Feng Zhu School of Design

[Domethieus]

I have questions regarding the school, do they consider gpa?. I only just started drawing Fall 2011 but wondering if they will accept me if I can work for the school. Also, wasn't sure if drawing skill is what they are looking for. Any ideas on what type of students they are looking?

[saprissa9]

Last video Feng explained that he wants to see the mind of a designer when a person submits their portfolio. He doesn't care about your drawing skills or your education background. You want to work for the school? Like a part-time job? I don't think you are going to have the time for a part time job while you study there.

[elcalvin]

I also want to join FZD school in 2014 , so i am preparing myself for it .
I Just wondered that how much salary you can earn in concept art field as a fresher ? (Basically i don't much care about money since i love art more XD , but still can't ignore that i need to earn enough that i be able to payoff my loan which i will take for this course n monthly expenses so need to know >.> )

[DennisH-Art]

Has anyone been able to pay some of their fee/loans with scholarships from their countries?

Im hoping to be able to join this school in possibly 2014 or 2015. My plan to finance the whole thing is to try and get some money from various swedish Scholarships, and also to take some loans. According to my teachers, this should be possible.

[peeble]

Hey peeps,

I know that this is quite far in the past, but I am posting this for the benefit of future readers of this thread, and hopefully it will help provide some useful insight as this (awesome) thread has given me.
The thread has mostly provided extremely fair comments and there are only a handful negative ones around, regarding FZD.
Okay, I am NOT trying to bash any one who has provided negative comments - I really honestly was relieved to hear something that isn't putting FZD up on a pedestal for once!
But having read those comments carefully, I used my own life experience to analyze and apply to those comments, to see how much sense I can extract from it.

Now I do not attend FZD but I am looking to apply to an intake next year.
With that being said, I have been in art school since 2009 and have been to The One Academy (Malaysia) for fundamentals and am currently studying Illustration in Sheridan College (Canada).

In the past 3 years, I have learnt this - discriminations and favouritism between professors (Art Directors, teachers, clients, whatever label you want to put on it) will ALWAYS exist no matter where you are in the world, what school you go to and regardless of how you feel about your work.
I have experienced first-hand where students were literally told to be physically divided into two sides of the class, the "good" and the "bad", as it had been mentioned previously in this thread by someone who has attended FZD. So, you should know that this does not just happen in FZD, but possibly elsewhere - it all depends on the professor.

I have been working freelance for a couple years now and I can say I have had awesome clients and terrible ones.
The same rule will apply to professors at any institution, and I am not surprised even more so at FZD.
Now, because I am fortunate enough to KNOW that I want to work in this industry, I have developed a very strong mindset and attitude towards this that makes hard criticism and late nights for me easy to accept and adapt to.
I understand that not every one is the same way and that is okay! :-) But that is when something negative comes up or someone gets frustrated or severely disappointed.

I am not the best artist in the world, but I work my butt off and I have sacrificed a lot of social activities, movies and games to get the results I have gotten.
And I do understand that some people are more naturally skilled and are able to do amazing work in 3 hours, while others take 15 hours to do something that does not even come close, it does show when someone really has put a lot of effort in something.
This being said, if you really want to work in this industry, and do what Feng and any other artist does, then you need to be prepared that clients are not going to care about what happens behind the scenes - and therefore I can understand the logic behind some of the profs/ADs being brutal when it comes to work.

Of course, I do not condone unfair treatment of students/artists. I had one particular professor who I could not get along with because I felt he was unprofessional (he would lose original copies of student work, and because of his carelessness not provide a grade for the students).
So because I saw him as that, and showed how I felt, he of course, did not get along with me and gave me a bad grade.
BUT I felt like I definitely deserved it as I showed him a lack of respect and I definitely agree that I did not deserve any respect from him.

So you see, I have met some intensely brutal seniors in my studies and jobs, and while some of them may seem unreasonable, there is ALWAYS going to be a reason why someone has treated you 'unfairly', and there are always reasons to their actions, whether it be professional or personal.
Only someone, who is literally crazy, will have absolutely no reasons or logic behind their actions.

So for anyone who is looking into applying for FZD but put off by the negative things mentioned in this thread, definitely take those first-hand experiences into account because if you do not like how they sound then of course, FZD will not be the place for you!
But you need to be prepared that you may or may not experience something similar or worse in another institution.

I haven't even applied let alone get accepted or attend FZD, but from what I can summarize from the comments on this helpful thread is that anyone who does not have a background in art or if they have not been drawing a whole lot, you should not be disappointed if you do not learn a lot of drawing or basics from FZD, as that is not what the school is set out to teach. From what I have read, I think FZD School of Design is set out to create a "real workplace environment" or an internship-type teaching style which means no one is going to hold your hand or listen to why you were to hungover to do your work.
They definitely should not market it as open to people who do not possess drawing skills as this misleads people into thinking that the school will teach you all the 101s. BUT it is a school that focuses on the design of something and not how well it is rendered, as well as the fact that drawing skill and techniques improve with mileage - personally, I had no disillusions about that.

