A taste of the real world
FIRST City University College (First City UC) recently collaborated for the first time with 1 Utama Shopping Center on a five-week live project, which involved 30 of its second year BA (Hons) Graphic Design students.
The collaboration with the Faculty of Design and Built Environment was part of the shopping centre’s corporate responsibility effort to expose students to real-life project, as well as to gather fresh ideas for its social media content.
Successful formula
Being one the world’s largest malls, 1 Utama Shopping Centre proudly subscribes to a successful formula that elevates the ideals of shopping, entertainment and dining to new heights.
Under the tagline “It's all in one”, the mall is a premier lifestyle mecca with something for everyone.
At the start of the project in mid-October, the students were divided into six groups to produce a series of eight-minute videos carrying different themes to highlight the shopping centre’s unique selling points – Shopping, Dining, Sportszone, Entertainment, Go Green Initiatives and Social Media.
They were granted special permission to record real video footage within the establishment.
The project was designed to develop students’ skills in narrating and storytelling and to allow them to discover the best way of engaging the target audience of a real client.
Students will have the opportunity to explore and experiment with a wide range of media and technologies, after which they can further develop their technical skills in moving imagery and editing.
The faculty’s deputy dean, Dr Debbie Gan, said, “We are very honoured with this opportunity given by 1 Utama. This is important, as collaboration between universities and industries is critical for skills development for the students’ education and training. I am proud of our students as they have taken full advantage of the opportunity for their personal, intellectual and professional growth, especially when this is their first foray into the real world.”
1 Utama public relations officer Penn Tan said that the idea to reach out to First City UC came when their team was brainstorming for ways to further enhance their social media content to make it more exciting, while fulfilling their social responsibility requirements.
He added, “I was pleasantly surprised with the students’ presentations as they were very professional and well-prepared. This project is so successful we are already thinking of our next collaboration with First City UC.”
One of the participants, Puteri Hanna Megat Osman, said, “My group incorporated the concept of a selfie video, with narration from the camera’s point of view to inject the element of humour. The challenging part was in exploring and figuring out the editing style to best work with our concept. We had to do a lot of research and seek guidance from our ever-attentive tutor.
“Being our first real client experience, we discovered the company’s standard operation procedures and regulations, which we will need to abide by. We learnt a lot about working collaboratively and managing our time and resources effectively.”
Environment-friendly initiatives
The group that worked on the
“Go Green” concept impressed the 1 Utama representatives with their out of the box concept promoting environment-friendly initiatives in a humorous way and won first prize.
Second prize went to the group that presented the “Entertainment” theme while third prize was awarded to the group working on the “Social Media” theme.
The rest of the groups received consolation prizes. All the videos produced by the students will be posted on 1 Utama’s social media platforms.
Apart from the Graphic Design programme, First City UC also offers bachelor’s degree programmes in Interior Architecture and Design; and Furniture and Product Design in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University, UK, in addition to Foundation in Art and Design; and Diplomas in Interactive Design and Interior Design.
Furthermore, the university college will be rolling out more home-grown programmes next year, such as BA (Hons) in Fashion Marketing and Branding and Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Graphic Design, Interior Architecture and Design and Furniture and Product Design.
First City UC is holding its Open Day on Dec 17 and 18 from 10am to 6pm.
Counsellors are available to answer queries about the various programmes and scholarships on extended counselling hours from 8.30am to 6pm on weekdays and 10am to 4pm on weekends from now until Jan 15, 2017, excluding public holidays.
For further details, contact First City University College, Bandar Utama at 03-7727 3200, e-mail enquiry@firstcity.edu.my or visit www.firstcity.edu.my.
You can also connect via Facebook and Instagram accounts @firstcityUC.