iDID Online School "CREATIVE CLASS" launches, where you can receive feedback from your idol. What is the value of learning in the age of AI?

You can receive direct feedback from "that person you admire."

Could you please give us an overview of iDID's school program, "CREATIVE CLASS," which begins accepting applications today (July 8th)?

Nakamura:
School name"CREATIVE CLASS"This name has two meanings. One is simply that it is a "class to learn creativity." The other is a tribute to the concept of the "Creative Class," a group of knowledge workers with creative expertise, as proposed by urban economist Richard Florida. The main target audience is intermediate and advanced professionals, and it is a live online school that can be taken from anywhere in the country. In a small class setting, you can receive direct feedback from "that person you admire."

Courses teaching basic design knowledge and how to use design tools are now readily available online; you can find countless options if you search. That's why, for this school, I wanted to deliver skills and knowledge that are more personal and difficult to articulate or systematize. The course will last three months, with six 90-minute sessions held every other week. The basic format will involve 10 participants receiving direct feedback on assignments they create over approximately one week. In addition, I plan to include guidance and reflection sessions where participants can enjoy free communication.

Who are the people that the instructors admire?

Nakamura:
At CREATIVE CLASS, we call our instructors "Masters," and there are three criteria for being a Master: "Someone who is well-known in the industry," "Someone who publicly shares information on social media and other media," and "Someone who is eager to learn." In other words, they are "people who have achievements and the ability to communicate, and who do not compromise on their own growth." We are persuading these people, who are leading the digital creative industry, to join us while we talk about iDID's vision.

In reality, to be taught by such people, you would have to apply to the organization they work for, go through the interview process, get hired, and even be assigned to their team. But that takes a lot of time and is quite difficult, isn't it? With CREATIVE CLASS, you can choose an amazing, admired creator and be taught directly by them.

How did iDID end up starting such a school business?

Kato:
iDID's vision is to "revitalize the digital creative industry and increase the value of creators." The average annual salary for a web designer in Japan is only about 3.6 million yen. On the other hand, the average annual salary for a consultant, who works upstream, is about 12 to 20 million yen. However, talented designers are involved from the planning stage, facing the business challenges of their clients. In other words, they are handling a field similar to that of consultants, and they are also creating creative work with their hands, yet they are only paid one-fifth of what consultants do. This is not fair.

So, together with Mr. Taguchi from Fourdigit, we came up with the idea of ​​a service that would properly convey the value of creators and enhance their social standing. We've been trying out various initiatives at iDID over the past few years, such as making creators' work and information visible on a registration-based community platform, and promoting interaction among creators through events and media.

And one of the roles I want to fulfill within that is to "support creators and production companies in solving their problems."
In order to consider our future activity plan, we had the opportunity to ask 10 production companies about the challenges they are currently facing. As a result, the main concern for production companies was "education." With the skills required of designers becoming more sophisticated, it inevitably takes time and resources for each company to cultivate members who can become valuable assets. In order to create a service that can solve this problem, we arrived at a collaboration with Wav Design, which was already running a design school business in-house.

Nakamura:
Wavdesign started its school business in 2022. However, given the changing environment surrounding creators, we felt it was time to update our learning approach. We thought that launching a new school in the form of "supported by iDID" would create a place that could further invigorate the digital design industry.

Nakamura:
We at Wav Design resonated with the vision of enhancing the value of creators, and have been involved in the operation of iDID since the pre-event in 2023. Personally, I was also moved by Mr. Kato's determination to "support young creators, even though I am a creator myself."

Kato:
Since there are so many amazing creators out there, shouldn't we do as much as we can from our position? We've already done a fair amount of work to liven up the industry and create spaces, and people have been happy with it. But I felt it was time to start thinking about a more sustainable business, which led to this school project.

A win-win-win situation for creators, production companies, the industry, and instructors.

What kind of lectures are planned for CREATIVE CLASS, for example?

Nakamura:
For example, the master for August will be Katsuaki Utsunomiya of Shhh inc. The theme is "Practicing the 'entry point' and 'exit point' of design: Mind, hands, and eyes."

As designers increasingly collaborate with AI in production and implementation, the true value of future designers will be concentrated in their "macro conceptual ability," which serves as the "entrance" to design, and their "micro aesthetic sense," which determines the quality at the "exit." One possible role for future designers is to oversee the entire process, much like a Creative Director, using conceptual ability and aesthetic standards to influence society. Based on this awareness, this class systematically practices and strengthens the cycle of design: questioning and conceptualizing with the "mind," giving shape with the "hands," and refining with the "eyes." For more details, please check the CREATIVE CLASS website.

Kato:
Clear themes like "wireframes" and "presentations" will emerge, and I think it will effectively address the need for immediately employable talent that many companies have been struggling with. ...I'm starting to want to take the course myself (laughs).

Nakamura:
Honestly, we'd love to take it too (laughs).

Leading Masters in the Digital Creative Industry

A major feature is that it's a "feedback-based" system where you receive feedback on your assignments, rather than a "lecture-based" system centered around lectures.

