Oscar’s Design Academy For Creativity

“You don’t have to be a great artist to be a creative,” said Oscar Muyambo, a digital artist and entrepreneur with a vision to mobilise creative people into an army of capable visual narrators.

The story began by identifying a need within the arts community and that need was sustainability.

According to Muyambo, the narrative of the struggling artist has become stale and uninspiring.

“Many creative people use the struggle narrative to acquire funds from third parties but this is not a sustainable game plan. My academy seeks to bridge the gap between the content creator and the corporations that understand the value of branding and image, which is where the creative come in,” explained Muyambo.

The academy seeks to position versatile content creators with SMEs that want to explore the full potential of marketing in a social media world. The biggest corporations in the world took notice of this early on.

A survey conducted by Infosys revealed that 89% of consumers who engage retailers via social media report that the interactions have an impact on their purchasing choices. The report goes further to state that through personalisation, companies report a 61% increase in profits.

Personalisation is a broad concept that requires a contribution from an array of creative fields, which include web development, graphic design, animation, film and photography, to name a few.

“I have spent eight years learning the art of brand building through various applications, which include After Effects and Illustrator. This experience has taught me many important aspects of the business world which I want to share with my students.

“Through this academy, I am offering a chance to foster a working relationship that guarantees work for committed students who I see as potential partners,” he said.

Oscar’s clients include PG Glass, the Law Society of Namibia, Olivia’s Kitchen, Heritage Private School and Metcalfe Beukes Legal Practitioners.

The appeal of networking opportunities and versatility the academy offers got the attention of one former Nust student, Jonas Sebastiao, who dropped out from his web development programme to train with the newly founded academy. Jonas enrolled for a three-month programme on mastering web development, photoshop, video editing and photography.

“The content covered is extensive. You do not merely learn to be technically savvy, you learn a great deal on social media integration. Studying all four of these courses would have cost Jonas over N$12 000 at Nust. He only paid N$3 500,” said Muyambo.

University retention rates are dropping at a dramatic rate as many students have chosen to postpone studies due to Covid-19. Nust reported that more than 3 000 students were unable to access online material and attend remote classes.

In the US, several students are appealing for a decrease in tuition fees as they argue that the value of online classes is not synonymous with the contact seminars they had before the pandemic.

The future of formal education has not only affected students but also institutions’ day-to-day operations.

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