A three day short course in London that provided unparalleled access to globally successful creative entrepreneurs, artists and designers to learn about how to successfully initiate, drive and manage creative projects and businesses.
Overview
This three-day short course attracted an international cohort of 20 aspiring entrepreneurs and creative leaders who were given exclusive access to studios, galleries and creative workspaces during site visits across London, alongside talks from RCA academics and the founders of successful start-ups from the award winning incubator InnovationRCA.
Course leaders Philip Dodd, Director of the award-winning agency Made in China UK, and Dr Nadia Danhash, Director of InnovationRCA, hosted sessions as an “in conversation”, with rich interaction between participants and speakers.
Course structure
Delivered at the new RCA Battersea campus in London, this practical short course was structured around three core themes: building a business, developing new markets and growing and developing a team.
Industry-leading guest speakers included Patrik Schumacher (Principal, Zaha Hadid Architects), Calum Sutton (Founder, Sutton PR), Chelsea Chen (Co-Founder, Emotech) and Neil McConnon (Director of International Partnerships, Tate Modern).
Exclusive site visits to studios, galleries and creative workspaces in London included the Sarabande Foundation, set up by Alexander McQueen, Sotheby’s London, Tate Modern and Antony Gormley Studio.
Outcomes
Participants came away with invaluable insights into the intricacies of business management, team growth and market expansion within the creative sector. Hands-on workshops instilled practical tools and design thinking methodologies, and interactive talks gave in-depth insight from leading creative executives, providing strategies and tools to overcome common challenges and thrive in today's dynamic global market landscape.
Find out more about the next course on 18–20 September 2024.
“The speakers were all globally savvy and successful, sharing their knowledge, business secrets and difficulties - and the pleasurable and illuminating visits by Black London Taxis to creative businesses across London helped everyone to grasp how successful businesses operate.”
Short Course Leader
Key details
Gallery
More information
Course contributors
The course was led by Philip Dodd (Director, Made in China UK) and Dr Nadia Danhash (Director, InnovationRCA).
Rich, interactive “in conversation” sessions included:
- Patrik Schumacher (Principal, Zaha Hadid Architects): Starting the business and building it
- Calum Sutton (Founder, Sutton PR): How to make communications more effective
- Eva Guerra (former Executive Director of Designit): Managing the growth of a team
- Chelsea Chen (Co-Founder of Emotech): Developing new global markets from London
- InnovationRCA Graduate Business Founders Clara Gaggero Westaway (Special Projects), Emma Shipley (homeware and accessories designer) and Eleanor Nadimi (textiles designer)
- Professor Emeritus Jeremy Myerson (Director, WORKTECH Academy and former Director, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design RCA): What kind of workplace culture do you want to create?
- Dr Nick de Leon (Executive Education Lead, School of Design, RCA): Innovation workshop
RCA Executive Education
RCA Executive Education delivers senior-level custom executive education programmes for business, government, the public sector and universities globally.
Each custom programme is delivered by a leading RCA faculty member whose subject-matter expertise aligns with your specific learning objectives and strategic goals.
We can leverage world-class design research expertise and teaching from the Schools of Architecture, Arts & Humanities, Design and Communication.
Our award winning research centres and incubators include the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Material Science Research Centre, the Intelligent Mobility Design Centre and InnovationRCA.
Our graduates lead and influence many of the world’s global businesses, including including Apple, Bentley, Burberry, IDEO, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia Motors, Porsche and Samsung.
Learn more about our projects on our website.
Or contact us to discuss developing a custom programme:
- Peter Christian, Head of Executive Education
- Hattie Allen, Executive Education Manager
Made in China UK
Made in China (UK) Ltd is an award-winning creative business agency, founded in 2004. It works in the field of culture and education between China and Europe. It has been first in the class – staging the first museum tour of a major Western artist across five museums in China; working with a major Chinese developer to bring the V&A Museum to China and founding the Global Private Museum Summit which brought together private museums from all over the world. It has developed and run professional experience courses for the advertising giant Ogilvy as well as with the V&A.
InnovationRCA
InnovationRCA is the Royal College of Art’s centre for entrepreneurship and commercialisation, helping staff, students and alumni transform compelling ideas into successful businesses.
InnovationRCA has been assessed by McKinsey & Co as a “world-class spinout incubator and an inspirational organisation acting as a significant driver of entrepreneurial growth, delivering impressive results” (McKinsey Internal Review for the RCA, 2017). In July 2019, InnovationRCA won the ‘Accelerator of the Year 2019’ award given by the UK Business Angels Association, in recognition of the programme’s excellence and InnovationRCA’s outstanding incubation track record.
Contact us
Get in touch with us if you'd like to find out more about this or any of our other short courses.
innovation-education@rca.ac.uk