I even read through the website and YouTube replies from the school that people who apply should be prepared for the intensive program and that they should not have any health issues that would be worsened by the heavy workload and therefore not only endangering their life and disrupting their participation at school.

So from someone who ruptured a spinal disc from sitting too long from doing art projects, and consistently stays up 3-4 nights without sleep (I consider this normal), I can tell you it is all a state of mind, and that if you have passion and love doing this, nothing (not even being put in the "bad" side of class, or having someone else in your class excel for 'political' reasons) should hinder you from gaining valuable and priceless knowledge and experience, regardless of which school you choose.

Sorry for the long long long post, but I really hope it helps, especially to those who are just starting out and trying to get into an Art School past secondary education, or having trouble deciding which school to go to.

Also, feel free to contact me and use my experience to help you! Learn from MY mistakes hahaha.
My deviant art - ivaseow.deviantart.com
My blog - ivaseow.tumblr.com

I will not give you advice, so please understand that I will only relate from my personal experience.

Thank you for reading and cheers!

[Nator]

Hello!

Thanks for all the great info you guys post!

Does anyone know if Gnomon's one year entertainment design program is as good as the one year program at FZD school? Also for someone looking to work in the United States after graduating from school which one of these 2 schools would be a better option?

Many thanks in advance guys!

[pap3rcut]

Hey,

I recently got accepted into the June intake 2013. I still need to scramble together some more money but at least I have a place there now and I'm really excited! I'm currently trying to figure out where to live during the course and this thread has been quite useful, so thank you. It's leaning towards novenahall (the hostel) but if anyone here wants a roommate or has some advice regarding the issue, please reply. I figure that living close to the school will be beneficial to my sleep and overall well being while studying so splitting the rent would be awesome.

If you are curious, you can find most of my artwork that I used for submission here: http://thundart.blogspot.se/

PS: First post in this forum so again, hey!

[Vak]

I think gnomon is primarily a 3d school. Could be wrong.

In the end it depends on what you want to do. When you say working in the US, what is it that you have in mind?

The biggest issue with working in the states is visa. If you're american, you shouldn't have problems finding a job once you finish either school, assuming you don't slack.

[Nator]

I think gnomon is primarily a 3d school. Could be wrong.

In the end it depends on what you want to do. When you say working in the US, what is it that you have in mind?

The biggest issue with working in the states is visa. If you're american, you shouldn't have problems finding a job once you finish either school, assuming you don't slack.

Hi Vak thanks for answering, what I really meant was Concept Design Academy instead of Gnomon must've got them mixed up sorry for that hehe.

I'm not american so when I say working in the US I mean that after finishing school probably the best place to find a job in the industry would be the US since it is the largest market, so I was thinking that if you study in the US you might have a bigger chance of finding a job in a company since you are already there and ideally would have made some connections while studying.

So with that in mind I was thinking maybe CDA might have an advantage over FZD, anyways I'm relatively new in this field so I might be mistaken

Cheers

[drawnnorth]

Hey,

I recently got accepted into the June intake 2013. I still need to scramble together some more money but at least I have a place there now and I'm really excited! I'm currently trying to figure out where to live during the course and this thread has been quite useful, so thank you. It's leaning towards novenahall (the hostel) but if anyone here wants a roommate or has some advice regarding the issue, please reply. I figure that living close to the school will be beneficial to my sleep and overall well being while studying so splitting the rent would be awesome.

If you are curious, you can find most of my artwork that I used for submission here: http://thundart.blogspot.se/

PS: First post in this forum so again, hey!

Hey man, I'm also applying at the moment for the june intake, really hope I get in. Did it take you long to get through everything in the application?

[Vak]

I'm no expert, but it's kinda hard to get a work visa in the US if you don't have previous work experience in your field I believe. Unless you are really good, good enough for the company to buy you a Visa, which is around 10 grand or so. Again, I'm no expert. Ask the schools that interest you directly via e-mail. They should know more

[pap3rcut]

Hey man, I'm also applying at the moment for the june intake, really hope I get in. Did it take you long to get through everything in the application?

Awesome! That depends on what you consider long, I don't really have anything to refer to. But I guess i started my application in November somewhere and got accepted in late December. I'm still applying for the student pass and whatnot though so yeah, it takes a while. Best of luck man, I hope you get in!

[drawnnorth]

Awesome! That depends on what you consider long, I don't really have anything to refer to. But I guess i started my application in November somewhere and got accepted in late December. I'm still applying for the student pass and whatnot though so yeah, it takes a while. Best of luck man, I hope you get in!

Ah right, After reading some stuff in this thread where some people were deferred a year, wasn't sure I'd have enough time!
Well its gunna be a brutal year by the sounds of things, all the best!

