Urban Earth South West Limited is proud to announce Trainee Landscape Designer, Jacob Betts, has graduated from The Oxford College of Garden Design with a Distinction
Despite graduating with a 2.1 in Game Design: Art from Falmouth University, student Jacob Betts (left in picture) soon realised that his heart wasn’t set for the gaming world. During his time as a student at the Cornish university he worked part-time for garden design company, Urban Earth South West Limited, where he began to develop a love for the outdoors. And so when on graduating Jacob expressed a desire to pursue a career in garden design, Urban Earth jumped at the chance to take him on full time as a Trainee Landscape Designer.
And what a shrewd business move that was, as now Urban Earth South West is delighted to announce that Jacob has just graduated from The Oxford College of Garden Design with a Distinction and is now delighting customers across the south west with his designs.
Says Urban Earth Director, Phil Yolland (right in picture): “Jacob is exactly the kind of person we are looking to have in our business; highly capable, self-motivated, wise beyond his years by some degrees, kind, considerate, thoughtful, extremely hard working.
“He is also a very fast learner and hugely talented across the board, a display of ‘young brilliance’ in a very modest, measured and humble way.”
When researching an appropriate study programme for Jacob, Urban Earth were looking for a course that would provide Jacob with on the job coaching and mentoring as well as remote study from experts in the field of garden design. The Oxford College of Garden Design ticked all the boxes, providing a thorough online garden design courses in every aspect of the business, from technical drawing and hard landscaping to contract documentation, pricing and marketing.
The tutorial support given, says Urban Earth was of a high standard and Jacob’s results speak for themselves.
Says Jacob on his career move: “Choosing to take up garden design was a change in direction, however I still feel the same joy in starting a creative project and continuing it to fruition as with the gaming projects.
“Many of the technical skills and software knowledge I learnt at university have been transferable, particularly when it comes to creating 3D renders of my garden designs. These give our customers a crystal clear idea of what their garden transformation will look like. As in game design there is still a brief that must be completed and I can choose how to go about it. This component of creative liberty in design was a key factor in my choice.”
Agreeing on the benefits of transferable skills Phil continues: “Jacob has taken to the designing of gardens very naturally. He listens to our clients and produces creative designs to consistently surpass our customers initial expectations.
“This then enables us through Jacob’s vision to create and build ‘dream’ gardens that improve our customer’s home-experience and happiness dramatically after the design has been constructed.
Oxford College’s Principal, Duncan Heather, concludes: “Jacob has excelled on this course. It has been a real pleasure to watch his growth in real time. From a competent landscape contractor, to a highly gifted artist and designer. A personable young man, who is producing professional work of an extremely high calibre. I wish him every success for the future.”