Pforzheim University / School of Design

Studying at the Faculty of Design

A course of studies at the internationally renowned Pforzheim University guarantees a pragmatic education coupled with forward-looking thinking and design. The number of students in the School of Design / DESIGN PF, which is deliberately kept small, allows for individual support of each student and preserves a familiar atmosphere. The School of Design offers Bachelor’s Degrees in Fashion Design, Industrial Design, Transportation Design, Jewellery and Everyday Objects and Visual Communications.

Furthermore, the school also offers Master’s Degrees in Transportation Design and Creative Direction. Almost 600 prospective designers from Germany and around the world study at the School of Design, which can trace its history back to 1877.

We expect a high degree of commitment, innovation and motivation from our students. In return, the University offers the best conditions in which to evolve artistic talents and develop a personal design profile, thus ensuring long-term career success. The high quality of the courses at the Pforzheim School of Design is confirmed time and again by independent rankings. The American magazine »Business Week« considers the School of Design in Pforzheim to be one of the 60 top educational institutions for design in the world – alongside universities such as Harvard, Stanford and MIT. In the ranking of Focus Magazine, the faculty ranks 2nd in Germany.
 

About the Jewelry Department:

SOdA students develop their own criteria for dealing confidently with traditions, based upon a knowledge of traditional and new techniques. The aim of the programme is to develop confidence in design and craftsmanship and to promote the emergence of a personal creative stance. Graduates are in a position to deliberate and reflect upon their own actions, professionally present their work and successfully position their results in the commercial market.

During the course of studies, the students work with many different materials and techniques, including gold- and silversmithing, engraving and enamelling, electroplating and ceramics, CAD and associated rapid-prototyping as well as various synthetic materials. The productive interplay between new and traditional materials, technologies and techniques stimulates a creative reaction to the commonplace, everyday experience. The superb technical facilities, combined with intensive one-on-one support, facilitate a well-grounded technical and artistic education that is internationally unique.

The focus of the students’ creative development takes place in the context of project work. Depending on the topic, the ensuing works range from one-offs, multiples, cooperation with industry or individual research. The student’s own theme proposals and additional projects in other fields thus play an important role in the individual structuring of the course of studies. The degree programme ensures relevance for a professional career through supplementary coursework in the areas of law and economics for designers. Experience in product presentation as well as contacts and preparation for a professional career are acquired at international trade fairs.

In addition, opportunities to gain reallife experience with companies and galleries are provided. Students may complete exchange programs at international partner universities, which offer the opportunity to gain further experience in different creative and cultural contexts.

A particular focus of the education at the Pforzheim School of Design lies in the fundamental studies in the fine arts. The students cultivate skills in the areas of painting, drawing, sculpture and still and moving images. This is complimented by cultural studies such as the history of design, art analysis, aesthetics, semiotics and the sociology of cultural processes. These subjects serve to hone the students’ perceptive skills, i.e. the ability to interpret symbols, recognize historical developments and gain cultural knowledge. Many years of experience show that the students thrive on the skills gained from this practical and theoretical knowledge and obtain indispensible ideas for their own career development. The aim is to educate autonomous artistic individuals, who are capable of developing their own perspectives and forms of expression, and who can assume authorship of their own work.


The University takes part at:
Fairs:
- Salone del Mobile, Milan | Dutch Design week, Eindhoven | Inhorgenta, Munich | Eunique, Karlsruhe

Workshops, projects, activities:
- Pforzheim Revisited.
2010 a cooperation agreement called Just As Before - But Unlike was closed between Pforzheim University and the German Museum of Technology Berlin (DTMB): The subject is "New Jewelry Manufactured with Historic Machinery and Techniques". And with this aim students of the department, Jewelry and Objects of Everyday Culture, at Pforzheim University, travel once a year for a week to Berlin, to learn old techniques such as embossing, pressing or guilloche in the department of Manufactured Jewellery Production at the German Museum of Technology Berlin. There they are supported by the management and staff of the department as well as members of the working group, Jewelry Connects. It is an ongoing porject til today.

- Virus fashion infiltration. Young European Talent-Workshop 2014 (YET):
For the sixth time, the initiators of the Young Europeen Talents – Workshop, invited young creatives from all over Europe to Pforzheim. The aim of the workshop is to promote international exchange between universities and to provide impetus for the Design in Pforzheim. Aspiring jewelry designers from Politecnico Mailand and the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, and of course the department jewelry and everyday objects (soda) at the University of applied science  Pforzheim, work out in a four-day intensive workshop ideas for a future connection between fashion an jewelry .

- IKKI Project: During this project run by Willi Häfele students developed their own brand with name and logo.

- Burning Schwyz: 10 day Raku and Ashanti workshop in the Swiss Alps.