UFV’s graphic design and continuing education departments have banded together to run the newly formed Centre for Creative Development (CCD) which will offer not-for-credit short-term seminars focused on specific design skills and programs to the community.
Karin Jager, the department head of UFV’s graphic and digital design department, explained that the idea for the centre came out of an informed discussion.
“The centre was inspired by a group of 15 industry professionals from Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. We all got together on a Saturday and brainstormed how me might shape continuing education and creative practice courses for the Fraser Valley,” Jager said. “It occurred to us with the diverse skills and creative disciplines that it really is creative development as opposed to professional development.”
In addition to the desire to shape creative education in the valley, the CCD was formed in response to a number of factors. According to Jager, UFV has received interest from many business people requesting upgrading of their skills in the creative department as well as community members looking for training in Adobe programs and graphic design. Additionally, UFV’s own faculty, staff, and students have been looking for shorter courses that offer them a specific digital skill as opposed to semester long programs.
“Some of our inspiration also came from the Fraser Valley economic summit that took place in 2014,” Jager said. “One of the biggest gaps that business people at the summit identified was a lack of digital skills, so every business today requires some kind of digital skill-set in being able to manage that business. We have a really strong network of business professionals that we are connected with, so we’re able to bring that expertise to the Valley and we’re also tapping the Valley for that expertise.”
In order to be an instructor in the CCD program, candidates are required to be current industry professionals; this enables them to be tuned into current trends and keeps their instruction current. In an industry such as design, trends come and go very quickly. Valley local Tom Froese is one of the several instructors that are already lined up.
“He’s kind of a rock star illustrator that has also got a really strong background in the creative industry, I think he worked for Giant Ant and he’s now moved his practice into illustration and he works internationally,” said Jager.
Other instructors for the program include Alex Wells, a sessional instructor and owner of Maple Ridge design firm Your Design Here, who will be teaching social media, web design courses, and InDesign courses beginning next semester. Camilla Coates from UFV’s university relations department will be involved as well and will be leading InDesign classes.
For each of the CCD courses the maximum enrollment is 15, but if there are less than 10 participants the seminar will be cancelled.
“Tom has fewer than 10 students but we really want to run this course, so we are going to run it anyhow,” Jager said. “We’re super excited about it, it’s going to be a really good workshop.”
These courses are made with businesses in mind, and Jager noted that UFV is willing to coordinate and develop private seminars with companies and “will actually tailor a course for a particular company’s needs.”
These private seminars are developed at no extra cost to the participants, making privatized training highly appealing.
There are plans to create certificate programs within the CCD that are earned by completing several modules within the program.
“We have InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator boot camp courses and if someone wants to take three modules within our offerings it would be an equivalency to a credit course,” said Jager.
Jager explained that the program will not be conflicting with or delaying the creation of a graphic design major.
“It’s complimentary,” she said. “It’s really intended for people that want to take a short course and develop their skills. We have a graphic design extended minor option right now within the bachelor of fine arts, and the graphic design department is working on a major.”
The major will not include any of the CCD courses as of yet. However, its structure will be based on the current two-year diploma, plus two years of cross disciplinary learning in InDesign, and will be a more comprehensive program than the diploma.
