Last November 25 Design Academy Eindhoven opened her doors for Dutch high school students. The goal: let them get a taste of DAE’s Bachelor course. The experience day was all about discovery – feeling a match with your personal interests and talents, as well as with the school, the tutors, the methods used and the current students. The day was designed to get a more concrete grip on how DAE works, what a day of a student would look like, and what it takes to be a designer.
To make discovery both personal and educational, there were three workshops set up by tutors from the first and second year. Each student got to choose two – following their gut-feeling after reading the title of the workshops. The choices were A Search for Signature, Create a Robot and Playfulness in Design. Every workshop gave a taste of the assignments our First Year students would get – combining vision, collaboration, experimentation and thinking through making – in a fast, results-oriented test run.
In A Search for Signature, the students were challenged to keep creating new drawings. The tutors described it as ‘Aerobics for your Fantasy’; a work-out for your creative muscles. Drawing in different settings – changing music, alone or collaborating and through different assignments, provoked their ability to create. Brainstorming and developing though trying are typical go-to exercises for current students – to do and to dare.
Another challenge was the Create a Robot workshop. The students were asked to invent a working, motor-powered drawing machine. They were able to produce a working robot in one morning (or afternoon). One robot was not enough, though. After the first round of self-made machines, the tutors challenged the students to create baby-robots through collaboration – using their own robots as ‘parents’.
A short from an actual First Year assignment, the last workshop choice was Playfulness in Design, combining tactility and 3D. Creating masks seems like an easy task, but when questioning your every move, the process starts to become both challenging and playful. This method stimulated thinking though making, as well as deriving from the conventional path. The workshop was especially useful to get out of a comfort-zone; away from the drawing board, into the action.
Taking part in a DAE-approved workshop was part of the experience, but working and talking with our tutors and students was a part too. The loose, design-oriented setting is very different from a high school or even other colleges. Discovering new ways to see is part of being a DAE student – something the enthusiastic participants felt. In the end Q&A, they were able to ask more about these settings, methods, and of course – how to apply!
Want to sign up for the next experience day on February 3rd? Mail to info@designacademy.nl and join in. Feel free to visit the Open Day on January 20th from 11.00-16.00 hrs. as well!