It must be by design! South & City College Birmingham’s fashion students were visited by acclaimed Designers from the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED), an international network of international educators.
Ginevra Franchi, co-founder of Cono Studio Milano and Professor of Design Thinking, ran a ‘Design Thinking’ workshop designed to boost the critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity of our students. All three skills are highly sought-after by employers, so it was an amazing opportunity for them.
IED are based in Italy, Spain and Brazil, and have worked with such established Fashion brands as Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Nike, Prada and Calvin Klein. Their ‘learning by doing’ philosophy is much like South & City College Birmingham. Learning from real industry experts is crucial for our students in getting an understanding of the world of work.
“Design creates experiences, not objects.”
Ginevra’s workshop gave a breakdown of ‘Design Thinking’. Designers are needed in all industries – not just in fashion or textiles or graphics, but even designing creative solutions to social problems like African agriculture needs. Since it’s so multifaceted, ‘Design Thinking’ is a process to give great results in any industry.
The students were given tasks around Brand Tools: deducing a company’s values, creating its design language, identifying competitors and giving a company a unique identity based on these values.
After the workshop, the fashion students were invited to redesign the McDonald’s uniform to be more sustainability-focused. They will be submitting to IED directly to get valuable feedback.
Surbjit Singh, Head of school in Art, Design and Fashion, said: “It was a great workshop which our students really enjoyed, they had a lot of fun with the tasks. It opened up a lot of minds to the world of design – all the opportunities and creative challenges. And it’ll look great on their portfolios. We’re very grateful to Ginevra and IED for coming to our Fusion campus.”
IED has great English learning workshops and scholarships for international study in their beautiful Design campuses.
Has this got you itching to start a Fashion course? Come to South & City College Birmingham, as workshops like this are just one of many reasons to study, along with high-end facilities, supportive tutors, industry experience and more. Find a course here.