Tran Ngoc Danh, Founder & General Director – ADS Vietnam Design Institute.
Tran Ngoc Danh comes with over 20 years management experience in the design industry from concept to production, from strategic planning to customer contact with international business partners and multinational companies in areas such as Advertising, Branding, Packaging Design, Event Planning, Interior and Exterior Decoration, Exhibition, Product Design and Fashion Design. She is also the International Relations Director of VDAS Vietnam Design Association and the Founder of Vietnam Design Award. She has academic background in Graphic Design.
Her passion for design education & dedication led her to set up ADS Vietnam Design Institute in 2010 and pursue the mission “To grow and nurture Vietnamese design industry and step by step to build up Vietnam design identity for the purpose of being recognized by the creative world”.
Here are more insights shared with team ABT.
What was the motivation & circumstances which led you to setup Vietnam Design Institute?
ADS Vietnam Design Institute was established with a clear mission to become the leading professional art and design school in Vietnam. We specialize in providing design education at multiple levels of professional development for people who love creative arts. Quality is always our top priority. We provide high quality training programs at international standards with modern methods of teaching and learning that are constantly updated to world-class curricula.
We have a desire for educating, inspiring and motivating the new generation of designers and leaders in an environment in which they are given encouragement, support, and conditions to reach their full potentials.
Did you face any challenge? How did you over come them?
Recently, there have been rapid changes and a growing competitiveness of companies in Vietnam, and design is becoming one of the key instruments of innovation, an essential part of visual identity, and mainly external communication. However, many people lack awareness for the importance of design in business and do not take it seriously. It may be the most enormous challenge we are facing and we are making every effort to enhance the awareness for design in business.
Tell us about any one moment that you are very proud of.
We are really proud to be one of the pioneer hubs that can connect design students with the international standard education by letting them work and learn with international professional lecturers. We also link education to real work environment so that students can gain experience and practical knowledge when they study. We never want our students to passively study only theories in books, but we want them to relate what they have learnt to real-life situations. In other words, we want them to Think global, Learn international, and Act local.
Tell us about some of the most significant milestones achieved?
Our greatest achievements:
– Branding: ADS has become one of the best Vietnam Design Institution with international standard, a reputable and trustable school for students having a desire for pursuing design career.
– Lecturers & Staff: We have professional international teaching and non-teaching staff whose skills and knowledge are always kept up-to-date.
– Students’ Achievements: After graduating, most ADS students can find good design jobs. Some of them can even start their own businesses and become spectacularly successful in the design industry.
– Network: We are proud to be able to build up a strong worldwide network, linking with both international and domestic universities and organizations.
What are your future plans for Vietnam Design Institute?
In the next development stages, we continue to follow our missions:
- To become the leading school of art and design in Vietnam
- To lead Vietnamese creative industry to the sustainability and ECO development
- To create a connection between schools and production enterprises.
- To build Vietnam Identity by combining modern technology and techniques with the wealth of Vietnamese traditional and cultural elements
We are planning many activities and projects to develop our teaching concept which focuses on creativity, identity, practicality, passion, origin, independence, and open mind.
Currently, we are going to launch a project called ADS Design Factory with the aim of linking design education to business. In that project, we will establish studio workshops; cooperate with other enterprises to give students opportunities to carry out real tasks and projects. We believe that ADS Design Factory Project will help students gain adequate experience and in-depth knowledge of techniques, materials, trends, and business to start their own businesses and increase their contribution to the creative economy development in the integration period.