Design

The course deals in depth and systematically with the practice of design as a tool for research and reflection. The course programme complements the individual work of the doctoral students. Through the research of different examples, students develop their doctoral theses: they materialise the theory through, or with the help of, the practice taking place in a wide area of design and providing an introduction to the execution of individual doctoral work.

The lectures address different aspects and components of design: bringing together critical theory, reflection and design within a socio-political and cultural context. The course focuses on recognising complex problems in relation to the other disciplines (science, technology, humanities, philosophy, art, etc.) and the way of their integral use in a project, which is reflected in the conceptualisation of individual outcomes and the method of presenting the design concept.

Candidates study the ways of applying the design knowledge and thinking to the production through articulating real external factors, the responses to them and their long-term effects. The aim of the course is for the students to become acquainted with the most important trends, theories and, above all, individual projects that had long-term effects on the method of working, understanding and thinking. In doing that, students deal with examples of both historical and current production in line with the orientation of their selected topics.

The research may be carried out through individual design disciplines (such as graphic design, industrial design, applied arts, illustration, photography, interactive design, etc.), through the integration of individual design disciplines or interdisciplinary integration with the other study areas of Art at the 3rd-cycle level.