Location: Index >> Special Features

By: Kingston Chan

Introduction

During our last event, there was considerable interest shown in the school’s unique approach towards our non-academic curriculum. So this week, I would like to take the opportunity to delve a little deeper and explain more about FZD’s education philosophy and why we choose to deliver our classes the way we do.

Goals and Strategies

FZD School of Design grew from the demand for highly-skilled professionals that caters to the booming entertainment industry. Our aim is to bridge the gap between the industry and the institute. We wanted to train graduates that will be able to fit into a project upon graduation, create a learning environment that mirrors working life, and for students to feel like what they did in school matters and will directly affect their future careers.

In the world of entertainment, designers are always judged by the work they produce as evidence of their proficiency; And the industry’s standard for evaluating this proficiency is the designer’s portfolio. The importance and significance of the portfolio cannot be underestimated here, especially for people looking to break into the industry. Without experience as leverage, their chances of getting an interview hinges on how well the portfolio is rated. So, it is a requirement that we must train our students to produce a strong portfolio.

We know when our students graduate, we want them to have a very strong portfolio, to carry themselves as professionals and fit seamlessly into the work environment. With that in mind, we did away with the more traditional teaching methodologies, and adopted a more dynamic system. Using a strong focus on practical application and industry relevance, we derived our non-academic curriculum.

Teaching Philosophy

Listed below are the teaching philosophies that FZD advocates.

Industry based “Studio” Learning Environment

Its all about being professional here. With the student’s end destination in mind, we set up the classrooms to resemble a professional studio. Also we abide by the thinking that “you would not do here what you would not at work”. So professional rules like meeting deadlines, punctuality, and accountability are taught. We believe the best way to groom students into professionals is to treat them like professionals; and we instill these values to them the moment they start school in order to adequately prepare them for when they enter the industry.

Impart what is being used in the industry

Staying connected to the industry is very important for the school. As we want our graduates to be assimilated as seamlessly as possible, therefore it is important that their knowledge and skill set is on par with what is being used in the industry currently. With that comes the challenge of keeping the entire faculty in tune with the current market. To solve that, the teaching staff is structured under the media-arm of FZD. This way the instructors are constantly working on projects and thus up-to-date with the demands of the industry.

Practical assignments and project based curriculum

Staying true to our focus towards a more practical and industry relevant approach, the entire courseware is comprised of projects and assignments designed to simulate the professional industry. We immerse students into project scenarios that have them working as junior designers under the instructors’ art direction. This way they quickly pick up the essential skills they will need when they enter the industry.

No exams, essay write-ups and thesis reports

The industry is built upon the visuals the designers come up with. As such, nobody is interested in your drawing hypothesis, long essays about how cool you think your designs are, or how well you fill in that multiple-choice questionnaire. That is also why we made a conscious effort to do away with this aspect of education. We would prefer our students to focus on building up a strong portfolio. In our line, your work should speak volumes - way louder than what your vocal chords can ever be capable of.

Industry Experienced, Full time instructors

The school has made a policy to only hire instructors who have had industry experience. It is important for our instructors to be able to relate the curriculum and demonstrate how the industry uses these skills. Having full-time staff will allow students access to the instructors when problems and doubts arise. Also, a full-time faculty allows us to stay focused on delivering a cohesive education package. As such, instructors are constantly working to improve and update the syllabus; resulting in a more integrated and dynamic curriculum.

Closing

I hope this article was able to clarify how and why FZD operates the way it does. From our philosophy, you can see how our non-academic approach allows us to best match our goals. The school aims to provide quality education in this young and exciting world of entertainment design, and we are focused on imparting skills that will help our graduates secure a seamless transition from school to work.