Also for anyone whose in Singapore at the moment or any past students. Do you re-con its worth learning Mandarin?
I think I'd like to try and live out there after the course is finished. Just wondering how much it is actually spoken.

[katmachiavelli]

Hey,

I recently got accepted into the June intake 2013. I still need to scramble together some more money but at least I have a place there now and I'm really excited! I'm currently trying to figure out where to live during the course and this thread has been quite useful, so thank you. It's leaning towards novenahall (the hostel) but if anyone here wants a roommate or has some advice regarding the issue, please reply. I figure that living close to the school will be beneficial to my sleep and overall well being while studying so splitting the rent would be awesome.

If you are curious, you can find most of my artwork that I used for submission here: http://thundart.blogspot.se/

PS: First post in this forum so again, hey!

Congrats man. I'm just about to finish Term 1 and I've learned one helluva lot here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Just remember not to slack or fall behind; it can be rough getting back on the horse after you've fallen off, but it's not impossible if this is what you truly want to do!

Hello!

Thanks for all the great info you guys post!

Does anyone know if Concept Design Academy's program is as good as the one year program at FZD school? Also for someone looking to work in the United States after graduating from school which one of these 2 schools would be a better option?

Many thanks in advance guys!

(I corrected Gnomon to CDA in the above quote)

To answer the first question, I think CDA's program is more geared toward creating illustrations and paintings for concept and marketing art, but not so much a production level of thinking. I could be a bit wrong there, but having looked into it prior to FZD, that was the gist I got from it. In FZD, the art directors will repeatedly drill the dichotomy between art and design into you so your designs don't just look cool but look believable in how they function.

As for the second question, where you went to school doesn't matter. There are plenty of people in the industry who didn't go to school in the US, or go to a design school at all and are completely self-taught. I should also note that the industry is a global one, and American companies have offices and wholly-owned subsidiaries all over the world, if you're looking for an in-house job. That's really the only kind of job which will ask you to relocate to work in-house, but only if they need you in a certain studio. The alternative is to freelance for a company, which allows you to work from anywhere in the world so long as you are skilled and disciplined enough to get your work done before the deadlines. Freelancing offers higher pay, but at the expense of some of the benefits and stability you would get from an in-house position, but at the end of the day your portfolio is what will determine whether or not you get to work for the big US-based companies, not where you live.

but i love hot chicks with guns lol
my folio is www.rhysgriffiths.net too, thats the one i applied with.
i'm starting feb next year, heaps excited!
my only worry is not getting enough sleep.. i function so badly with under 10 hrs sleep :| i suppose i'll get used to it, or try and manage my time super well!

The school will train your body to get used to it (or so I'm told; it still hasn't happened to me yet ). Congrats on getting in, your work is really badass!

[Deadline]

I've been contemplating to apply for this school, but I'm wondering how much it focuses on vehicles and such. I really want to work with fantasy-type projects in the future, and from what I've seen of the student projects each term, a majority of them have something to do with cars and trucks.
Could any past/current students enlighten me on this subject?
Many thanks in advance.

[katmachiavelli]

I've been contemplating to apply for this school, but I'm wondering how much it focuses on vehicles and such. I really want to work with fantasy-type projects in the future, and from what I've seen of the student projects each term, a majority of them have something to do with cars and trucks.
Could any past/current students enlighten me on this subject?
Many thanks in advance.

There's definitely a focus on vehicles, but also on organic stuff, too. Our term did insects, skeletons and creatures. It really depends on how strong the term is, though; the curriculum is adjusted to how the overall class is doing, so stronger terms are given more complex assignments.

[katmachiavelli]

Last video Feng explained that he wants to see the mind of a designer when a person submits their portfolio. He doesn't care about your drawing skills or your education background. You want to work for the school? Like a part-time job? I don't think you are going to have the time for a part time job while you study there.

Fun fact: you're not actually allowed to hold a job while in this program. You won't have the time to do it, either, given that you'll be in class from 10am to 6:30pm, but it's a moot point since it's forbidden. Those of you who are planning to come to FZD will get this whole talk while dealing with the initial paperwork.

Speaking of, which of you guys are coming to the February intake?

[shutupandwhisper]

*eep* i am just got to singapore 2 days ago in fact!

i'd much prefer to do fantasy stuff too, but hey it can't hurt having some vehicle stuff for my portfolio.

anyone else in the february intake? add me on facebook or deviantart if so
shutupandwhisper.deviantart.com
facebook.com/shutupandwhisper

[Deadline]

There's definitely a focus on vehicles, but also on organic stuff, too. Our term did insects, skeletons and creatures. It really depends on how strong the term is, though; the curriculum is adjusted to how the overall class is doing, so stronger terms are given more complex assignments.

Thanks for the reply, vehicles are really not my forte, I better start practising then!

[34nohou]

I'm coming to FZD on this Feb too, pretty excited about the whole thing. (first post on CA.org after ages of lurking, hah!)
Rents here are so very expensive though ; A ;
Any of you guys trying to look for a place to stay too?

