Inspire and being inspired: graphic designers who teach

Date
17 November 2015

If there’s anyone who should be teaching the graphic designers of the future, it’s the graphic designers of the present. Obviously that makes sense from the students’ point of view – they’re being taught the practicalities (portfolios, getting and retaining clients, the nitty gritty details of the technical design process) – but it also reaps rewards for the graphic designers doing the teaching.

Once you’ve established yourself as a designer and are working with confidence, it could be easy to slip into a bubble. Freelance life can be brilliant and fulfilling but also lonely; you can miss the fresh eyes and new ideas that working with younger designers offers. Not only does teaching budding designers show you new perspectives, but it cements what you already know.

Practicing graphic designers are at the helm at Shillington, which offers fast, hands-on practical short courses for those looking for the tools to work in the creative industries. At all of the campuses (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, London, Manchester or New York) the teachers work in graphic design, and in turn teach students how to get work in graphic design. Rather than academicising or studying for three years, students are given set briefs that teach them both the practical aspects of working in the industry (such as software) and more conceptual, ideas-based skills. Students act like the graphic designers they’ll soon become, and are treated by staff accordingly.

Teachers who’ve worked with these motivated, driven students naturally find their enthusiasm rubs off, and inspires them in their own careers. “The students’ passion and enthusiasm is infectious. You can’t help but match their love and pleasure, in even the simplest aspects of design,” says Frances Gray, a teacher at Shillington’s Melbourne campus. “Seeing it through their eyes is new and exciting, and incredibly rewarding. She elaborates, “It’s amazing to see students take what you taught them and use it to create work that you would never have come up with.”

With a fulfilling career as a designer already, many teachers find enormous value in the idea of passing on what they know and do to others. It’s about giving a little something back, and in return being able to see the skills you’ve taught come to fruition. “Watching people that have no experience take a chance on changing their life has had a massive impact on me. It’s made me less scared of trying techniques and it’s pushed me out of my comfort zone,” says Jen Dennis, who teaches at Shillington London. Jason Cooper, from Shillington Sydney, adds: “I love seeing them progress and unearth skills they never thought they possessed, leaving them with great portfolios they can be proud of.”

Teachers who design are those who are inspired – seeing design problems from new perspectives that come from those at the start of their careers can be hugely beneficial to any designer. So for those of you working in graphic design who want to inspire, be inspired and see skills you’ve taught come to fruition in a new designers’ portfolio, you could do worse than becoming a teacher yourself. Shillington is always on the lookout for talented designers to teach their courses (no teaching experience required), click here for more information.

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