Graphic design graduation a first for Awa City Clubhouse

Published on 14 April 2014

14 April 2014

The first ever Awa City Clubhouse members to graduate with UCOL Certificates in Graphic Design will have their own ceremony at Whanganui UCOL this week.

Eight students ranging in age from 20 to 68 years will collect the Certificate they gained thanks to a year-long collaboration.

The computer graphics qualification is the creation of UCOL’s Associate Dean Creative Katrina Langdon representing the Whanganui School of Design, and the Awa City Clubhouse Coordinator, Masina Kenworthy.

“Masina wanted to grow the use of the Wanganui District Council-led Clubhouse to the point where an accredited course was offered that could lead to further study and employment opportunities in the graphic design and digital media areas,” says Katrina.

“UCOL was keen to offer programmes offsite that would be more accessible to people in the community who were not currently engaged in education, training or employment of any kind. “From there the course was born.”

UCOL gained NZQA accreditation for the purpose built training scheme and enrolled nine students last year.

The free programme was run during daytime hours two days a week at the Clubhouse and students learnt to use design software (Illustrator and Photoshop) through focussed graphic design projects.

Katrina says the collaboration is of great value for the Clubhouse students who, should they decide to continue their education with UCOL, will be familiar and more comfortable with the learning environment.

Twelve Computer Clubhouse students are enrolled in the Certificate programme this year and will be taught by UCOL Graphic Design graduate Jarrod Cornforth.

The course times have been changed to Tuesday and Wednesday evenings to allow secondary school students who are current members of the Clubhouse to attend.