The graduating class of 2016

The first completed academic year in the Toni Campus was a hive of activity in the master’s studio. The graduating students, coming from different disciplines and regions, developed their Master Projects in three semesters. What is noticeable: students increasingly integrate their projects into societal backgrounds, -realities or -futures. Design has not only the function of critically pointing at circumstances; it also has the power to offer methods that lead to inventive solutions, including the so-called «user». Keeping this interest in mind, the graduating generation of designers are constantly enlarging the field in their own disciplines with their investigations, experiments and artefacts.

Curiosity is a defining characteristic of designers. The «what would be if?» question draws the students to as yet unexplored points on the design map. Our master students therefore travel to Kenya to work in informal settlements, to Iran to research the relation between women and politics, or to Mexico to evaluate new participative design methods. But they also remain in Zurich, experimenting in the studio and labs with different materials and objects.

Looking back, we can see that former graduates contributed much to our positive scoreboard: many have been awarded internationally acclaimed design prizes and research grants, and many have been appointed to numerous valuable jobs in the various fields of design. At the same time, our faculties are fully engaged in significant research projects in all disciplines at the Department of Design.

This was the class of 2016. More is to come.

Professor Michael Krohn
Head of the Master of Arts in Design

Specialisations

The Master of Arts in Design at the Zurich University of the Arts offers designers and individuals from related disciplines an outstanding opportunity to further develop their individual expertise and attain cutting-edge excellence. The programme, which runs for one year and a half, requires students to be self-driven, innovative, and to have a genuine interest in interdisciplinary approaches, as well as in acquiring and applying various research methods.

The main objective of the Master of Arts in Design is to qualify students for complex professional challenges, whether at the interface of research/innovation, design practice/private enterprise, or education/communications. Master students deepen and expand not only their specialist knowledge and skills, but also create particular career opportunities for themselves. With these goals in mind, our programme focuses on the individual student and is project-driven.

Based on their experience and personal interests, students major in one of the six partially overlapping specialisations:

Communication

Conceiving and designing new forms of visualization, narration, and transfer of topical and complex matters: Identity & Brand, Information Design, Editorial Design, and Knowledge Visualization.

Event

Developing, enacting, and designing social events, commercial events, or cultural interventions in media, urban, and social spheres.

Game Design

Conceiving and designing games, serious games, ludic games, as well as collaborative, and virtual worlds.

Interaction Design

Developing concepts and systems in the fields of embodied interaction, interactive experience, and reactive materials.

Product

Conceiving and developing innovative products, services and systems for mobility, sports, and design with social impact.

Trends

Identifying, visualizing, and conveying cultural and socio-economic developments, as well as implementing strategic design concepts.

Imprint

master.design.diplome.zhdk.ch/2016
Zurich University of the Arts,
Master of Arts in Design
Degree Show 2016

Concept, text and image editing
Karin Zindel

Proofreading
Sprachling

Video portraits
Flavio Cury, Itzik Yehezkeli, Karin Zindel

Graphic design
Mirabella-Morganti

Web development
Avant la lettre, Dominik Ogilvie

With special thanks to:

Prof. Hansuli Matter,
Head Department of Design

Prof. Michael Krohn,
Head Master of Arts in Design

Stefano Vannotti, Head Minor Programme

Karin Zindel,
Research Associate Master of Arts in Design

Prof. Dr. Sarah Owens,
Head Communication

Patrik Ferrarelli,
Assistant Communication

Prof. Bitten Stetter,
Head Event & Trends

Andrea Roca,
Assistant Event & Trends

René Bauer,
Head Game Design

Dr. Mela Kocher,
Senior Researcher Game Design

Max Rheiner,
Head Interaction Design

Clemens Winkler,
Assistant Interaction Design

Annina Gähwiler,
Assistant Product

Baki Çavdar,
Administration Office Master of Arts in Design

All mentors and lecturers