By: Erris Boshnjaku & Alim Halimi

There is no way to survive the new reality but adapting to it. That is the reality happening now with people around the world adjusting to life in the new conditions of the pandemic. When times are challenging, people are scared, confused, and uncertain. Under these conditions it is vital that all information and communication to the public is clear and easy to understand. Information and messaging need to be accurate, easy to understand and give people clear guidance on what they should do.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, we have seen the Government and health institutions struggle to communicate essential information through graphic design, and how that caused misinformation and confusion within the population. It is at times like these when we value the power of graphic design and visualization, its ability to share powerful messages simply and effectively to provide a source of clarity and relief.

EYE has seen it imperative to support new and upcoming designers through investing in non-formal training offered by local training centers such as United Pixel Academy. 

One of the beneficiaries of the training, Sara Krasniqi had no hope of joining the job market, but that all changed when she completed the United Pixel training.

United Pixels was established in March 2017 as a creative agency that offers services in branding, web design, packaging design, copywriting, campaigns, and social media.

The founder, Armend Berisha is a well-known trainer in the field of graphic design with more than 8 years of teaching experience. United Pixels, through its United Academy also offers short-term graphic design trainings by providing participants with a formal and conceptual set of skills, making them ready for the professional market in the graphic design field using a special program created by Armend Berisha.

The collaboration between United Pixels and EYE project has opened a whole new dimension of non-formal skills development, with a focus on practical work during the training. United Pixels, aside from teaching young people the technical parts of graphic design, they also provided participants the opportunity to work on real live projects for SME businesses that collaborate with United Pixels. Through this type of training provision, United Pixels immediately creates employment for the participants, either by connecting participants with businesses or equipping participants with necessary skills so that they can continue to work as freelancers. This approach has made United Pixel the starting point for youngsters who wants to develop new skills, through which they can access the labor market. Now, thanks to the support of EYE, United Pixel has scaled their capacities by offering a variety of training packages and have expanded their facilities to accommodate the increasing number of students enrolling their trainings.

The intervention of EYE has enabled United Pixels to jump start a new era by expanding their training offers, increasing their capacities and adopting a leading edge methodology, cementing their Academy as one of the most successful and financially sustainable in the market. The intervention also helped United Pixels to package the training offer of graphic design in a more structured way that will lead the industry and the rest of the training providers to follow the same standard and way of delivering the training, with the value-added activities to support participants to have easier access to the labor market.

At EYE, we partner to create a dynamic and socially inclusive labor market to provide decent jobs –including self-employment—for young people in Kosovo. Find out how we do it at www.helvetas-ks.org/eye/