I am more interested in the surrounding culture than the degree itself. There doesn't seem to be enough data about European design schools online so that's one thing I'd like to know specifically.
It really comes down to what sort of design you're interested in. US schools tend to be focused on 2 subjects, with not much else: industrial design and communication/web/graphic design. Different schools are better at different things, but to highlight a couple:
Carnegie Mellon: strong in communication design, interaction design, Human-Computer interaction, and generally anything computer science related.
Cincinnati: not so great of a school in general, but the design department is top 5 in the country, mostly because the program requires 4+ co ops (internships.) Supposedly they're pretty good at traditional product/industrial stuff.
I decided to pass on design school a few years ago, mostly because I didn't want to be pidgeonholed into either of those subjects.
I'm pretty familiar with design schools, so I'd be glad to answer any specific questions. Also try http://boards.core77.com
Do you quite possibly know, what is the design scene in traditional art centers like Italy and France?
I'd imagine that schools in Italy (possibly France) would focus more on art, design, fashion, etc. as opposed to service design, engineering, etc. But I have little to no evidence to back that up.
My wife has been working for the past couple of years as a copywriter for a top notch ad firm in India. She has been wanting to switch careers into design and has been looking for a college program that will give allow her to transition into it.
I'm not sure if this is the place for it, but I'm extremely interested in knowing about the entry requirements (read through the website already), the class composition and what next after this course ? Plus, the prospectus isnt clear about what exactly do they teach.
1. To enter: a 6-month internship in a design-related field. I believe that they also consider relevant work experience.
2. The program is a bit different than most schools; instead of classes, you work on projects. Any student can take any project (with some limitations) and students of all years work together.
Subjects: essentially, there are around 15 departments: audiovisual media, manufacturing, service design, typography, interface design, etc.
To graduate, one must take at least 1 project in 10 of the departments, and fulfill the certain amount of project points. There’s also some other “classes”, like seminars and workshops. Hence the name “integrated design” – you can, for the most part, “design” your study curriculum out of the offered projects.
3. Most classes are taught in English if requested, but I believe you have to still take a basic German test.
There’s a ton of information that I am leaving out, so I recommend you just browse the site for a while. Check out these pages, in particular:
Studies - http://kisd.de/studies.html?&lang=en
Study programs (notice the PDFs for each program) - http://kisd.de/studyprograms.html?&lang=en Departments/Subjects -http://kisd.de/subjects.html?&lang=en Applying - http://kisd.de/application.html?&lang=en Applying FAQ - http://kisd.de/application_faq.html?&lang=en International Students - http://kisd.de/1908.html?&lang=en
(all from the nav bar)
edit: sorry for the horrible formatting. And feel free to ask any other questions.
Anyway, feel free to contact me. http://www.google.com/recaptcha/mailhide/d?k=01YWSQ0iQDYIbvG...
/avoiding spam
If you're around Chicago, we're pretty plugged into the design community here and can get you intros to folks and events. Good luck!
The Portfolio School in Atlanta is great if you're a bit more experienced and interested in reaching a new level.
The surrounding culture is London, and as Dr Johnson said, "when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”.
I've also heard good things about RISD.