Graphic design students at Shillington come from all walks of life and occupations to either upskill for their current job or business or flip their careers entirely.
Switching vocations is no longer taboo, and people who eschewed an artistic career in favour of more traditional occupations are now heading back to school to start again.
But it doesn’t have to take forever to get qualified in your new career.
Anthony Wood, director of private graphic design school Shillington, says students from all walks of life have enrolled in its immersive graphic design course – from accountants to ex-policemen and engineers.
And they all walk away with design qualifications after just three months full-time or nine months part-time.
‘The key people we see coming through have been working in other industries and they want a more creative outlet,’ Wood told ArtsHub.
‘Graphic design is a great opportunity to do that because it combines the practice of creativity with business.’
Students at Shillington leave with an impressive portfolio of work.
Wood says the course has the same number of contact hours in three months as others do in a year, and the key advantage to completing a course so intensively is simple – money.
‘Doing this intensive course means you can get out there and get a job and start earning money, whereas if you were to go to do a diploma or university degree you have two, three or even four years’ worth of debt accruing whist you are not earning money being a designer, so that is a huge advantage,’ he said.
Former student Eleanor Rogers, now a Designer & Letterpress Printer at Chapel Press, said the option to move into a creative field quickly was attractive.
‘Shillington was the perfect fit for me,’ she said. ‘I wanted to change careers but didn’t want to study for three years.’
Wood says the course operates like a working design studio, with students given briefs each day to fulfil as they would in a graphic design role. Theory is interwoven into each day’s work, rather than delivered in university-style lectures.
‘It’s not big chunks of information separated into different lectures and tutorials – it’s short, sharp details that they need to answer the brief and then we add that knowledge throughout the course,’ he said.
‘We believe that anyone who has the willingness and dedication to really want to learn to design, we can give them those skills through the practical application of it.’
People switching careers are the main category of students, but those who want to upskill for their current job or start their own business are close behind, Wood said.
Former student Erin Donati chose to complete the course part-time over nine months while she continued to work in marketing. She has since created her own typography and design side business, Harley Quinn & Co, as well as improved her skills in her role.
‘I had always been interested in the creative side of my job, and learning graphic design had been sitting on my bucket list for a while, even if it did only ever eventuate into a hobby,’ she said.
‘What made me finally decide to enroll was the fact that Shillington offered a part-time course, so I could continue to work full time.’
Each day students are given a client-style brief to simulate working in a real-life graphic design studio.
Students can choose to study in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane as well as overseas in London, Manchester and New York – all offer the same course. The course is available to everyone with no rigorous submission folios or prerequisites.
In Australia the course fee varies between cities – Sydney and Melbourne is $12,950 and Brisbane is $8950.
Shillington is hosting an info session and graduate panel for its graphic design course in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane on Wednesday 18 January at 6pm.
Private appointments to meet with staff and teachers are available at all campus upon request.
You can also see artworks from students on Twitter and Instagram.
