BCIT – Design Essentials…Essential for Who?

A review of the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) - Design Essentials program.
By C-A D. who graduated in 2008. 1,949 views.

I chose the Design Essentials program because it was offered at two well-known schools (BCIT and Emily Carr) for technology and design. In addition to this, I could complete my education in a one year program. I had originally enrolled in another school for a graphic design course, but canceled last minute when I found this program researching online.

Prior to Design Essentials, I was an architectural technologist and as such had practical experience in programs such as AutoCad, 3D Studio Max and the basics of Photoshop. I also had training as a professional make-up artist which provided me with a good balance between creativity, imagination and technical ability.

The Design Essentials Program

Design Essentials ran over the course of a full year consisting of 4 semesters with no summer break. Each semester had approximately 7 classes that were either 6 or 12 weeks long, running 5 to 6 days a week (mostly evenings and some weekends – Sundays at Emily Carr) with each class being 3 hours long.

Each semester would include technical courses (Adobe Creative Suite), artistic and development classes (drawing, branding, creative practices, magazine design) and customer interaction/presentation skill development. The program also included project development, prepress, portfolio development which included group presentations, typography, layout, packaging and research.

While my experience at BCIT was good, the Emily Carr side of things fell short.

Pros and Cons

My expectations of Design Essentials were very high given the reputation of both BCIT and Emily Carr. While my experience at BCIT was good, the Emily Carr side of things fell short in how they administered their programs and the actual teaching experience/qualities of some of the Instructors.

For example, the teachers hired over the summer for typography and layout (two very important classes for graphic designers) had either no experience in teaching these particular classes, or only taught them in a 3 year program. Add that to the fact that Emily Carr did not provide them with a course outline and one of the teachers quitting within 6 weeks of the 12 week course, we learned very little. A full year had passed by the time the school was able to offer the courses again and they did not advise me on it. I found out after the fact from a fellow classmate.

I do believe that the problems with the typography and layout courses were due to the fact that they were offered over the summer and staffing was an issue because of the season. I have since spoken to students that have taken the same program and had no problems with those specific courses as they were offered during the regular school year. If you are to take this course, I highly recommend that you research the teaching experience and background of the Instructors that will be providing your education.

The best parts of the program were the technical courses, specifically, Adobe Creative Suite as that was the main reason I enrolled in the program initially. As the program progressed, I was very happy with other courses that I had not originally considered such as branding development and learning about what opportunities were available in the field.

I did feel that the program was very expensive; however, everything is too expensive in BC. That being said, it was par with other schools in the Lower Mainland.

It is also good for someone that is planning on following up the course with an extended graphic design program.

The Verdict

Overall, the program does offer some great knowledge and technical skill. The faculty at BCIT and most of the Emily Carr staff were great. I feel that this program is best suited for people who already have some computer knowledge and artistic background. It is also good for someone that is planning on following up the course with an extended graphic design program or plans to take the course as an introduction to a more specific field.

There is a great deal of competition in the field and no lack of talented designers in the Lower Mainland, thus work is extremely difficult to find. There is a multitude of low paying contract jobs available, but higher paying full time work opportunities are more difficult to come by.

Upon leaving school, I was fortunate enough to land a contract job that allowed me to completely brand two companies. This enabled me to gain some valuable experience and utilize all of the skills that I learned in school. I am currently working in the field for a major corporation as a graphic artist/project coordinator.

If you would like to view my work you can go to my website at www.ennoildesigns.ca.

(4 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)

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5 Comments

Simply

7.31.10

Hello,

You mentioned you have a background as a architectural technologist. Do you mind if I ask why you switched careers?

Also this program design essentials sounds appealing to me. I don’t want to spend four or three years in school. I do want to be a graphic designer. Is this program enough if I choose not purse any other education?

ennoildesigns

8.2.10

Hello,

Thank you for your inquiry. I switched careers because I also have a degree in professional make-up artistry and I needed a career that was a happy medium between this artistic career and the technical aspect of architecture. This was a really good idea as I love being a graphic designer.

