Amy McPhie
From small beginnings, a dynamic learning experience can grow … and Natcoll graduate Amy McPhie has recently started in the second year of a degree course at UCOL, Palmerston North.
‘I’ve always had a passion for art and knew I wanted to be a graphic designer from a very young age,’ Amy says.
Her Natcoll pathway began with a ‘taster’ at an open day. ‘I was hooked, I fell in love with it and knew it was exactly what I wanted,’ she says. iCreate gave her the opportunity to explore different digital design options and then the Diploma of Computer Graphic Design taught her the practical and professional skills needed to begin her creative career.
Amy, however, had other plans – and decided to use her Natcoll experience as a stepping stone to a degree. With cross credits she’s been able to start in the second year of the Bachelor of Applied Visual Imaging (BAVI) and Amy is confident her skills-based Natcoll training complements the more theoretical degree study. ‘Natcoll is definitely more hands-on and practical and gave me a clear grounding on design theories and principles and how to apply them to my work. Whereas the degree seems to be more about the reasoning as to why I’m doing what I’m doing, theory study, essay writing and learning about art and artists before getting into the practical work.’
Graphic design tutor Maria Eriksen-Sohos remembers Amy as a student who was ‘passionate and driven … and who always found innovative and exciting design solutions.’ She is confident Natcoll has equipped Amy with the skills to rise to the challenge of further study. ‘[She now has] a tremendous research habit, a strong sense of process and working to deadlines. She has gained enormous confidence in her abilities and an even deeper enthusiasm and passion for art, design and designers … [and] has gained a thorough working knowledge of the Mac environment and software.’
Maria believes both qualifications have distinct benefits: a Natcoll diploma builds digital, conceptual, design, prepress, presentation and professional skills to an industry standard; a degree offers more scope for experimentation, exploration and development of ideas in a more academic and less industry-focused way.
Natcoll has formal degree pathways in place with a number of polytechnics and universities in New Zealand and Australia.
Amy’s ultimate goal is to own her own business in advertising. She knows the only way to realise that dream is through hard work, creativity and commitment – and she’s made sure she has a foundation of excellent digital design education to give her the best start.
