I recently finished the Digital Content Creation course at Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design, and I thought I should write about my experience, because I received so many questions about it and maybe my article will help others decide if this course is for them. This is not a sponsored article, it’s just my honest opinion after being a student at Condé Nast.

First, I have to mention that I have little knowledge of the fashion world and what drew me to this course was not the fashion aspect of it. I wanted to expand my knowledge in content creation and what company could have been more appropriate to teach me about content and media than Condé Nast? Before I enrolled, I kept looking for reviews, and couldn’t find one that was written by someone who was not necessarily interested in fashion, but just in getting the wisdom that such a company can offer in what regards content creation. So I hope this article will be there for others like me and for the ones who are curious about Condé Nast courses. At the end of the article I added a few words from one of my colleagues, to show you the perspective of a fashion guru on this course.

Being able to take the course online was a great opportunity; before the pandemic, this wouldn’t have been possible, and I don’t think I would have moved to London for two months to attend the course. So I couldn’t miss this chance (although I hope they will keep the online option for the future as well).

Worries

My only worry was that, since I’m not into fashion and beauty, the DCC course wouldn’t be a good fit for me. Checking the course structure gave me some hope and in the end I followed my instincts and I enrolled. Thinking back now, I don’t know why I didn’t just emailed them and ask (maybe because I knew I wanted to take the course anyway!). I expressed these worries in our first tutor session and I was glad to hear that I should be perfectly able to take the course even if I have no knowledge about the fashion industry.

And indeed I could! The course lasted six weeks, which were intense. You can make your own schedule and go through the content at your own pace, but there are live presentations you might want to attend, and the weekly Zoom meeting with your tutor and the colleagues — which I definitely recommend attending. There is homework to do every week, and you might also want to read extra after attending the presentations, because they will inspire you and give you many ideas!

Surprises

The biggest surprise I had from the DCC course was the level of interaction and encouragement. After taking a few online courses where you are basically left to your own devices, with no feedback at all, Condé Nast came as a delightful surprise. The tutor was supportive, always there to answer questions and pushing us to get out of the comfort zone: pitching articles to magazines, sending emails to people, apply for work experience. Actually, everyone was supportive, including the industry leaders who gave the presentations and colleagues who quickly became friends.

For the homework, you get feedback not only from the tutor but also from the colleagues. You also get to see their work and analyse it, which is very important because you can learn from it.

The bad

But how did the non-fashionable me felt in this world? There were moments, in the beginning, when I felt I was not fitting in, when I didn’t know what or who my colleagues were talking about, or when I was using my non-fashion related brand for the assignments. It’s of great help, by the way, that they encourage you to use your brand (if you have one) for the homework, because you get to create something that you can use not only in your portfolio, but in your daily work. For some pieces of work I picked beauty brands for a change, and it was a lovely exercise!

There were moments when I felt I was boring everyone, even if no one rolled their eyes at me – instead they were very supportive and gave me useful feedback. Also, some parts of the presentations from industry leaders didn’t generate in me the same awe my colleagues seem to have.

The good great

Apart from these few moments, I had the time of my life! I can’t tell you how much I loved being in meetings with people who can talk for hours about magazine covers and media! The fashion world might not be my strong point but it has so much creative genius to offer! The industry speakers we’ve had (from magazine editors to cosmetic surgeons) were very inspiring. Listening to these people talking about how they started their careers, about their creative process, was amazing! They did manage somehow to resuscitate my long lost interest in the fashion world and, although I won’t be able to tell you about the latest collections soon, I will check the work that is done around them: the photography, the advertising, etc.

The information I got is transferable to other domains as well, and coming at things from a different perspective is sometimes the best thing you can do to get the best results.

The practicalities

As I said before, it was intense and I learned a lot. I was so immersed in this course that I don’t know how I would have done it if I would have had a job at the same time (I was doing a second course at the same time and it was challenging enough). But some of my colleagues with a full-time job managed to go through the course, doing their homework every week, so it’s doable. Each week was diverse, and we got to learn something new. We did mood boards, videos, photos, designed social media campaigns, learned about ethics and diversity, about tools to use and working with influencers, and more. I wish it were longer, and I am considering taking another of their courses (the Creative Direction) when I’ll have the resources. There is a trend nowadays for big companies to start their own education platforms, and maybe Condé Nast will extend their online offer, adding courses about travel media or creative writing. Who knows? I’ll certainly keep an eye on it.

I asked my colleague Paulina to give us her opinion on the course as well, for a different perspective:

So firstly, I am so proud of Dana for going outside her comfort zone and into a course with a fashion and luxury focus. As someone coming from that industry, it would be easy to think I had the home turf advantage, but instead I found the course encouraged a lot of inventiveness within the projects, allowing us to draw inspiration and knowledge from many subjects not necessarily related to fashion. The six weeks we spent together virtually were some of the most intensely creative and fun I have had in a while. I also found the assignments, lectures (live and recorded), and the extra reading material to be high quality and informative. The guest lecturers became invaluable resources of expertise and industry insights, and the tutor sessions with our course leader proved to be weekly highlights that I miss now that the experience is over. However busy I was for the duration of the course, I am grateful to have shared it with my classmates and for the friendship we developed (doing it from the comfort of my living room was just the cherry on top!)

Paulina Hemmer

And here is some of the work I’ve done for the assignments, which might not make any sense without knowing the details, but just to satisfy your curiosity a bit:

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And here you can find my photo book: Amsterdam Through the Seasons!