Industry dream team launches new education model at Tractor in Sydney and Melbourne

Three of Australia’s leading digital, design and business figures have joined forces to launch a new industry-led education model, aimed at addressing what they describe as a “significant gap” between current offerings and industry needs at independent design school Tractor.

The new course and Tractor both have strong industry pedigrees; chairman David Trewern is also chairman and founder of leading digital agency DT, and knows first-hand how important it is to find industry-ready employees. Ernst & Young ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ finalist Ryan Trainor, who started Australia’s largest workplace training company, Franklyn Scholar, and leading visual communication designer and educator Simon Pemberton also lead the school.

The new model sees the radically-expanded independent design school Tractor offer a new, fully-accredited two-year Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design for the first time, taking on the established tertiary education providers. School leavers can apply now for a March intake to the course, which has been specifically developed with a focus on digital.

Trewern said since launching a range of short courses just three years ago, Tractor has established itself as the best centre of education to create exceptional industry-ready designers. However, he said the move to expand and offer school leavers a full-time two-year Advanced Diploma with a focus on making sure its graduates are ready for a career in an increasingly digital environment, was made after recognising “what Australia’s digital and design consultancies are really looking for in new employees.

“There’s no doubt that there are a range of excellent short-courses on design and digital out there run by a range of providers including industry groups. However, they are mainly designed for people already within the industry looking to add to existing skills, rather than people looking to get into the industry for the first time.

“In addition, our own industry experience and feedback from other business leaders indicates that the curriculum of many longer accredited design and marketing courses simply hasn’t kept up with business needs. The Internet has been the driving force of design and marketing for 20 years. However, students are still being taught skills for a pre- Internet era.

“This new educational offering is the result and we feel confident it will receive the same industry support that many of our other courses have had to date.”

Trewern said enrolments are open now for the inaugural Advanced Diploma of Graphic Design, starting this March in both Sydney and Melbourne. Year 12 graduates are eligible to apply with VET FEE HELP also available.

Says Trewern: “The Tractor model and our prestigious faculty and industry partners are our key competitive advantage.

“We have many of competitors in the form of universities, private colleges and TAFEs, but none have anything like the level of industry knowledge that we have, applied to our curriculum.”

Companies whose leading lights have taught at Tractor include Cato Partners, Christopher Doyle & Co., DTDigital, End of Work, eskimo, Frost*, Future Büro, Glue Society, Harcus Design, Houston, Hoyne, JWT, Moon, Reactive, R/GA, RE: and original Tractor co-founders Mentally Friendly.

Starting March 2014, Tractor’s Advanced Diploma students will have access to these high levels of industry connection and expertise for the duration of their two-year full time course.

Says Simon Pemberton, head of school: “Our role is to be educational curators, collaborating with the very people our students are aspiring to be.

Pemberton is widely recognised as one of Australia’s leading visual communication designers and educators. As the former head of school at Billy Blue and CATC, and past president of AGDA, he has unrivalled credentials in design education and producing industry-ready graduates.

Says Pemberton: “If you talk to any agency or design studio head, they will tell you just how challenging it is to find industry ready, graduate level employees.”

For Pemberton, the answer lay in Tractor Design School, launched in 2011. Its short courses in Digital Design and Graphic Design connect the best up-and-coming designers to the most senior industry creatives.

Says Pemberton: “Our courses provide real briefs delivered by leading industry practitioners which have real deadlines and mimic real world creative challenges. Students produce work mentored by the industry leaders they’d love to work for.”

Tractor’s ambitions don’t stop with design. Trewern and team are planning to roll out a range of cutting edge digital courses over the next 12 months.

Trainor and Trewern are also working on a new concept for Business education with a focus on entrepreneurship and teaching the digital smarts required to succeed in today’s connected world. Tractor’s sister school BSchool will launch later this year.

The answer is a radically-expanded Tractor.

Now, three years after Tractor launched its successful short courses, and to provide the infrastructure and scale, Trewern and Trainor recently acquired Grenadi, a traditionally accredited design school with 40 teachers, a compliance and curriculum team, VET Fee Help funding and 400 students.

Applications for Tractor are open now at http://www.tractor.edu.au.

Picture L-R: David Trewern, Simon Pemberton and Ryan Trainor.