At LEWIS we're always keen to invest in the future of design and give something back to the local community. That's why we jumped at the chance to nurture the next generation of graphic designers through a mentoring programme at Edinburgh's Telford College.
In 2009 Design Director Ian Kirkby attended the graduate show for the college's HND in Graphic & Visual Communication Design. Whilst the work was of a high standard, he lamented the fact that students typically learn more in their first 3 months in an agency job than they do during 3 years at college.
Ian approached Telford and suggested that he and his colleagues at LEWIS offer a practical mentorship programme for their graphic design students. The resulting programme now runs throughout the final year of the course and has proven very successful, with designers and creative talent from some of the best agencies in Edinburgh becoming involved as it has grown. As Ian says, "What's really great to see is that none of the people involved do it for the 'glory' or for any financial return but for the benefit of the students - and that has to be good for the industry."
The course is now held up within Scottish higher education as a leading example of best practice, enabling students to be better prepared for the real world of agency work. It's so effective in fact, that it has already led to LEWIS employing two Telford graduates who have shown exceptional promise.
Most recently, 2011 graduate Rachel Patrick joined the studio and was involved in a number of new projects for our clients. Rachel, along with classmate Paul Dankool, also submitted the winning proposal to a brief by the college principal Miles Dibsdall OBE, and has worked with LEWIS to create and install themed displays for locations within the Telford College building.
Rachel had this to say about the programme: "The Mentoring Programme has taken the scary side away from design creative directors, they really are just like you and me. It gives you a foot in the door once you have graduated, as we already knew eight creative designers through the programme and they knew us. All round a positive experience and something all colleges/universities should implement."