Nakamura:
That's right. In fact, the concept for CREATIVE CLASS was built around this teaching method. This idea came from my own experience taking a copywriting course. I've often been involved in copywriting in my work, but I've found that it's difficult to communicate how to refine copy effectively. So, I took an online course taught by someone who created copy I admired, and it was a feedback-based course with assignments, which I found incredibly helpful.

While working on assignments alone is certainly a valuable learning experience, the feedback I received from other students was truly a treasure trove of learning. Among the students were people who had achieved success in international competitions or written advertising copy that I had seen before... After working on the assignment myself, I read the work of other students who had approached the same assignment from a different perspective, and heard all the feedback from these amazing creators. This was a truly overwhelming experience, and I felt like I learned something profound about 20 times in a single class.

For creators who are already working professionally, a feedback-based approach that incorporates a process of thinking and working independently is far more effective than a lecture-style approach where they simply listen, as it allows them to absorb knowledge and skills much more deeply. That's why I absolutely wanted CREATIVE CLASS to be a feedback-based program.

Indeed, it seems like the learning will deepen considerably.

Kato:
Having run a web production company for about 20 years, my impression is that when creators change jobs, it's often not because they're looking for more money, but because they want to improve their skills. Of course, there are cases where top-tier creators are headhunted and their annual income increases, but there are also many who leave the company because they want to further improve their skills. From the company's perspective, it means losing the creators they've invested in to other companies...

Nakamura:
A top performer, seeking further opportunities, might join another production company, or even start their own small company. When this happens, the skills and knowledge that were supposed to be passed down from the top performer to their juniors at their former company disappear. If the top performer starts their own company, they may not have the time to dedicate to training for a while, and once again, the transfer of skills doesn't happen... This is the reality that excellent skills are not being properly passed down, and it's happening all over the industry.

Furthermore, in production companies where a top talent has left, there may be great opportunities for the remaining mid-level and above designers. However, if they want to learn more in order to create excellent work, but there are few people or opportunities to teach them within the company, then they will need learning opportunities outside the company.

Therefore, if there is a system like CREATIVE CLASS that allows employees to gain valuable learning outside of their company, companies might be able to say, "You don't have to change jobs; you can just attend the school." Corporations can also apply, so companies can send their employees. I think this would be a great benefit for organizations that are not good at creating an environment to nurture star players.

Kato:
I think that even for amazing creators who have started their own companies or become freelancers, being able to pass on their skills is a benefit. I often hear them say that it's lonely not having someone to pass on their know-how to, unlike when they're company employees (laughs).

Nakamura:
Indeed, we would be delighted if the masters could also perceive those benefits. It would be a win-win-win situation for creators who want to grow, production companies that want their employees to grow, the industry, and the masters. We want iDID to become such a "learning hub," overcoming the hollowing out of technology transfer and helping to elevate intermediate and advanced designers.

When "people" and "passion" are involved, growth-oriented learning is born.

In the age of AI, what do you think the value of learning will be in the future?

Nakamura:
Frankly speaking, having worked in digital design for over 20 years, haven't you ever felt like your learning has stopped?

Kato:
No, there isn't.

Nakamura:
The needs for digital creative work change with the times. Up until now, we've always created creative work for "device screens," and initially, that was always done on a PC. But with the explosive growth of smartphones, the point of contact between consumers and creative work has shifted to smartphones. So for the past decade or so, we've been creating things for smartphones. However, as AR, VR, and wearable devices continue to increase, the definition of "creating for device screens" may be broken down.

That's why we have to keep learning. However, I also think that the people currently involved in digital creative work are inherently eager to learn. They learn the necessary skills and gain experience in line with changing needs. And when the time comes when those skills are no longer needed, they let go of what they've acquired and absorb new know-how... It seems like the people who remain are those who enjoy this cycle of learning and growth.

What do you think is necessary to deepen and continue learning in that way?

Kato:
I think it's "the involvement of people." I'm 48 this year, and for the past few years, I haven't felt the same sense of growth as when I was younger. But recently, I've been noticing an increase in instances where I feel my presentation and communication skills have improved... and when I thought about why that was, I realized it was because a certain staff member told me, "Kato, you're lacking in that skill, so you should work on it." No one had ever pointed that out to me, the CEO, before, but he passionately told me, "Kato, this is what you should improve," which reignited my desire for growth, which had been dormant, and led me to take action. There are many ways to acquire skills, but I felt that without the involvement of people's thoughts and passion, it really doesn't lead to growth.

Nakamura:
I understand. The reason I was able to gain such deep knowledge from my copywriting course was because I received passionate feedback and different perspectives on the assignments I had sincerely worked on. After all, learning is born in those kinds of moments.

Kato:
At iDID, we hope to expand beyond online schools to include workshops and other events in the future. There's a different kind of value in hands-on, real-world learning environments where you can actively participate and use sticky notes.

▶Details about "CREATIVE CLASS"CLICK HEREto check more details.