Author: goldsmithsdesign

Svenja Bickert on Design Thinking

Svenja Bickert graduated from the MA in Design Futures in 2012, and this year she is back at Goldsmiths Design as a visiting lecturer on the same course, bringing in the knowledge she acquired on the MA as well as in her professional practice to a new group of students? What was her experience on the course? What is she doing now? Here she is answering those questions (and others) herself, in an interview for the Design blog.

Q: What made you want to come back and teach on the MA in Design Futures?

A: I enjoyed the course when I was here, and I believe in Meta Design and the theory behind it. It’s quite exciting for me to be in the course now with students who are just starting. Because I was on the course myself, I know how they feel and what they may need, and because I graduated so recently, it’s easy to remember how it felt coming to the course and what I was, maybe, missing at that time.

Q: So what is the course about?

A: It’s a Meta Design course, meaning designing design, re-thinking design practice, and it’s also quite a loose framework, though it has specific tools and specific values. The whole course is quite ecologically and ethically-driven, and I really like that you can focus throughout the year on your practice, on how design practice could be different, and on how you could work differently yourself. I think that’s quite original, because normally you learn design and you learn about design being specific, graphic design, product design etc, but this course is about what design could be. I’ve never heard of a different course that put that at the heart of the course.

Q: What was the topic of your dissertation? Continue reading “Svenja Bickert on Design Thinking”

More information on Social Enterprise funding at Goldsmiths

Since we brought you the good news about Goldsmiths’ UnLtd/HEFCE funding partnership for Social Enterprises, The Careers Service are back with more information on the matter. They will be running a series of workshops to help students and recent grads develop their applications for the funding program, as follows:

Wednesday, 13 November- Pitch Your Idea. Venue: Teach First, More London

Tuesday, 19 November-Fund Your Idea. Venue: Islington Hub, Angel

Wednesday, 27 November- Pitch Your Idea. Venue: 02 Workspace, Tottenham Court Road

All of them are free to attend, all you have to do is register with the Careers Service. The deadline for the applications to the award  is Friday, December 13th 2013. Innovative enterprise ideas that address a social problem in the UK have the chance to win a Try it (£500) or a Do it (£1,500) award. More information on the funding program can be found here and here.

MA graduate Lena Bush at Falling Walls Lab in Berlin

Goldsmiths Design alumna Lena Bush has just participated in the Falling Walls Lab in Berlin, an interdisciplinary conference where 100 young bright minds from all over the world and from a variety of backgrounds got to present their innovative ideas in 3 minutes each and to compete for awards offered by a jury of professionals from science and business. Lena, who is a 2013 graduate of our MA in Design: Critical Practice, was selected to take part in the Berlin final at the London Falling Walls competition in September. She presented as a Goldsmiths student and her pitch was centered around her project „Stitch in Time”, “a sustainable fashion campaign which motivates consumers to co-design things they buy, adding value to personal time traces and the do-it-yourself practice”. (You can read more about Stitch in Time on Lena’s website HERE).

"Stitch in Time", courtesy of Lena Bush
“Stitch in Time”, courtesy of Lena Bush

While Lena did not win the final, the presentation in Berlin was a great opportunity to make her project known to the world, especially since the event was livestreamed in full. Her trip to Germany was sponsored by the organisers. Footage from the final conference has not yet been posted online, but you can watch a video of highlights from the London selection event HERE.