School to boost design industry

The Whangarei Design School will open thanks to a government grant of $250k to boost creative industries training in Northland. Photo / John Stone

Whangarei is to get a splash of colour when 45 students fill a new design college in the CBD, after the Government dished out $250,000 in funding to boost Northland's opportunities in creative industries.

The Design School will be based at the site of the old Civic Video store on the corner of Walton and Robert St from February, teaching NCEA Level 2 and 4 skills for would-be graphic and fashion designers.

Mike Saywell, managing director of the Palmerston North School of Design, who will manage the project from his base down south, is also opening a similar school in Gisborne.

"The centre fits with the national goals to increase opportunities in the creative industries. The demand for designers continues to grow."

He said the centres were part of a wider government initiative in New Zealand to boost design skills.

The Design School would also bring a vibrancy to the city centre, which creative schools often did.

Students would study drawing, design and critical thinking, computer graphics, graphic design or fashion design.

Mr Saywell said: "These are students who care about beautifying their city.

"Students always liven up a city centre. I'm sure the school will create a real buzz in Whangarei."

The school would be opened from 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday and would be based on the ground floor of the building being leased from Whangarei landlord Ralph Calvert.

Mr Saywell said the centre was recruiting three tutors from the region and was already signing up students, with 20 occupying the school from the second week of February.

A further 15 to 20 students would begin in April. The centre was also creating links with local youth organisations, such as the Whangarei Youth Space, which would help Mr Saywell and his team tap into talent.

The recent rollout of Ultra Fast Broadband, he said, was a real bonus for Whangarei.

"We will be sending huge files and lots of data from Whangarei to Palmerston North, so we're glad there is UFB. It would be hard for us if we had to send CDs by courier."

The Palmerston North centre had been in operation for 21 years.

It's a private school, however, it would work with NorthTec to provide mostly 26-week pathway programmes for Level 2 students, who could move on to NorthTec or elsewhere to further their skills.

The centre would also provide credits through Youth Guarantee's Creative Industries vocational pathways.

It's one-year courses would roll out in February and Mr Saywell said it would also cater for a smaller number of Level 3 and 4 design students.

A former Taumarunui pupil of the school, Maori designer Johnson Witehira, was one of Palmerston North School of Design's success stories, having his work showcased in Time Square in 2012, after winning Chorus Digital Art Contest.