As for the design essentials program. If you are ready to work double overtime and doing your own separate work aside from school this program may be ok for you. I understand the appeal of the course; however, I did learn quickly because I do have experience in presentation, design, technical computer programs, client interaction, working in a tough design industry (architectural studio) which made it easier for me to learn. Most people in my class already had a career that lead to the graphic design industry (i.e. photographer, magazine editor, web designer, marketing expert, project coordinator) and anyone else were planning on following up the program with an extended study program. Most of us also put extra time an effort between classes and courses to learn more on our own. I don’t feel that the course itself is enough to work in the field. Please know that you also need to have a portfolio of 20 pieces minimum to get into this program.

I don’t mean to discourage you to go ahead and try this program. If you are already a self taught individual and/or have already worked in the field then perhaps this could be a great addition to your education for some of the programs, understanding of branding and magazine design.

In short this program is a good course for people who want to get an introduction to a little bit of everything and then determine where they want to specialize or it’s good for educated individuals who are looking to round-out existing skills to work in the industry.

Hope this helped you. Don’t hesitate in contacting me again if you have any other questions.

buttery designer

8.12.10

Hi there, I emailed you this message too: :)

I’m very interested in taking the Design Essentials course and review was very well written and has given me the opportunity to see what I’m up for.

I wanted to let you know (as you had stated you were a bit disappointed about there being a lack of editorial and layout content in the course), that Langara College offers a fantastic program “Publishing” http://www.langara.bc.ca/creative-arts/publishing/ that I took in 2006/2007.

It’s a diploma program that delves specifically around making a professional magazine that is published in the Vancouver Globe and Mail. It’s 3 semesters – first two being very intensive in learning the various CS programs (awesome review if you know these already esp. with DEssentials) but also you do A LOT of work prepping for the magazine, writing articles (yup!), and learning TONNES of things around layout concepts.

I HIGHLY recommend this course and think it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. The third semester (after the magazine has been printed) focuses on web site development (flash work) etc. In my study year, we even learned Final Cut Pro (made a commercial and worked with typography for ‘opening credits’). However, I think they stopped doing that element and are focusing extensively on typography.

There are some downsides to this as everything else… we had a crappy Photoshop teacher and the person who does the ‘editorial’ (grammar) teaching portion is VERY boring… but over all, I loved it.

The class runs from about 2pm-10pm every eve (Mon-Fri) from what I remember – and the costs are VERY reasonable! Per semester, it was about $1600 and then books and other fees were on top of that. MUCH cheaper than BCIT/Emily Carr.

I’m wanting to take the BCIT/Emily Carr combo program because of the reputable attention it will garner on my CV.

Take care!

sista designer!

buttery designer

8.12.10

I just read your review and think that any potential student would find it useful. ;) and most of my message can pertain to you as well if you’d like to further your design education with more of a Publishing twist. I see though that you are working for a company as a designer (that’s awesome!) and I hope you are being paid well. :)

My concern lies with the Emily Carr portion. Although I’m interested in it because of it’s reputation worldwide, I’ve taken a summer course there and was aghast of how ‘flakey’ people were. The art work was terrible, yet, the teacher would say ‘oh, it’s all interpretive.’ Uh no. That stuff is crap. Just say it! — With graphic design, you can’t be ‘interpretive’ but you can be creative and I yearn (like I had at Langara) to have some good instructors to really give some great feedback and dialogue for projects. Again, congrats on getting your job with your company and I wish you all the best!

Mizz Bee

10.29.10

Hello,

I’m looking into taking the Design Essentials program at BCIT/Emily Carr and backing that up with the 2 year diploma program in Marketing Communications at BCIT. I just discovered the Kwantlen Graphic Design for marketing program (which is a 4 year bachelor degree program). I’m having a hard time deciding which school to go with. I haven’t heard much about Kwantlen at all so I initially planned to go to BCIT because I’ve heard great things about it & all my friends attending really like it.

Do you feel having a Bachelors degree is more desirable for potential employers? I’ve heard that it is more about portfolio & experience than degree/Diploma/certificate, did you feel this was true?

Any advice anyone has for me is very appreciated!!

Cheers!