Evelyn College of Design was established in 1976 to fill the gap in local design training. She then
became a pioneer in this space defining the path others would follow. This was an onerous call
requiring engagement of non-local professionals to begin with. With time, she became the
pride of many who graduated from her and ventured into business while others sought further
studies in design.
The knack for pioneering characterizes many of ECD’s achievements. She went ahead to
become the first locally accredited institutions offering design courses to secure an
accreditation by an internationally recognized academic body. The recognition gave Evelyn
College of Design the advantage of graduating designers who then joined world acclaimed
design universities and colleges.
Her alumni went on to join major companies in the local design industry. Others established
their own brands in fashion design. This went a long way toward creating immediate
employment for the graduates and those they employed. It has always been the objective of
curriculum developers at tertiary level world over to impart skills, knowledge and competences
that transform the learner into a competitive employee or versatile entrepreneur. Evelyn
College of Design has been doing this for over forty years now since her inception.
It has not been easy. It has been a tough journey. This explained by stiff competition from
public universities which started offering art and design degree courses to private colleges that
came into this design training space. The demand for revitalization and being creative in her
branding became paramount. Over the years, ECD has focused on distinguishing her brand of
design training from that offered by her competitors. To achieve this, she has invested heavily
on design technology that matches global trends in design training. Add to this the engagement
of highly qualified and experience team of faculty to deliver world class graduates.
The guiding principles at Evelyn College of Design have been her vision; Creating industry-ready
global designers. In her quest to living up to this vision, she has ended up being a trusted and
influential institution in design education.
Our mission; to offer a design education experience in fashion, interior, communications and
other branches of design, founded on strong values and built on the twin pillars of theory and
practice has gone a long way to inspire innovative approaches in design training even in the
midst of growing competition and recently, in the face of a global pandemic.
When the Ministry of Education directed all learning institutions to close in mid March of the
January term 2020, the faculty quickly formulated an avenue for continued remote learning.
The tutors and students alike were able to successfully complete and achieve their targets for
the term despite the COVID 19 crisis.
Building on this experience, Evelyn College of Design has continued offering online classes since
May 2020 in the design specialities of Fashion design, Interior design, Graphic design and Art
practice. Coupled with the support of our accrediting authority Pearson, we have managed to
successfully deliver all classes the experience of which the best in our students has been
realized through working from the comfort of their homes. Our values of Quality, Innovation,
Tenacity and Practicality have continued to be evident in the process as well as the
submissions from the students.
Going forward we encourage parents who have artistically talented youths and the youths
themselves to consider enrolling with us for our diploma courses instead of waiting it out for
the end to this pandemic. We encourage those artistically inclined and with some free time to
join our short courses too.
As we wait for the reopening of learning institutions and the economy at large, at ECD we
continue to offer training under Pearson, a globally recognised authority in vocational training.
A reopening will allow us to resume face-to-face sessions and the students to engage in the
myriad co-curricular activities as outlined on our calendar.
We shall continue in our endeavour to bring out the best of the artistic talent inherent in our
students. We shall continue in our pursuit of remaining globally trendy on the design training
front. We shall remain true to our commitment to releasing graduates ready for
entrepreneurial engagement, employment or qualified to join any university globally for further
studies.
Karibu.