[teddybear123]

Man Its been a really long time since FZD. Here is my review and advise to the new students.

FZD school of Design. Will change your life, and redefine your understanding of Hard Working. It is a program to push you to your limits.

Since this forum started there are reviews that states the school is biased and splitting students into good and bad.
Until my batch which was last year. I would like to say that that is no longer true or valid.

After talking to an old alumni recently, I believe FZD started out with the assumption that the only way to motivate the students is through negative reinforcements.
Now they are slowly changing. They use more of a positive reinforcements to get you going. If you are hard working, they will post your work on the school and Feng's blog. Giving you exposure, and trust me a lot of professionals view the blog updates. That is the best reward you can get.

Now of course if you are lazy, unmotivated or just down right negative, the instructors will no doubt give you very little feed back, since you won't be listening anyway... Even if your work is good, they will feel that you don't deserve the exposure.
As long as you are hard working, it is reflected in your work, and the instructors will definitely know, they will do their best to help you out.
-----------------------------
Now hours of Sleep. You might get enough on Term 1. But Term 2 & 3, never. perhaps only on Friday nights. Term 2 from my observation is when everyone goes into depression or have anger issues, or both. With the only exception are the Super stars of the class. It is last Last man standing just gotta pull it through, and Term 3 will be better.
-----------------------------
In term 2 is when all the top students form their little group. It is by no means anything bad, but the nature of things. Sharing of knowledge, and at times helping each other out. Average students and their group also do the same, but funny enough, even those that are not qualified to do so.

It is here I would like to make a point. Good students rarely give comments or tips to other students, the not-so-good ones always love to give their opinions. You will know who they are in term 1, the reason is the "not-so-good ones" either loves attention or just want to proof their are good and worthy to hang out with the elites of the class. Sometimes they will even loudly interrupt instructors when the instructors answer your questions.

My only regret is to listen to them, probably should have told them to eat a bag of poop and show some manners, but that would be social suicide. SO when you guys encounter such students! Kindly ask them to be quiet, and re-ask the question after class.
Remember some of the students may draw better than you, but they are not qualified to give advise, and if you are unlucky like me one of them might even feed you wrong information. This costly mistake really prohibited my growth during the crucial times in Term 2. In short: Always get your answers from teachers no matter how stupid, because good students won't share, unless you are extremely good friends with them. And Bad students would love to make you one of them.


Now what is Term 2, is the most important time when you explore possibilities with your art/designs, don't be afraid to make mistakes, f it just go for it! Because Term 3 is when you work on your portfolio. There is no time to mess around.
--------------------------
Outcast There were three in my class, they are very nice people, but two of them just doesn't know how to study or just can't take the hardship. One of them is extremely slow..... when he was done with FZD he still haven't got his Term 1 basics down. Now...If you fall behind, instructions won't say "Hey something is wrong with your work and it seems you don't understand, why don't you draw in front of me now, so I can identify your mistakes". That WON'T HAPPEN. YOU have to DO that!
I believe thats where that outcast student went wrong, too shy to ask, and have very little to no friends.
How to be an outcast?
- Fall extremely behind in work.
- Watch video clips and play games in class
- Be an A- hole.
- Huge ego, attitude problem

Just be anyone of those and good luck, people will start ignoring you, later avoid sitting next to you completely. Even if you are good, but have an ego problem, people will still ignore you, that is exactly what happened to one of the guys in my class. Fun fact: All the guys in the class want to beat the living hell out of him, but strict Singapore law kept us at bay.

-------------------------
Fear: Now I still believe the instructors still try to pressure the students with a bit of acting, such as acting Mad or dissapointment etc... They probably don't realize this have an opposite than intended effects.

Now what happens is, at first everyone joins the class all fresh and still thinking straight in term 1.
But after awhile the people just stop thinking all together, some FEAR the instructors! I do not know why. They would do the homework, just so the instructors won't get mad. In term 3, I asked one of the guys, why are you still working on the sketchbook (2 weeks before portfolio due date), when you are lacking in page numbers for portfolio, and his response was "Because the instructor might get mad"..... (not word for word but you get what I mean)

Now sketchbook is important in Term 1 and Term 2 for visual library, but in Term 3 is all about portfolio. People that still focus on sketching is because their line work is extremely good and CAN USED IN THE PORTFOLIO. If you are bad or average, and your sketches won't stand a chance against the other students in the class, don't waste time on it!

And as you have guessed that student didn't include any sketches for his final portfolio and that is a lot of time wasted.

If there is anything is that equally important to learning in FZD that is thinking on how to improve, and FEAR does not help with that. If you are just trying to please the instructors,
don't, because then you are just doing homework, rather than learning and applying the materials taught in class.

---------------------------

What to do before coming to FZD?
1) Draw plenty of anatomy, and creature anatomy, improve as much as you can on it. Because you can only get good by practicing. FZD just not enough time for a good study.
2) Study how joint works, trust me FZD will make you do it, but why not start early? It will help you in designing anything mechanical.
3) Architecture, exterior and interior design, also studied in FZD, but start early, lessens the pain in school.

