Get a head-start on your design career pathway with AOD’s Design Foundation Programme
The Academy of Design (AOD) has opened its doors yet again for O/L graduates looking to get a head-start on their design career. Sri Lanka’s pioneering Design University is inviting aspiring designers to enroll for the July 2022 intake of its Design Foundation Programme; an immersive preparatory course that paves the way for a bright future in design, creativity, and innovation.
The anxiety and indecisiveness that comes with being asked to chart one’s own future at 16/17 years of age is immense. Even if you have a general idea of which direction you want to be headed, when at a crossroad, which route would you pick? Can you ever be certain that you’ve made the right decision when it comes to choosing your career?
Understanding this common quandary, AOD has taken significant steps to ease the pressure off design-inclined O/L graduates by offering its Design Foundation Programme.
The Design Foundation Programme is, in essence, an 8-month pre-degree year of instruction which introduces students to the industry and its processes. As the name suggests, the Design Foundation Program prepares creatives-to-be for their undergraduate programs by laying the ‘foundation’ for the functional creative process. Here, students will be equipped with the tools and education to first explore the various design disciplines, develop creative skill sets across a wide range of mediums, create superior content for their design portfolios, execute complex design challenges, and eventually make informed decisions on their next level of study with greater insight.
Whether it’s towards the university’s BA (Hons) Fashion & Textile Design Programme, a BA (Hons) in Fashion Design & Marketing, the BA (Hons) Interior Design Programme, a BA (Hons) in Graphics & Visual Communication Design, or even a BA (Hons) in Motion Graphics and Animation Design, graduate Design Foundation students will come out of the programme far more confident of their study progression route than they were going in. Additionally, by enrolling in AOD’s Design Foundation Programme right after their O/Ls, students will have also signed up for the advantage of finishing up their BA (Hons) Degree after just 3 years of study – as a result, earning for themselves a head start also on their MA degrees or careers.
Importantly, AOD’s Design Foundation Program students have access to the same industry-standard infrastructure as their older peers. With an address at the awe-inspiring Colombo Innovation Tower – a dedicated design facility- the university’s younger students too stand to benefit from fully-equipped design studios, digital laboratories, fashion making and styling facilities, a screen-printing studio, and even Sri Lanka’s largest dedicated design library. Current students can testify also to a fun and inspiring learning environment, with plenty of opportunities to engage with an influential community, to learn from leading industry personalities, and to showcase their work to potential future employers.
The Design Foundation course in particular has been crafted to prepare students for undergraduate study, taught and mentored by an experienced global faculty; be it in the form of lectures, tutorials, workshops, group projects, or independent study. So, at a third of the cost of what it would be to study abroad, AOD students in Sri Lanka are bestowed a 100% internal UK degree from an internationally renowned design institution.
So what does a foundation year in design studies look like?
Divided across six modules, Design Foundation Programme students will get to experience each of the major design disciplines through a unique course layout that covers everything from the creative fundamentals, design thinking, to the zeitgeist.
In Sketchbook and Journal Development students learn how their creative ideas can be harnessed and grown into huge concepts and great design. The Design Thinking and Realization -module exposes students to new ways of thinking and approaching design, also learning the necessary skills to advance to the first year of the design course. The most fascinating module, The Zeitgeist, encourages students to unearth exciting ideas and investigate what truly inspires them, leading to a higher level of thinking and resulting in a unique creative impact. The Language of Design prepares students to step into their first year with confidence and equipped with the knowledge and strategies to achieve the best from university learning. From the Visual Style and Illustration module, students get to comprehend the fundamentals of illustration and explore their own visual styles; be it photography, mixed media, observational drawings, collage etc. The final module -World of Design Works- students are given access to many experts from different backgrounds and disciplines from all over the design and fine art world.
Course structure, accreditation, and learning environment aside, employability is also a major deciding factor taken into serious consideration when having to choose a university. AOD, with its extensive pool of connections across a wide range of design industries -both locally and internationally- has always been –and is increasingly- well-positioned to help its graduates with rewarding placements and careers, resulting in a 99% employability rate, with its graduates being amongst the most sought-after amongst industry professionals.
AOD invites all O/L graduates with a passion for all things creative to enroll for the July 2022 intake of the Design Foundation Programme. For more information on how to get a head start on your design career, please reach AOD Colombo on 0775727772, email info@aod.lk or walk in between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday – Colombo Innovation Tower, No 477, R A De Mel mawatha, Colombo 4 www.aod.lk