Education

  Star Education Fair

Sunday November 2, 2008

Creativity and commerce

BY TAN EE LOO

With design having a hand in every part of a business, from the layout of the shop to delivery, managing that can be a challenging career.

AS society values creativity more and more, design management may just be the programme to consider if you’re eyeing a successful career.

“Design management can be used to improve customer satisfaction or deliver a faster and better service. Business can be creative,” says Chris Warren, PJ College of Art and Design (PJCAD) head of communication design.

Citing Starbucks as an example, Warren says the global coffee chain understood how important design was to a business right from its inception.

PJ College of Art and Design students working on a project in the fashion studio.

“Design is in everything within its business. The store layout, the way the processes work, the way the coffee beans are delivered to the store.

“How do you know you are not going to run out of coffee on a Thursday? What systems are in place? This is design management,” he adds.

The designers and design managers at Starbucks have to go through a short stint as a barista, to help them understand the business.

“They sweep floor, clean the tables and serve coffee. Once they understand the business, they use that experience, creativity and research to improve their products and services,” he says.

Riding on the wave of growth in new business trends, PJCAD offers a three-year diploma in design management and innovation. Among the key areas of study are brand management, innovation concepts, strategic management and product design development.

Strategic management, for instance, requires students to investigate and understand the important factors in the formulation and implementation of business strategies. They will also explore the various impacts of different strategies.

LIEW: Design management will take off in Malaysia when parent and students become more aware of market needs.

Innovation management will enable students to be innovative in product development. Besides, they will get a good idea of how applying innovation in product development has worked in countries such as Japan, Europe and the United States.

Students can try their hand at creative advertising industry or become a brand manager, design consultant or fashion merchandiser upon the course.

The college is constantly on the lookout for new areas of study so that it can better train and prepare its students for a creative economy that incorporates creativity and innovation in business practices.

PJCAD chief executive David Liew says the concept of design management will take off in Malaysia when parents and students become more aware of market needs.

For Liew, quality teaching is a priority at the college. Among the moves in place to evaluate lecturers’ performance are monthly staff meetings and class observation.

“Feedback forms will be given to students every month so we can gauge how well the lecturers perform in class. A staff-training programme will be initiated and lecturers are required to attend group or individual sessions.

As for students, their performance will also be closely monitored.

“Each student will be assigned a tutor and they will be encouraged to voice their concerns and problems during the fortnightly tutorial sessions. These sessions will allow students to develop trusting relationships with tutors and also generate feedback. As such, we can identify and rectify problems,” Liew says.

The college also places emphasis on industrial placement.

“It is vital that the college builds strong relationships with industry partners so that students can benefit from the expertise of working practitioners and be exposed to the real world of commerce. These partners are companies in which design plays a leading role. We take great care to ensure that students are only exposed to those companies which meet our criteria.”

PJCAD became a member of the INTI Interational Education Group in 2005. Its new campus, scheduled to be completed by mid-2011, will form part of the Phase 2 development at INTI College Subang Jaya, in Selangor.

When that is completed, “we will have more than 5,574 sq metres of dedicated design spaces catering for approximately 1,200 students.” he adds.

He adds that PJCAD, together with its parent, the INTI Group, are now part of Laureate International Universities, one of the world’s largest tertiary education providers that boasts an expanding worldwide network of 40 institutions in 18 countries.

Besides design management, PJCAD also offers other creative courses such as graphic design, interior design, fashion design and technology.

Interactive multimedia design student Sherry Grace Hew Shwu Ching says her learning experience at PJCAD has made her an independent learner.

“We are given different types of assignments. I have learned how to manage my time well so that I can submit them on time,” Sherry adds.

PJCAD is a contributor to the Star Education Fund.

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