4) Don't worry about painting, or colors etc... All of those WILL be TAUGHT IN CLASS.
5) Study designs of man-made-objects. Cars-planes-ships- guns etc... Its all about design in FZD, you don't need to draw it well. Don't waste time on IT!
Study the little details of where the things are! And the function of it!

Top students have plenty of visual library on that stuff, and average joes, not so much or just lacking.

I state again ITS ALL ABOUT DESIGN in FZD, and if you just want learn how to illustrate pretty girl portraits, FZD is not the place for that.

-------------------------

Assumptions:

1) There are time for gaming at school.
NO! You and everyone WILL QUIT gaming in school, if you don't, gg you just wasted your school fee.

2) Chill out on weekends.
Again NO! Its just WORK AND SLEEP.
YOU WILL ONLY TRAVEL 2 DESTINATIONS! School and back home! And buy food on the way.
Why? Because the amount of work is just too much. You can't pull it off without all nighter.
Unless you are a professional going back into education and able to finish a piece in 3-4 hours. Then ya ok you are the envy of your class.

Just a bit of warning though, Instructors will push you to your limits, and they will say eyes turning red everyday is good. They might suggest to you to ruin your body!
Don't listen to that!
Its been many many months since FZD, with enough sleep my eyes is still a bit Red everyday, from inflammation, there is no fixing it! Besides trying to keep it from getting worse.
Don't be stupid like I am, if your body needs the rest, let it rest well for a few days. Any permanent damage is not good.

The instructors have good intentions, their job is to push you hard so you get a get a job. You role is to determine when is enough. You call the shoots remember that.

If you really need an example: Think of Gym Trainers. There is always a few more reps.

----------------
Remember FZD is only 1 year.

During your year there, is how much you take out of it, and whats more important is the big picture, what are you doing with your life afterwards.

Before attending FZD. Ask yourself this! Do you LIVE and BREATH just to DRAW? Can you do this for the rest of your life?
Is there a backup plan if you fail at FZD? What if concept art isn't what you thought it would be? What then?

You do not need to have all the answers before attending the school, but if you do, you won't be as stressed in FZD.

FZD is not everything, it is what happens after it.

I hope my 2cents helped in someway.

[Whirly]

All this talk of sleep deprivation and working at the limit of your ability to endure it seems totally counter productive to me. (Still would love to go to FZD mind you ) .. but surely working this way would HINDER your ability to learn. You wont be thinking as clearly. In theory you would work 8 hours on something while not be enough rested to think at your best but only need 2 hours to grasp it as well if you are thinking clearly because you are at least well rested enough.

Any thoughts?

[[email protected]]

All this talk of sleep deprivation and working at the limit of your ability to endure it seems totally counter productive to me. (Still would love to go to FZD mind you ) .. but surely working this way would HINDER your ability to learn. You wont be thinking as clearly. In theory you would work 8 hours on something while not be enough rested to think at your best but only need 2 hours to grasp it as well if you are thinking clearly because you are at least well rested enough.

I totally agree. I believe the principal task of a teacher is to motivate students: well-motivated students will learn faster, and keep going. However, motivating students is also the hardest part, as different students need a different approach, so teaching requires psychological insight. It is much easier to kick everybody in the same direction, and to kill whoever doesn't follow.

This is not to say that school should be a relaxed 9-5 job. Students should be prepared to get the most out of their time, which is usually too short, and sleeping might not be highest priority. I do believe some styles of teaching are more efficient than others. Speaking about efficiency, I have seen students hanging around at fastfood joints all afternoon, bridging the gap between their morning and evening classes, and to claim the morning after they pulled an all nighter, and they were soooo motivated to work so hard. Well, there is a difference between working hard and working smart...

[drawnnorth]

...FZD is not everything, it is what happens after it.

I hope my 2cents helped in someway.

Thanks for the heads up, I got accepted for the june intake. I cant wait to get started, term 2 sounds rough!

[anonymous123]

Hey guys long time lurker, first post. I made an account just to address the concerns of prospective students looking to attend FZD School of Design. As an alumni, I cannot in good conscience recommend FZD to anybody. Everything being said about the school so far in this thread from both detractors and supporters is true. However your rate of growth will vary wildly. There have been a few people who have indeed landed full time jobs in the entertainment industry and a good handful that walk away empty handed and a hefty dept. FZD is a costly gamble. Think about what you are about to do when you apply. You will be dropping 25-40-ish k on the premise that 'if you work hard you will become a concept artist.' That slogan is designed to appeal to your ego. Most people that want to enter the business will eagerly try to work as hard as they can, but it's not a matter of willingness, it's a matter of whether or not their teaching methods will work for you. FZD is not a program that is designed to nurture you as a student, instead it's more like a talent weeding program. Most of you who are applying were probably blown away by the work they post on Facebook, or Feng's youtube videos. Keep in mind that you're looking at a small minority that are the 'best' you have not seen work from the average majority or the 'worst.'

