The Autumn Design Train roadshow has proved a huge hit with Designers across the South West. Courses were delivered throughout the region, in Bristol, Bath, Bournemouth, Taunton and Falmouth and the Design Forum was able to deliver a diverse programme.

In a groundbreaking collaboration between industry and 5 Universities from across the South West an amazing 100% of people who responded thought that the content of the courses was excellent and good while more than 95% felt more confident as a result of attending.

The courses were developed with the help of the HERDA Higher Skills Project funding and in an innovative move the South West Design Forum arranged for most of the courses to be delivered in a variety of locations so that high quality and cost effective training could be accessed by design professionals wherever they were based.

For the Leadership & Management workshop delivered by Emma Collins of Gallery for the University of the West of England 100% of delegates who gave feedback said that the seminar exceeded or met their expectations. Comments from delegates included “One of the most engaging and thought provoking courses I’ve attended” while another reported that it “identified real solutions to problems”.

The Project Management workshop which was delivered by Viv Minton on behalf of University College Falmouth was in the words of one delegate “Informative, structured, and insightful” while another said “Excellent tools and methods that can be implemented easily”. 94% of delegates reported that they had learnt new skills.

John Boult from Product First delivered the course on Service Design for the University of Plymouth and 100% of delegates said that they felt more confident as a result of attending the session. Comments recorded were “Informative, practical, useful, and relevant”, “Very good presenter and materials” and “Really chimed with my own experience”.

The Digital Imaging session was delivered form the Arts University College Bournemouth 100% of delegates who responded thought the course was excellent with one saying “Loads of new info” and another “Lots of shortcuts”.

100% of delegates who attended the Sustainable Design workshop delivered by Lynne Elvins for the Bath Spa University reported that their expectations were met or exceeded. Comments ranged from “Very thought provoking” to “Broad sweep of issuess handled in a rational open way” while another commented “I wasn’t sure what to expect! But found the content useful, interesting and informative”.

Roger Proctor, Chairman of South West Design Forum, said “It’s very encouraging to know that this collaborative initiative has been so successful. It has been based on a thorough survey of the training needs of the design industry in the South West and so has been created by the industry for industry. Feedback has been excellent and we look forward to offering more courses in 2010.”