New HvA Master’s in Digital Design to contribute to Amsterdam being seen as a ‘design hub’
The Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) is to launch the first Master’s in Digital Design in the Netherlands.
The teachers in the programme will collaborate with nine design firms including Achtung!, MediaMonks, Momkai and Fabrique. These firms are also the so-called ‘founding partners’ of the programme.The Scientific Director of the Master’s programme is Ben Schouten, lector in Play and Civic Media at the HvA.
Gabriele Ferri a design researcher at HvA, explains how the programme came about: ‘We heard that design firms were having a hard time finding designers that not only knew how to create functional designs, but who were also able to create products that could help change the world.’
Sustainability
‘Everything we use is the result of a design process,’ Ferri says. ‘We want to teach young designers to be more reflective and to consider values such as “inclusiveness” or “sustainability”.’
When asked for an example, he suggests the design of an application that can help consumers track the production process of a t-shirt, helping them to determine that product’s sustainability.
A bachelor’s degree does not sufficiently equip students to think about design in such a strategic and reflective way, Ferri says.
Global hub
The one year programme will be taught in English and is open to students from all over the world. There is place for 24 students in the first year. Ferri says he’s already received applications from students in Japan, India, Canada, the United States and Brazil.
He thinks Amsterdam is an attractive city for international students and he hopes that the master’s programme will contribute to transforming Amsterdam into a design hub to complement cities such as Eindhoven and Delft.