Their way of teaching is hands off. The art directors will come in, give a 3-6 hour lecture and the rest of the time is yours to work. If you didn't get it, tough luck. Some people have stated earlier that they will focus on the 'good' students and ignore the 'bad' students, this is all true so watch out. If you end up in the 'bad' crowd, good luck trying to climb your way back up, because a ton of things immediately stack against your chances of success. The art directors will ignore you, and so will your classmates. They encourage this kind of behavior in order to widen the gap between students they want to use to market the school and students they want to get rid of because they quickly become a liability to the school's image. When I was there, my classmates were extremely depressed and nobody respected each other as a result of the negative reinforcement. The art directors tended to be very flip floppy about their opinions of the students and did not seem to coordinate with each other very well, for example one of the art directors jumped into intermediate production painting techniques thinking the other art director had already covered the basics. He did not. As a result many students felt lost and did not know how and where to push yet they had to keep up with the demands of the school due to the tight one year schedule.

I have watched very talented people fall apart and subsequently drop out. I have watched weaker students singled out and ostracized because the material didn't click with them. Students were encouraged to separate themselves from the weaker students making it nearly impossible for them to catch up. As a result the school will encourage them to drop out. Most weaker students drop out in Term 2, at that point you will not receive a refund or any compensation. This is around half the class in the average batch. This point is crucial because they will call the student in for a lengthy talk, which would take away his time available for work. The student will then return to class demotivated and the sight of his classmates even further ahead in their work makes it even harder for these 'danger zone' students to catch up. There was this one pretty talented guy who ended up very depressed. He was called in for a talk and one of the art directors requested he turned in half a term's worth of work in a weekend, and they had to be good or else they would kick him out. They ended up kicking out anyway and kept the tuition. The high stress, negative learning environment and sleep depravation will hinder your learning capacity.

With all that said, there have been students who do grow at a tremendous rate, and there have been students that do end up at AAA studios but keep in mind that this is the minority, about one or two students are groomed to stay at the top, and the school wants to keep it that way. There are simply not enough AAA concept art positions for 20 students to fill each batch. Every company only needs a small team, or maybe even one or two. There have been rumors about landing jobs in print shops and hawker stalls counting towards their job placement percentage. Be real with yourselves people this is a costly gamble and it is a program that is definitely not for everyone. If you've got better options, take them. I want to be very real with you guys and I personally do not think that this one year program is worth the price tag. There is not enough time for most people to grow into a competitive professional. FZD will only work for a very specific personality type. If you're not a guy who can stay up for 22 hours a day, never stop drawing and can keep it up for a year straight while dealing with petty high school drama. Don't do it. FZD will destroy your body and mind.

Your class will probably bond over the extremely harsh environment and that can be quite motivating, unless you're one of the unlucky outcasts. The other guy earlier said that there was a guy that everyone wanted to beat up. Do you really want to be around people who think like that? Students pick on each other for all sorts of reasons to vent out the pent up stress. I've seen both sides of the fence where random classmates come up to me to smack talk some other guy just because he was worse, or better, or perceived as lazy or weird or smelly or try too hard to be impressive or even race or whatever. In one batch, there was a clique that hated another clique simply because they were from mainland China. Usually the reasons are petty and arbitrary. FZD's environment brings out the worse in people. I have not seen it the other way around. I've heard the same opinions from many alumni, I'm not going to compromise their identities, but let's just say that quite a few don't belong in the 'weak' category, so it's not just bitter smack talk. Take this post how you will. People should be aware of the negative as well as the positive. FZD is not a magic school that will make your wildest dreams come true, you will sweat blood and shed tears. You may be rewarded for your efforts, but you may also walk away with less than you had before. If you do not do well in FZD they will remind you that the bad reputation you've built in school will follow you into your career and vice versa. To all the people who say that this is okay because it mimics a real world working environment, the difference is that you put up with bullshit because they're paying you. Here, you're paying them to put up with bullshit. BE CAREFUL.

[mustawd]

Probably the most helpful post yet. Well said.

[pocky]

teddybear123 sounds like the typical gossip monger, petty high sch drama guy. I couldn't help but felt what he said was very egoistic. He learnt well from Ahem in that dept, being very petty and egoistic. Mr. Ahem always call his detractors sore losers, bitter, they can go sob in one corner and whatever. But his true character isn't that good in reality. That's why the whole FZD environment is equally ugly. He may be a master at concept design but the way that school is being run is more suited for the young and impressionable. Apart from it being tailor-made for the grooming of the minority of 'good' students without saying. Those who have been there will know. The rest, be REALLY CAREFUL! Opps! I hope i don't get sued!

