Getting a place on an art and design course is no mean feat. It entails a good deal more work than the average college application. Colleges use a variety of assessment procedures from drawing tests to projects to portfolios to interviews to Leaving Cert points. Many operate a combination of these.
All third-level courses, other than first-year core, the common first year in the National College of Art and Design, are offered throught the CAO. For instance, DIT Mountjoy Square requires students to first submit a portfolio - if it reaches the required standard, students are called for interview. Six hundred points are allotted to the interview and portfolio and these are added to the Leaving Cert score.
Dr Dermot McGuinne, head of the department of visual communications, design and fine art, explains about 1,000 portfolios are received each year and, on average, about 700 people are called to interview.
"It's not seen as a severe screening process," he says. "If there is any kind of potential or merit in the portfolio students will be called to interview."
The college is looking for evidence of creative observational drawing ability, he adds. "This can be best shown through a casual sketchbook rather than expensively finished pieces. Sometimes students think that they have to put a lot of money into presentation." About 20 pieces of work showing a willingness to experiment with different media is fine.
The interview is informal and will usually include a discussion of the portfolio to establish that the student is the real author of the works. After all that, if you secure a place you will spend four years in DIT Mountjoy Square. The course comprises 80 per cent practical work and 20 per cent theory. This is the norm for NCEA-approved art and design courses.
In first and second year in DIT Mountjoy Square, students are introduced to a broad range of design subjects such as composition, colour, typography and computer applications. In third year, they can choose to specialise in graphic design, illustration, photography or multimedia.
Job prospects for graduates of DIT's four-year course are good, according to McGuinne. The course was an advanced diploma and is now offered as a degree in the 1998 CAO handbook. He notes that job prospects are probably not enhanced by the degree status as employers tend to look at students' portfolios but it should prove a popular move with students who are always eager to get a degree.
In addition to the two ab-initio degrees on offer at DIT and the National College of Art and Design, there are a variety of certificate and diploma courses on offer.
For instance, Waterford Institute of Technology offers a three-year diploma in design communications. Course leader Joy Rooney describes first year, which provides a general introduction to basic design principles and practices, as "very hard work". In second year, students have the opportunity to work with industry on various projects as well as learning more advanced skills.
Third year is more specialised, says Rooney, with the emphasis on typography and photography. Students also work on a personal project which allows them to explore their own area of interest in more detail.
Most graduates of the diploma will go to study for a degree in Ireland or abroad, says Rooney. Her advice to second-level students is to visit the college you are interested in and find out about the course.
"It's remarkable the number of students we get who have no idea what graphic design is," she says. "They have a vague idea that it's some form of commercial art."
