aren’t already, the design agencies in our region will soon become a force to be reckoned with”.
The courses, which are in early stages of development, will be created in Autumn 2009 to meet the skills gaps identified through a South West training needs analysis conducted with the design industry, and will focus on the following areas:-
• Sustainable design, to be developed & delivered by Bath Spa University
• Project management, to be developed & delivered by University College Falmouth
• Digital Imaging, to be developed & delivered by Arts Institute at Bournemouth
• Leadership and management, to be developed & delivered by University of the West of England
• Service design, to be developed & delivered by University of Plymouth/University College Somerset
In this groundbreaking collaboration, the 5 Universities have agreed to adopt a road show format and will each deliver a course in 5 locations across the regions. All designers across the region will be able to access this specialist and high quality training. The Universities have been chosen for particular expertise in these subject areas so that course development can be as efficient as possible, and to ensure that training is delivered by experts in each field.
The initiative will be promoted through the South West Design Forum and its 6 sub-regional clusters comprising some 1500 members, as well as externally to the design industry across the South West.
The South West Design Forum’s aim is to highlight the importance of the design industry to the region and help realise it’s potential for the future, so ensuring that design makes its full contribution towards the economic, social and cultural welfare of the South West and the UK.
Working closely with the Higher Skills Project and Higher Education providers across the South West, the SWDF has collaborated with industry representatives and the Good Design Practice campaign, run by Lesley Morris at the Design Council and Bel Reed at Creative & Cultural Skills, to develop an innovative series of bespoke design focused Continuing Professional Development (CPD) provision to meet the planned targets outlined in the CPD for Designers in the South West report. The objective is to develop a range of flexible, industry-specific offerings for designers. The workshops will give SW-based design businesses the edge by offering a unique programme of training that will help their businesses not only grow but thrive.
Roger Proctor, Chair of the South West Design Forum and MD of Bristol based agency Proctor and Stevenson, is thrilled the project is going ahead, stating the importance of the workshops taking place in the region. “This programme has been devised by the design industry in the South West for the South West. It will deliver real value and benefit, being high quality, affordable and accessible. This is just the first of several initiatives the South West Design Forum is beginning to deliver in order to help encourage an innovative, entrepreneurial and highly skilled design industry.”
The series of programmes have become a reality after the project was awarded approximately £70,000 in development funding by the HERDA SW Higher Skills Project earlier this year. This contribution has enabled the project to recruit a Project Manager to coordinate and ensure efficient delivery of the 5 courses. The lead HEI is the Arts Institute at Bournemouth and the project will be overseen by Matt Desmier, Head of Enterprise who added, “At the Arts Institute we’re acutely aware that some of our graduates are leaving with skills that are sometimes alien to the companies that they go and work for. This really needn’t be the case and with this training programme in place, if they aren’t already, the design agencies in our region will soon become a force to be reckoned with”.
The courses, which are in early stages of development, will be created in Autumn 2009 to meet the skills gaps identified through a South West training needs analysis conducted with the design industry, and will focus on the following areas:-
• Sustainable design, to be developed & delivered by Bath Spa University
• Project management, to be developed & delivered by University College Falmouth
• Digital Imaging, to be developed & delivered by Arts Institute at Bournemouth
• Leadership and management, to be developed & delivered by University of the West of England
• Service design, to be developed & delivered by University of Plymouth/University College Somerset
In this groundbreaking collaboration, the 5 Universities have agreed to adopt a road show format and will each deliver a course in 5 locations across the regions. All designers across the region will be able to access this specialist and high quality training. The Universities have been chosen for particular expertise in these subject areas so that course development can be as efficient as possible, and to ensure that training is delivered by experts in each field.
The initiative will be promoted through the South West Design Forum and its 6 sub-regional clusters comprising some 1500 members, as well as externally to the design industry across the South West.
The South West Design Forum’s aim is to highlight the importance of the design industry to the region and help realise it’s potential for the future, so ensuring that design makes its full contribution towards the economic, social and cultural welfare of the South West and the UK.
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