designing for life

The HND Visual Communication course in Graphic Design at Edinburgh's Telford College is amongst the most successful courses of its kind in further and higher education in Scotland. The emphasis is on concept development, the design process, and presenting finished work to a good professional level.

Our course encourages research, problem solving, technical expertise, and team-working skills. The overall aim is to prepare students for a successful career in the creative industries - and despite the lean economic times, a majority of our recent graduates are now thinking for a living.

One aspect of this is our groundbreaking mentoring programme, where a select group of industry creatives and professionals work with the students on live briefs, guerilla days and studio presentations. As well as a great example of best practice in education, this programme has brought real benefits to many of the agencies currently working in Scotland, and is a lot of fun for all involved.

It's no coincidence that since 2008-2009, our course has yielded a number of important awards for our students, including three D&AD inbooks, five YCN commendations (three of them in 2011), and various other industry-acknowledged competition wins and high-profile successes. For many of these awards our students have been competing directly with final year degree graduates.

This review is about celebrating these recent successes, giving former students, mentors and tutors the chance to catch up again, and allowing our current crop of fledgling designers to gain a valuable insight into what lies ahead for them.