Design Schools
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- ********0
re: WT
it was founded by KM and Wigger Bierma, but i'm not sure KM is involved anymore, as far as i knew he stepped down and AM stepped in to replace him.
as far as how much is practical work vs research/theory, i don't know... but i bet if you wrote them they'd tell ya.
- ********0
the jan van eyck academie in maastricht is up the same alley as the WT, looks interesting.
the sandberg is the grad school attached to the rietveld in amsterdam, which only accepts something like 5 students a year... which sounds pretty heavy, too.
ah, grad programs!
- ********0
there's actually a school named willem de kooning?
- ********0
well, the willem de kooning academie...
same w/ the rietveld academie
- NegativeSpace0
thanks backwards, I will email them in time, was more or less just curious, will be a while before I think about grad school since I am not even done my bachelors.
But I agree, some of the schools in NL seeem top notch, although I don't know much about working there. From some stuff I read from Peter Bilak in his various writings it seems like a great place in terms of design and the arts being respected, supported/funded, but I also hear some say that its over-saturated with graphic designers if you intend to work there after.
- ********0
yeah, the official anarchy of dutch graphic design, as they call it.
i'm going to school there in the fall... i doubt whether i'd stay to work there after or not. it seems like a really interesting atmosphere... some of the work that gets officially commissioned there you'd never find anywhere else.. and those who take advantage seem to do well by it. we shall see.
- NegativeSpace0
sounds awesome, whatever you decide to do, good luck!
- ********0
how are you feeling about your program at York, tom?
- NegativeSpace0
haha! good memory, I think I know you are too.
Some things are good the facilities are quite good, 24 hour access to computer labs and letterpress, and that stuff I enjoy. There are some good profs ex; David Cabianca, highly educated, honest, v. helpful, up to date with the industry and I also like him because he has the most kick ass design book collection I have ever seen and exposes students to lots of stuff they have probably never seen -including some really rare letterpressed books, one of Irma Boom's books that they only made something like 200 of which she won the Gutenberg "best designed book" award for, and Mode En Module to name a few). There are of course also some really poor profs, the type that wont even take 2 minutes to leave a comment on your final. It's kind of a slap in the face after you do all the work, pay the tuition, and you can't even get some feedback in the end :-/
Also the projects are really restricting, and I think thats necessary to some extent, but some times it really cramps your creativity, thus far there is not many projects that are really open ended where they push your creativity, or to produce some less conventional stuff (which I think essentially is one of the most important aspects of a design school). In the end you endup taking projects in your own direction and getting crappy marks or spending little time on them.
I actually was hoping to go on an exchange to Germany next year to get something different, and after weeks and weeks of going through a lengthy application process the design department canned the exchange. Shitty, I was thinking about Nova Scotia CAD but they don't have a direct entry into graphic design anymore and it is too late to apply to OCAD.
- ********0
yeah, that's a bit of a shame. it's too bad about the state of canadian design schools.
i was just down at Calarts last weekend for a Mevis/Van Deursen lecture and it was just so inspiring. had a great chat with Linda Van Deursen who's actually the head of Graphic Design at the school I'm aiming to attend in the fall (should be hearing back from my application any day now) *fingers crossed
It was really amazing to see them lecture, and then see them both in action the next day giving comments when the grads presented the stuff they'd done for the workshop they had done with them.
Why not try and transfer to a dutch school? The tuition is ridiculously cheap and it's all completely doable. It's all about making the most of your schoolin' years while you still can :)
Anyways, good luck w/ it all.
-Nick
- NegativeSpace0
Thats awesome! Best of luck to you.
I would love to transfer over, but I guess things like language would make me nervous since I only really speak english. I guess it would be no different than going to Germany like I had wanted if I took an entry to English course. Do you know if english is a major part of their education growing up? I know in Germany for example its quite easy to get y in the schools due to that.
We had a lecture last month from type designer Rod Mcdonald, and he was saying he tries to not use the word design in his class because when you tell someone to design something or design a pamphlet etc it sort of puts everyone on the same wavelength with what the final output is going to be, instead he just gives them a more open thing ex: there is a lecture series come up and we need to create something to tell people about it, and its up to the students to decide how. I don't know after hearing that I completely connected with what he was saying, thats exactly the sort of encouragement and project breifs I want. Amazing what a good insightful speaker/prof can bring to the table.
Drop me a line sometime when you know where you are going to study, it would be cool ti hear about your experince! Thanks Nick.
- ********0
Yup, completely agree. They touched on that in their lecture, talking about their teaching style and what not.
Linda was telling me that 80% of the students at the Rietveld are international and although they encourage you to learn Dutch you can completely function with English only. Holland is probably the easiest European country to live in w/o speaking the language as most of the population speaks different degrees of English.
I'll try to remember to drop you a line once I start the program over there.
Later
- NegativeSpace0
Sweet thanks Nick. That's also really good to know for the future about the language.
- brennan0
Portfolio Center - Atlanta, GA
2 year grad studies... bring your skills and passion
- ants0
I'd live in Dublin if it were here in Sydney
- ants0
again I'm a spaz... jeesh!
- kyl30
lolz @ b
- 3rr0r-4040
Teachers make a lot of difference.
guys pick ur school as if ur picking ur wife. dont commit with a shitty school... i regret everyday... like just rite now how im so uninspired to start my project designing "Futurist Manifesto" which is due in 2 days...