Why Study at First Media Design School (FMDS)?
Hi! You might be wondering what makes our design school different compared to others. Listed below are specific strengths and opportunities First Media Design School prides itself to impart to its students.
- Our Founder and Principal
“FMDS is the only design school managed and owned by veteran designers.”
Mark Phooi is the founder and principal of FMDS. He is also a qualified designer with a Master’s Degree in Design from the University of New South Wales.
Mark started his first design agency in 1989 as a one-man unit and grew to become one of Singapore’s largest communication groups. In addition, he is a serial entrepreneur, having set up more than 20 design studios in Singapore and five regional markets being Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh, Manila and Bangkok.
Furthermore, he has trained and mentored over 50 designpreneurs in Singapore and other ASEAN countries.
To recognise his achievements, Mark was awarded the Rotary & ASME Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2006.
In 2012, he published his own best selling book on Designpreneurship titled “Think like a Sage, Work like a Fool, Act like a Criminal
2. Qualified and Approved Design Lecturers
Design Industry Practitioners
All FMDS lecturers are active design and media practitioners. Our class lessons and activities are built around current industry experiences and trends that can give students an advantage when learning at FMDS.
All lecturers are highly qualified and approved by the Committee for Private Education (CPE).
3. Business Support, Creative Awards, and Design Industry Recognition
FMDS is Supported by First Media Pte Ltd
First Media is a major player in Singapore’s design arena (local MNC, stat board, ministries). The company has won numerous awards. First Media is also an awardee of the Enterprise 50 Startup Award in 2005.
4. Overseas Education/University Pathways
a. Australia – Griffith University, Queensland
b. United Kingdom – University of the West of England
In completion of the FMDS Advanced Diploma, graduates are given an option to top-up another 12 to 18 months with our international university partners and graduate with a degree.
Both our university partners are government institutions that have more than 100 years of education history. They are known for their quality teaching standards and for having a high employability rate of graduates.
5. Singapore Government Accreditations with CPE, SSG & WSG
Committee for Private Education (CPE)
FMDS is registered with the Committee for Private Education.
SkillsFuture Singapore
FMDS is also an Authorised Training Organisation (ATO) with SkillsFuture Singapore Agency. As an ATO, FMDS offers heavily subsidised Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) design and design enterprise development workshops to business leaders, PMETs, and the general public.
6. FMDS Designpreneurship Teaching Methodology
FMDS has 4 proprietary stages of designpreneurship pedagogy developed from 30 years of industry experience by our principal.
a. Self Awareness – Goals, Strengths, Direction
b. Design Competency – Whole Brain Thinking, Design Skill Proficiency
c. Management Training – Design Management, Business Logic, Studio and Project Management
d. Design Entrepreneurship – Leadership and Enterprise Building in the Creative Industry
7. Financial Aid Schemes
FMDS offers financial assistance schemes to students who are passionate and talented but are in need of financial support.
We offer the following schemes: Deferred Payment Scheme, Term Scholarship, Full Scholarship & Tuition Grants. These are schemes created to help financially support students’ needs and to recognise and reward commendable students.
Aside from this FMDS also offers flexible payment schemes via instalments, to give regular students better ease in paying for school fees.
8. Stackable Diploma Leading to a Degree
FMDS offers students a stackable qualification system. Currently, we have courses in different durations.
Specialist Diploma – 6 Months
Diploma – 18 Months
Advanced Diploma – 24 Months
Our Advanced Diploma programme takes only a total of 24 months as compared to the conventional 36 months diploma programmes offered by polytechnic schools.
9. Dual Admission Track
2 Admission Tracks Criteria
a. Admission by Academic Assessment
Have a minimum of 10 years of education (lower primary and secondary school education) with a proficiency in English
b. Admission via Portfolio
This is conducted under a talent base and/or creative industry’s work experience. Students who have been in the industry but do not meet the minimum academic qualification may also be admitted into FMDS.
10. FMDS Overseas Institutional Presence
Besides Singapore, FMDS programmes are also delivered by our international partners. Currently, our programmes are being run in four other countries.
Jakarta, Indonesia
Cebu, Philippines
Accra, Ghana
St Louise, Mauritius
11. Design Management and Designpreneurship Upgrading Programmes
Design Management and Designpreneurship Upgrading Programmes
FMDS is the only design school that offers a design management career upgrading system that gives designers an option to become managers and entrepreneurs in the creative industry.
Design Industry Focus
FMDS teaching methodology is design industry-centric. The core lessons of our programmes are crafted to develop skills which are most sought after in today’s creative industry. It is then supplemented by design and business theories and principles to further strengthen a student’s learning.
Live Design Projects
Through the design studios of First Media, FMDS students have the opportunity to handle live projects (commercial projects) as part of their coursework submission.
12. Business Opportunities in Creative Industries (Local and Overseas)
Designpreneurship Training & Mentorship
FMDS is the only design school which promotes the teaching of designprenurship. We teach design with an emphasis to encourage students to take on an entrepreneurship career in the creative industry.
We also offer mentorship to FMDS graduates in the practice of designpreneurship.
Employment Opportunities
From past surveys conducted, FMDS design graduates are gainfully employed within the first 3 months of their graduation.
FMDS works with a panel of three other Human Resource consulting firms which provides better employment placement opportunities for FMDS graduates.
A design career is not just about designing. It is about finding sustainable solutions through design.
FMDS prides itself as the only design school to offer its students a pathway to achieve their ultimate aspiration as designers; these are tested and tried formulas to a successful design enterprise building i.e. Designpreneurship.