Media Release
‘IS’ IS WHERE IT’S AT
After months of secrecy, the wraps are finally off on the IS brand.
Bright sparks at EIT’s ideaschool, Dr Suzette Major, centre, surrounded by students, from left, Emma Grapes, Morgan
Price, Carol Goodier, Rosina Millman, Kirk Lambert, Liam Farrell, Amelia Haliday and Leah Pope.
Hitherto known to just a handful of Eastern Institute of Technology staff, the acronym – it was revealed at the November
9 launch – stands for ideaschool. The new name encompasses the spectrum of EIT arts programmes offered on the Hawke’s
Bay campus, from visual arts and design, screen production and fashion design through to contemporary music performance.
The new brand and new name reflect a new philosophy which Head of School Dr Suzette Major says is based on three central
pillars – creativity, collaboration and convergence.
“Creativity breathes life into new ideas,” the arts marketing expert told the capacity crowd attending the on-campus
launch on Friday, 9 November. “And new ideas will be essential as we move through the 21st century.
“Convergence embraces interdisciplinarity – crossing boundaries to create something new, working across diverse
knowledge areas to develop multiple ways to answer any one question.
“Collaboration celebrates difference and ensures individuals are not so individualistic that they become fragmented
forces.”
Dr Major said the new ideaschool’s programmes, staff, facilities and philosophy were grounded in those three principles.
“They are our ideology, our bedrock, our way of being, our way of doing and our way of educating students for tomorrow –
whatever that brings.”
The brand and name are the brainchild of two of the schools’ staff, graphic design lecturer Anthony Chiappin and print
design lecturer Jerry Gull.
The pair explain the genesis of the concept.
“We had been working on a brand based on our new way of thinking – that we are not what we used to be; that we are
something else.
“Attending the Semi-permanent Creative Conference in Auckland in May, we started sketching some thoughts. The central
question for us was ‘where is it at?’, and we realised that was our answer. We are where it is at.”
Chiappin and Gull simultaneously homed in on the ideas half of the new name. The link with school took a little longer
to evolve.
“We considered ‘studio’ but felt that was a term more generally associated with the creative work force. We wanted a
title that reflects our educational role. And that is how it happened.
“The brand is global and not just about Hawke’s Bay or even New Zealand. We are positioning the school in a wider
context and are aiming to grow its reputation and attract students from overseas as well as from Hawke’s Bay and
elsewhere in New Zealand.
“The branding places us within a contemporary educational paradigm – it is pushing the boundaries straight away.”
Dr Major agrees with the lecturers’ view that the brand provides a broad base for promoting the school more widely.
“This is where it is at,” she concludes. “ideaschool – arts and thinking.”
ends