[katmachiavelli]

Just be anyone of those and good luck, people will start ignoring you, later avoid sitting next to you completely. Even if you are good, but have an ego problem, people will still ignore you, that is exactly what happened to one of the guys in my class. Fun fact: All the guys in the class want to beat the living hell out of him, but strict Singapore law kept us at bay.

Um, excuse me?! I'm sorry, but based on everything you just wrote about how not to be ostracized, you seem like quite the hypocrite here. It seems you have serious issues and don't know how to deal with your problems in a mature, professional matter. Instead you handle your problem in an immature manner by running away from it and then act justified in playing the bully. Are you an adult trying to become a professional, or a junior high school student trying to do what's socially convenient? Ignoring your problems and moving your seat because heaven forbid you should occupy a chair within arms length of someone else is an infantile thing to do. It seems to me that you were under so much stress but lacked the requisite social skills to handle it maturely, so you and your clique just took it out on someone you felt was beneath you to feel better about yourselves.

Truth is, if you attend FZD, this is the kind of person NOT to be. The industry has actually grown more and more intolerant of these sorts of behaviors as the years have gone by. Feng always tells us to be nice to everyone, not talk smack about people behind their backs, drop the egos, don't burn bridges, etc. It's not just about social alienation; these sorts of things come back to bite you in the ass well after FZD. Some students don't listen, though, out of their own arrogance, and last about all of one or two weeks before burning bridges. It reflects baldy on them, but they can be too pig-headed to see it that way at times and point their finger at the other guy because they don't know how to deal with their own problems and need a scapegoat.

In the entertainment industry, what goes around, comes around. You never know who someone's friends are, even if you'd like to be an alpha-male douche and believe they don't have any. You might think someone is super weird, but if you ask them, they probably think you're equally - if not moreso - socially awkward. You're human, not Mr. or Mrs. Perfect. Lose the ego. You don't know if that person has friends in the industry, or how much your reputation is taking hits by being a bully if he/she lets them know. You could get a job in the industry and ride the cool wave for a year or so, but all it takes is for you to mouth off to the wrong person about this one dude you didn't like and your reputation takes a complete nose dive. Likewise, if you're good to the people who are struggling badly, you're investing not only in their future but your own, as good deeds lead to good karma. In this industry, good karma leads to more job opportunities.

FZD is also not the end of your growth as a designer, and everyone grows at different rates. There are some graduates who weren't the best students while they were there, but used the learning experience to kick themselves into high gear after graduation. If two years after graduation you have a comfortable job, but this dude you bullied for a year shows up out of nowhere with a better portfolio and friends who can vouch for him against whatever you have to say, I got news for ya pal: he's getting your job, so good luck finding work and I hope you had a nice ride while it lasted.

It should also be noted that bullying in art schools is a very, VERY widespread problem. I'm seriously surprised more people don't talk about it publicly. Many pros have also been on the receiving end of bullying during their time in art school, and are more likely to be sympathetic to the bullied than the bullies. The suits may not care, but the creative types can be quite a different story.

This is something very real. It happens all the time. That is why Feng tells us how not to behave. The industry is filled with all kinds of people, and if you choose to run away from your problems by using social alienation tactics, you might as well quit while you're ahead. Most of the bosses you'll have in the industry are a lot harsher than the ADs at FZD. It would behoove you to use your difficult classmates as an opportunity in learning how to deal with difficult colleagues without resorting to the burning of bridges, as it's an important skill you'll need to learn. Unsurprisingly, some of FZD's highest-skilled graduates are still having trouble finding work because of this, and it never occurred to them that their behavior toward their peers has been infantile or morally repugnant.

To quote the great concept artist Anthony Jones, "Being an artist in this industry is not all about how well you can draw or paint. The pitfalls that you will face will likely not be art related at all." At FZD, you will learn many techniques. More often than not, you'll only get a few opportunities to try out specific techniques and the lessons are often taught only once, but there's one lesson - arguably the most important lesson - that you have a whole year to get good at. Unfortunately, it's the lesson that even the best and brightest tend to fail at, and that's learning how to deal with people. Your portfolio is indeed important, but only to a point. If you can't rise above the petty influences of peer pressure, you've got no business being in an industry where all you'll be is a bad influence.

Heaven knows there are people in my batch that I may not get along with for one reason or another, but I respect many of them nonetheless. However, I'd never resort to such base feelings of violence and pettiness as you described. It pays to be the better man over the socially-convenient one any day, because I know if I'm good to people they will return the favor in kind.

The other guy earlier said that there was a guy that everyone wanted to beat up. Do you really want to be around people who think like that? Students pick on each other for all sorts of reasons to vent out the pent up stress. I've seen both sides of the fence where random classmates come up to me to smack talk some other guy just because he was worse, or better, or perceived as lazy or weird or smelly or try too hard to be impressive or even race or whatever. In one batch, there was a clique that hated another clique simply because they were from mainland China. Usually the reasons are petty and arbitrary. FZD's environment brings out the worse in people. I have not seen it the other way around. I've heard the same opinions from many alumni, I'm not going to compromise their identities, but let's just say that quite a few don't belong in the 'weak' category, so it's not just bitter smack talk. Take this post how you will.

