New Design School To Offer Digital Program

The New Design School, a non-profit school in Fayetteville, is starting the state’s first certificate program in digital design.

Sonia Gutiérrez, the school’s founder and president, said she is looking for 10 students to enroll in the first session, which begins March 22. Currently she hasn’t selected any students to enroll, she said.

Students can learn not only about graphic design in print, but also Web, game and media design, she said.

Students must take six sessions to graduate (a total of two years). Each session will be 12 weeks long with a month break in between. The cost is $4,872 per session, or a total of $29,232 for all six. She said she is working with area businesses for scholarship opportunities and Sallie Mae for student loans. She is also working with Arvest Bank to help students with financing.

There are five teachers currently lined up, including Gutiérrez. The other teachers are Bill Herring, a technology consultant and teacher at Haas Hall Academy in Farmington; Sam King, an artist and adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith; and Amjad Faur, a local photographer who recently graduated from the University of Oregon with a master’s in arts in photography.