A top photographer whose clients include international fashion designer Paul Smith and Triumph Motorcycles has endorsed the media training expertise of staff from Creative Exchange at the University of Derby.

Paul Smith Mini Ace Cafe. by Nick Dunmur

Nick Dunmur, a professional for 20 years, with his own studios in Carlton, Nottingham, turned to Creative Exchange for advice and support to get the most out of Adobe Photoshop and enable him to bring another level to his work.

The University of Derby's Creative Exchange is based within the Faculty of Arts, Design and Technology and boasts an Apple Authorised Training Centre among its services for creative businesses. The Centre offers industry level media production courses and certifications delivered by Apple Authorised trainers.

The centre was officially opened in its new location by Virgin Atlantic President Sir Richard Branson during his visit to the University’s Markeaton Street site last November. The Creative Exchange team presented Sir Richard with a film and photo record of his day, all contained on a personalised i-Pod Touch.

The Creative Exchange has recently welcomed former University photography associate lecturer Matt Jones to the team, who specialises in digital imaging and photography and is a dedicated trainer and tutor.

Matt’s appointment means Creative Exchange can now offer expertise in a range of new areas such as digital printing, colour management and various Adobe software programmes such as Photoshop and InDesign. The University’s Apple Authorised Training Centre is already well-established as a digital media training centre and can offer additional expertise including hands-on camera skills, filming and editing.

And Nick, whose clients include Paul Smith and Triumph Motorcycles, has taken full advantage of this expertise to boost his own knowledge and skills.

He said: “I wanted a specific training course in Photoshop, to understand about very particular aspects of the software which were not familiar to me, such as the full potential of using smart objects and layer blending.

“I came in and spoke to Matt about what I wanted to get from the course and through a day’s training, he was able to teach me some new approaches and ideas with Photoshop that I had not previously used. It was worthwhile and enables me to add another palette of techniques to my existing expertise and I am delighted Creative Exchange were able to help.”

Matt, who works for Creative Exchange as CPD (Continuing Professional Development) tutor, can also advise clients in areas such as Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator and Apple’s Aperture.

He said: “My duties include the creation and delivery of hands-on interactive design and media courses to businesses within the creative industries. Working with Nick is a good example of how such training can benefit existing professionals and we were delighted to help him maximise the benefits of Adobe Photoshop.”

Nick already uses a range of software such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, and Flexcolour to create distinctive and unique images for Paul Smith to adorn a range of brand accessories. An example is a set of images, involving a multi-coloured Mini car photographed in a range of unusual settings such as on the beach and in a stately home, which feature on Paul Smith bags and wallets.

Nick has previously lectured part time at Derby and has had professional and artistic links with the University through his studios. But it was when he received funding from the CINTIN (The Creative Industries New Technology Institute Network) initiative, that he sought training specifically to maximise his knowledge of Adobe Photoshop.

East Midlands CINTIN is an NTI initiative backed by the region’s leading colleges and universities. The University is the lead partner in CINTIN and can provide match funded grants to small and medium sized creative businesses to invest in state of the art technology, and gain advanced technology skills through NTI approved courses.

Over 100 local and regional trainees have benefited from short courses from Creative Exchange and Derby’s accredited Apple Training Centre team.

For more details about what’s on offer for skills building such as Final Cut Studio 2, Photoshop, still and moving camera skills training, as well as some new discount rates on courses, people can visit the Apple Centre website:

Creating Creative Opportunities through the 'Creative Exchange' www.derby.ac.uk/creative-exchange.