Product, Design, Arnhem.

Through the Transition program with 3rd year students, the departments Product Design, Graphic Design and Interaction Design formed a new alliance in order to map and investigate tomorrow’s work field. This years Transition theme was ‘Eventual Messaging’ where students explored alternatives to short-term solutionism, instant gratification and on-demand-everything. Eventual Messaging as opposed to Instant Messaging.

Over the course of 15 weeks students engaged with large and unwieldy issues spanning across extended time and space. Gathered into three categories; NOW/HERE, NEAR, and FAR, these projects, in various degrees, sidestep the purely utilitarian to also include: the imaginative, the hypothetical and the provocative. Each in their own way they provide us with fresh insight into the historical struggle between two competing human impulses: the desire to make a mark for future generations and a deep confusion about what exactly that mark should be.

The course was supervised by  Frank Kolkman

The 3rd-year students of Product Design, Interaction Design and Graphic Design studied the world of living matter in a four-day workshop. The students prepared presentations about their findings on growth and time-based processes.

Over the past few decades, biology has entered public consciousness more than any other science. We’ve been learning that organisms, consisting of organised information, can be manipulated and their features combined to perform new, specific functions. The purpose of this experimental workshop is to arouse curiosity about living materials, to explore a hands-on approach, to learn about the microbial world and to reflect on life at large.

This workshop was realized with the planning and expertise of guest tutor Maurizio Montalti, of Officina Corpuscoli.

Through the Transition program, the departments Product Design, Graphic Design and Interaction Design have formed a new alliance in order to map and investigate tomorrow’s work fields. The Transition theme was chosen to draw attention to the wide diversification between students across departments. A constantly changing world gives impetus to new demands and needs, as well as to transformations that designers cannot ignore. Change drives creative processes, questions and output. But what does transition mean for the next generation of design? The various phases of the program lead students through research, fieldwork and a study trip in areas that range from programming, electronics, craft and materials to industry, food, bio-design and science. 

This ongoing research project is not only focused on developing a strong future department, but also on building the future of design education. In the coming academic year, the alliance will further develop its program and activities. The 2015-2016 project tutors were Richard Vijgen, Hendrik-Jan Grievink, Thomas Castro, Katja Gruijters, Judith van den Boom, and guest tutor Ed van Hinte. Manami Saito acted as host in Tokyo.

Through the Transition program, the departments Product Design, Graphic Design and Interaction Design have formed a new alliance in order to map and investigate tomorrow’s work fields. The departments have built a common ground for students to explore the dynamics of work that crosses the boundaries between the digital and the material. Product and Interaction Design created the basis for this alliance in 2013 with Future of the Lab, a program that was primarily intended to help identify future scenarios for the definition of the school as a laboratory. In November 2015, Tokyo was chosen as the destination of a study trip due to the transitory nature of this city. During a one-week workshop, students explored the city by visiting studios and local initiatives in different areas.