I'd like to reiterate the part where anonymous123 inquires, "do you really want to be around people who think like that?" And, to be perfectly honest, you should take his word for this as Feng himself was saying the other day that the lack of sleep makes people edgy and bitter. However, I'd like to state that's not necessarily a bad thing, as some students can cope with it quite well without turning into dicks. The problem is a maturity issue with the people who resort to destructive methods of handling their problems. Hopefully these people will grow up eventually, or else they're going to have a very hard time in the industry regardless of how good their portfolios are.

[mitcooz]

FZD sounds like actually one of the worst types of schools to actually learn from. Yeah all their videos and everything sounds great, but isnt school about teaching, and making students understand even if they are weak? I mean why the hell would you ostracize students that are weaker?, isn't the purpose of schooling to make the weaker students better, and that everyone learns from each other?

Wmake the school like a slave labour camp?. Yes I understand that the industry is tough, but still people do need sleep, and to refresh their brains right? Sounds like one of the worst environments imaginable to learn from.

[teddybear123]

Truth is, if you attend FZD, this is the kind of person NOT to be

I see a few people are having problems accepting my post about outcast. It seems everyone is sympathetic with that particular outcast. Well my question is does any of you know who that person is? People don't dislike another person for no reason, now if it is an entire class? Well really says something doesn't it? Now I have refrained from listing out the negative aspects of him, because this THREAD is not about him.

Is about offering insight to the school behind the scenes.


Now there 2 more outcast, but I've talked to them they are great people, but when it comes to work, well their work gets ripped apart by the art instructors every time during review session (Note: everybody's work gets rippd apart, but not totally destroyed) . And eventually people just stop talking to them because when workload gets hard,you won't be asking for their feedback, given their built up credibility in class, and eventually they just stopped doing homework, because they are discouraged. This is exactly what happened, I am not going to sugar coat it. Hate the messenger so be it.

Ya sure if pocky wants to call it

typical gossip monger, petty high sch drama guy

. See if I just remove that bit about outcast, none of you would have problems, but it does remove that extra insight, which is important, outcast does exists in every term which is sad, but its the truth.

Now if prospect students want to enter FZD they should and have the right to know, sadly that bit of information can only be found in this thread.

If two years after graduation you have a comfortable job, but this dude you bullied for a year shows up out of nowhere with a better portfolio and friends who can vouch for him against whatever you have to say, I got news for ya pal: he's getting your job, so good luck finding work and I hope you had a nice ride while it lasted.

No body bullied, there is no bullying in FZD, there is no time for bullying, people are too tired, we just ignore and refuse to talk. And if there is time people take naps. But I see you are a fortune teller, I guess you know that too .

I'm sorry, but based on everything you just wrote about how not to be ostracized, you seem like quite the hypocrite here. It seems you have serious issues and don't know how to deal with your problems in a mature, professional matter.

Speaking of maturity, this thread is about offering insights about the school. Unfortunately you and other people that have problems with my posts either offer too little or nothing about FZD,turning this thread into something about me and the outcast.
What you should be sharing is about your experiences and your ups and downs in FZD. I simply offered my experience and my opinion.

So before you like to criticize and make judgement do you even know what happened in my batch during that 1 year? How many people and who is in my batch? If not, I think your post holds very little value, because you know nothing. Quick to jump the gun, this really says something about your maturity doesn't it?

To future prospect students, there will be more negative posts about this school which is true, If people don't put negative posts for no reason. Do take those into consideration, because the learning process is not pleasant, to put it bluntly its pure pain. People finish the school with a bitter taste and its not something people want to repeat in their lives. That's why a lot of people are quite bitter on this thread.

FZD sounds like actually one of the worst types of schools to actually learn from. Yeah all their videos and everything sounds great, but isnt school about teaching, and making students understand even if they are weak? I mean why the hell would you ostracize students that are weaker?, isn't the purpose of schooling to make the weaker students better, and that everyone learns from each other?

What makes FZD great is not the teaching method, its the materials taught. The art directors have assumptions with teaching methods, but the thing is, it is not supported by any statistics or academic research.

To be frank this has really ticked off a lot of students, because we paid a lot of money to this school especially the overseas student that paid in full price. This is something the school needs to work on,but with the recent art instructors FZD brought on the team, I think FZD will adjust their teaching method. To be honest the new staffs are awesome! Definitely makes FZD more worth while.

Wmake the school like a slave labour camp?. Yes I understand that the industry is tough, but still people do need sleep, and to refresh their brains right? Sounds like one of the worst environments imaginable to learn from.

Do not believe the images of malls and Singapore beach on the school's website. Btw, you will be happy to know that there are no textbooks, and you don't have to remember complex theories or equations like the days in Uni