We hope you’re enjoying your summer break, but you certainly have something to look forward to, once autumn comes- in September, you are invited to Goldsmiths’ very first Design Festival. There will be lectures, workshops, exhibitions, music and more, from staff, alumni and special guests.
More information and a full program will be available soon; in the meantime, save the week starting September 3rd in your calendar for Design at Goldsmiths!
Leon Eckert explaining the ideas and workings of his graduation project ‘Human Algorithm’ at xvshow, this year’s Undergraduate Degree exhibition for Goldsmiths Design:
This is what Leon had to say on his experience as a Goldsmiths Design student:
“What I found amazing was how easy it was to find people that would collaborate [on the final year project]. My background is not computer science, nor is it dance, but I had ideas combining these two [disciplines], and it was incredibly easy to find people at Goldsmiths that would help me with understanding, using and programming genetic algorithms. At the same time, I worked with six different dancers,which I found at Goldsmiths or through Goldsmiths, to understand how dancers work, improvise and develop movements, and apply this to their performance. It was amazing, and I think it represented the philosophy of the [Design] course at Goldsmiths. My outcome should never be limited by the skills I have. I do not want to think of ideas only within graphic or product design, I want to be able to have ideas on dance and computer science and put them into practice with exactly these disciplines. That’s what Goldsmiths taught me, made possible for me and made me believe in.”
Leon will continue his studies with a Masters programme in New York. You can find even more information on his graduation project on the Genetic Dance Algorithm website.
If you’re interested in knowing more about Chinese design, you will surely benefit from a conversation with alumna Zara Arshad, who has been working in China and writing about its designers and their output for a while now. We interviewed Zara on her international experience and other things:
Q: What was it like to study Design at Goldsmiths? What were you expecting when you first started out and how did reality compare to your expectations?
A: Studying on the BA (Hons) Design programme at Goldsmiths College, University of London was definitely the best fit for me, since I had just completed my IB Diploma at the British International School in Jakarta, Indonesia and, therefore, arrived at the course from a very academic background. I really didn’t know what to expect though. The programme was exceptionally strong from a conceptual point of view and very flexible: we were encouraged to move across various (design) disciplines for studio projects, and use these opportunities to experiment, rather than to develop a specific style too early on. Overall, I am very grateful to Goldsmiths Design for the “way of thinking” it taught me. Continue reading “Interview with alumna Zara Arshad of Design China”
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