Shillington College - Opinions?

[tosinogunlesi]

Hello Good people!

Studied IT, Love graphic design and at the stage of putting together a portfolio...read about the really cool 3 month FT program at Shillington college in London ...anybody got opinions about the course there? before I invest most of my life savings?

Thanks good people!!

[shazi]

Hi Tosin

I was in the same position as you 3 years back. I had completed a Computer Science degree and started working for a company doing 3d design. But Graphic design is what I have always loved and when I saw the ad for the course at Shillington, I found it very hard to resist. I was part of their first class and loved every minute. Though before that I had done some graphic design for people (I am mainly a self starter) shillington provided the kick and direction I needed. I am now a freelancer designer and tho I love it, am looking for a full-time position for personal reasons.

The teachers are great but like anything you will get out of it what you put in. I still have my portfolio which now has new additions of work I have created over the years, but I am still very happy I went. Go and visit them, chat to the teachers and students so you can make a more informed decision.

Hope this has helped

[DBO]

I've been looking at this course recently as well, it looks really good and seems like a fast track route to starting in graphic design which is ideal...obviously previous student experiences help a lot in making an informed decision, getting both sides of the story if you like, so I'm quite interested to hear what people think of this course as well :icon_thumbup:

[creativebugdesign]

hmmm fast track route to graphic design? there is a reason graphic designer study for 4 years, 3 at degree and one on foundation. I really cant see how the valuable knowledge i gained that prepared me for life as a designer could be condensed down into 3 months, sorry, im skeptical on this.

[SparkCreative]

hmmm fast track route to graphic design? there is a reason graphic designer study for 4 years, 3 at degree and one on foundation. I really cant see how the valuable knowledge i gained that prepared me for life as a designer could be condensed down into 3 months, sorry, im skeptical on this.

What he said.

I'm thinking of becoming a computer scientist. Can I learn it in three months?

[Esh]

I considered doing this course in Manchester when they first opened the doors there.

These courses seem to be getting a lot of flack, but the standard of work the students leave with is pretty impressive after just 3 months. Fair enough, they didn't do a 3year degree, but if they did, can you imagine the standard of their work?

As part of the course, they do learn things like colour theory, layout, basic design history aswel as the software skills.

I did the full 3year degree and completed last year, but sometimes I wonder what if I just did this portfolio course instead?

[scatola75]

Hello Good people!

Studied IT, Love graphic design and at the stage of putting together a portfolio...read about the really cool 3 month FT program at Shillington college in London ...anybody got opinions about the course there? before I invest most of my life savings?

Thanks good people!!

I studied at shillington college last year. As I dropped studying many years ago I was looking to change my career, I didn't want to spend 3 years at UNI so I decided to take a course at shillington college.

At first I was very confused whether to take the course at shillington college or not but than I thought that if they were asking for all that money (£7,000) it must have been a great college studying along with professionals. I WAS WRONG!!!!...I wasted my money...

1) You will learn roughly how to use the programs, by the way they still use CS3 .....CS5.5 is out now.
2) You will not learn anything about long document or grep style, nested style, using layers. Nothing about printing and acrobat .....no photography. When I learnt retouching in photoshop, the lesson was ridiculous and only lasted 20 minutes, there is a lot more to learn!!
3) Packaging was really bad!!...and I mean really bad.
4) The time is so tight that there is no time for questions and sometimes the staff are rude too.

5) THE CERTIFICATE IS NOT EVEN RECOGNISED IN ENGLAND. (I admit I was stupid not to realise that)

My advice is to find a cheaper college to build up your portfolio, also because recruitment agencies are looking for real works, not samples. Or, if you’re really keen to become a designer, I would recommend enrolling at a college of art where they would prepare you for the industry properly.

good luck !!!!!

[linziloop]

I had a look at the website and the standard of the student work on there as examples looks fab, but from reading this thread I am very confused with my opinion on the whole thing. Didn't realise it was such a short course - yeah, 3 months to fit all that in is pretty tight, there were single projects on my degree course that lasted that long

[Boss Hog]

(£7,000)

[pcbranding]

£7000! Anyone want to come to my house for 3 day intensive course...only £700!

:)