spottypenguin
Active Member
They teach you how to be a real world designer, an appreciation of a wide array of design and bring you up to speed on the tips, tricks and observations real designers have learnt in their careers.
Blimey are you on commission?
I actually agree with a lot of what you have to say, I am constantly shocked by new designers / recent graduates who have not got a clue about bleed, quiet zone, colour mode, resolution etc. Not necessarily their fault, just doesn't seem to get a lot of emphasis especially on degree courses.
All that aside, I would *never* recommend someone going off and learning Photoshop as a way to 'becoming a graphic designer'. You know as well as I (and many others) do that Photoshop is NOT the best tool to be creating flyers / other layout work. The trouble with people learning Photoshop is it just becomes a glorified digital paintbox, sure you can create some lovely art with it but I think it stops people thinking about the print set-up side of things. I once worked with a junior designer who made absolutely divine digital art with Photoshop but once he was asked to make a brochure he went into melt-down because Indesign was so alien to him. Truthfully if were advising someone who wanted to become a graphic designer or who had a keen interest I would certainly recommend the online tutorials but a mixture of PS, AI and Indesign.
As for Shillington, I haven't got a clue but my gut feel would be that 3months is a very short time to pack everything in. Maybe good for someone who has some previous experience / knows the software a bit. My biggest concern is you simply cannot teach creativity and from what I have read they are almost promising to do that. And if the certificate isn't recognised by employers in the UK - doesn't that make it a bit futile?