July has been a busy month, a month spent working on summer schools at Central Saint Martins.
Graphic design
I started the month with CSM choices a course which aims to introduce college students who are interested in Art and Design. I worked with the graphic design tutors, the idea behind the week summer school was to give students an idea of what the Graphic design course is like at CSM. The students that attended the week summer school were BTEC students who are thinking about applying to university.
The week started with identifying what Graphic design meant to the students. They were given questions like: What is Graphic Design? What does Graphic design look like? etc. They could only answer with one word (tricky). When I was asked these questions in my first year I remember struggling to sum up the questions in one word, so i think they did pretty well.
The choices summer schools lasted a week. They were given a brief; A message to society. I felt that they undertook the brief really well and that the students were learning about how the process works at CSM. I noticed that many of them struggled with coming up with that groundbreaking idea and were trying to solve issues at a far to early stage. I could see that they were really taking the opportunity to produce some really great work. I was impressed with how focused they seemed through out the week.
I really enjoyed working on this summer school because it made me see the course from a whole different perspective and how much of an great job the tutors do. I mean it was really interesting to see how the tutors were able to help 20+ students and all with different ideas and always having the right things to say at the right time (off course they are well experienced). I guess during the week it made me think about teaching and about the skills and the amount of effort that is needed to do the job right. They are there, fully engaged and there to inspire and support you through your ideas.
By the end of the week the student exhibited their work they did during the week. They came out with some great work, work they should be proud of. It was great seeing them develop through out the week, from the research stage to the final out come. Not only did I enjoy working that I also learnt a lot my self.
Heres the link to the blog that was made during the course CSM Choices Graphic Design.
Performance and dance Practice
For my second summer school I worked on, a programme called ‘Stages’ for journeys in performance and dance. Working with 25 performers and 25 designers aged 14-19 to work on a series of workshops and summer school activities leading up to a weekend of performances for friends, family and the local community of Kings Cross.
They worked on a Greek myth. The performers role was to devise the story for theatre and how to contribute and develop their ideas. This was a learning process for them on developing their skills that helped them to bring the story to life focusing on their acting, dancing and sound. The designers role was to design the story through structures, lights, sound and film.
This was a great opportunity to work on, I loved working with the perfumers and seeing how dedicated they were on the work they did. It was amazing seeing the process behind the senses the amount of effort and focus put in rehearsals and making sure everything well, as planed. I saw how important it was for everyone to have there input on ideas and concept into the performance in order for it to work. It was great to have the opportunity to work on a live project, and getting the change to learn and understand more about the subject and actually getting to work with theatre professionals. I was lucky enough to work with these young talented people and learn from them as well as them from me. When working with the designers I saw how important it was for them to communicate with the performers to get an idea about spacing, the stages of the story and props required in the story. It was important that they considered a lot things as the performance moved through the university. They designed the stage, rooms, costumes for the actors and dances and whatever was required by the performers.
I think that summer schools like these set up by CSM are great giving young people the opportunity to discover what they want to do in the future. To help them to understand and really get an insight on the learning process and the level of work and effort required at university.
Thank you for reading.
J
*JetFace* 