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Product Design
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Course

Course

On the HBO Product Design course, you learn to devise innovative concepts, make them and finish them to a high standard.

What do you learn on the ArtEZ Product Design course in Arnhem?

In order to learn how to design, during your course you work in the various labs and workshops, on experimental projects and in internships to develop your craftsmanship and learn to finish prototypes to a high standard. You also learn to think about why you are making a product and what it means to the world – before finally addressing the question of how your talents and fascinations as a designer can make a difference to the world.

We are convinced that you learn best from, with and in practice. Which is why you are taught by lecturers and guest lecturers who are active in the national/international field of design, and why the curriculum largely consists of projects, experimental assignments, internships and study trips. The theory we offer is linked to practice, enabling you to develop a well-grounded perspective on your artistic work.

Three domains

The Product Design course is structured around three domains. Within these domains or in the overlap between them, you can choose the focus and specialisation that match your ambitions and talents.

  • Wearables: Products around the body, from shoes to fashion accessories. You develop innovative collections centring on research into identity, branding and the body.
  • Liveables: Products for the space around you, from interior and exterior to public space and social context. You conduct research and develop your own vision of housing, working and living, enabling you to design a strong collection that reflects a new perspective.
  • Useables: Products based on materials innovation and the production process. Using materials such as textiles, synthetics, clay or biobased raw materials, you develop semi-finished products and new applications.

Working independently and collaborating with other disciplines

On this course, you learn to explore and reinterpret materials, design, context and research – in a direction that suits who you are and what you want. We are there to hone your ambitions and help you develop your own vision. And to help you develop that expertise, so that you can add new dimensions to the world of design.

During your course, you sometimes work individually and sometimes in a group; often with students from other disciplines within ArtEZ and with clients from the well-established and successful network around the course. These strong ties mean that during the course, you already get to develop new products with the design community that you share ownership of.

It is my dream to create a space where I can build a community for creatives. At Product Design they take this dream serious.
Anna Bolt, student

Course structure

Years 1 and 2 (foundation): basics and exploration

In the first two years, you become acquainted with different design approaches and carry out many experimental design assignments, teaching you how to come up with original concepts and translate your ideas into design. You also develop a wide range of technical skills. We offer study trips and you visit exhibitions and studios. In the second year, you broaden and deepen your knowledge and develop your own vision of the discipline.

The subjects you take include: technical workshops, computer skills, thINK (art theory), philosophy, future makers research (designing in collaboration with the Tactical Design professorship) and various design subjects including prototyping. Right from the start, you will receive intensive study career counselling.

My time in years 1 and 2 provided the foundation for where I am now in terms of in my interests and skills.”
Asuka Kondo, student

Years 3 and 4 (senior phase): specialisation and graduation

The second half of your course centres on deepening your knowledge and developing a personal professional profile. You are specialising, so we give you the space to develop your own work and hone your vision. You contribute to experimental projects from the professional field, often in collaboration with students from other visual arts and design courses at ArtEZ, and do an internship with a company or studio in the Netherlands or abroad. Instead of an internship, you can also opt for a study period abroad via the Erasmus+ exchange programme. You immerse yourself further in philosophy and take various design subjects. You write a dissertation, attend workshops given by design studios and possibly go on a working visit to the Salone del Mobile design week in Milan, where work from our alumni is often on display.

In the last part of the senior phase, you work on your final exam collection, arrange for that collection to be exhibited during the ArtEZ finals and prepare for the transition to the professional field or a master's course.

Tosca Schift and Hanneke Klaver graduated with a performance and now make up the Ant Eye artists' collective.

Internships, study trips, workshops and projects

    • Transition
      Transition is a collaborative project with students of Design Art Technology in the first semester of the third year. In the project, you work to tackle current social challenges, such as coming up with new solutions for loneliness.
      à View the Transitions from recent years
    • Summer and Winter Workshops
      In these workshops, the students from years one to four work together on experimental projects under the supervision of a guest designer.
    • Food design
      Food design is a relatively new direction in the design field. Classes address such aspects as trends, culture, raw materials, food as a material, sustainability, solutions for food waste and communication.
    • Design in Residence (DIR)
      The DIR programme brings practice and education together by involving a designer in part of the course. You can brainstorm with them about their work and your own, and you get the opportunity to attend lectures, presentations and exhibitions. Designers who have been our guests include the Japanese Mika Tsutai (materials research), the Muslin Brothers fashion duo from Israel, the Canadian Emily Luce (social design) and the German Alessa Joosten (jewellery design).
      à See which other designers have taken part in the programme
    • Footwear
      In the second year, you follow an in-depth workshop and design project with a shoe designer. You learn to look at the world of shoe design from different perspectives – such as manufacturability, innovation and industry.

  • We organise various study trips (Fieldworks) for students and alumni. You can sign up for them based on your own interests. Fieldworks offer you the opportunity to acquire work experience and knowledge and build your network.

  • Internships are an opportunity for you to get to know practice and push back your boundaries, and they represent an opportunity for personal growth. They are also important for building a network and developing a perspective on the future. On the Product Design course, you choose your own internships based on your interests and ambitions.

  • The Product Design course has exchange contacts with design courses all over the world. That means you study with students from our international partner universities and have the opportunity to study abroad for a period of time.

We challenge you to break new ground, make a difference and take the professional field by surprise. Accordingly, the course focuses heavily on defining and raising the level of your dreams and ambitions and developing your own vision – by means of intensive personal attention and coaching, as well as the After ArtEZ programme, 'ambition talks', internships and projects.  

You will be in a class that is a mix of Dutch, foreign and Erasmus+ exchange students. To make sure international students quickly feel at home, they receive extra support from a study career coach.

Independent entrepreneur

In order to prepare you for a position in the field, Product Design has developed the After ArtEZ programme. This starts in the first year with discussions about ambitions and is woven through the entire curriculum. In the fourth year, you start working on specific entrepreneurial skills. You learn how to set up a studio, work out a price, pitch a project and more. You also look into opportunities for further study and the international labour market.

You learn and change a lot. You feel and see yourself and the people around you growing and changing.
Oscar van der Laan, student

Facilities

As a student of the Product Design course, you can make use of the labs and workshops of ArtEZ Arnhem, with facilities for woodwork, metalwork, ceramics, vacuum plastic, printing, screen printing, textiles and leather. You can also perform prototyping, scanning and milling there. The workshops also serve as a meeting place for students and lecturers. Because the other ArtEZ art courses in Arnhem also use the labs and workshops, collaboration with other disciplines is very easy. You also have a library and rooms for photography and video editing at your disposal.

Virtual tour

Studying in Arnhem

Look here for more information about studying in Arnhem.