DAE portfolio preparation course

Succeed in the applying process for Design Academy Eindhoven Design BA program! Our prep course is for anyone who plans to apply to DAE and wants to know how to shine in the process. On the side you will get the knowledge and skills to successfully apply for any Design program in the world.

We have 10+ years of experience with proven results

Fixed-time zoom classes

Study from anywhere in the world in a teacher-led zoom class

Peer support

Similar minded study group motivates and provides different perspectives for your learning!

Teacher’s feedback

Get live feedback from your teacher and fellow students

Curriculum

Course lessons focus on the creative design process. What is design, how should you show your potential in the application portfolio and the homework assignments? What technical and ideation methods you should know in order to produce solid and interesting design concepts, that also communicate your personality and motivation. All times are in Helsinki Time EET (Eastern European Time)

Group starts Mon 30.10.2023, 6.00.pm EET

1. Creative exploration

How to show your creativity? The finished items often hide the process behind them and the process is actually where the designer’s work happens. To show your potential one should learn to explore the design process. In this lesson we talk more about how and why you should do that.

2. Sketching and Ideation

Designers' work happens before the final product is realized. Ideation processes and ability to sketch, organize and visualize one's ideas is important. This lesson will open up why, when and how you should sketch and how it helps you to develop your design concepts forward.

3. Concept Design

Design visualizations should always have a background idea: a product/marketing/design concept. A strong concept helps you to communicate your idea with a clear focus. In this lesson you will learn how to create interesting and coherent concepts that have layers and great attention value which is supported with the chosen visual style.

4. Visual Concept and Identity

A great visual identity draws ideas from the design concept. Final visuality must communicate the ideas and support the message behind the concept. This lesson will walk you through the visual design process and give you tools to create outstanding and coherent visual presentations.

5. Prototyping

This lesson takes a look at different prototyping and scale modeling techniques through examples, providing tips and tricks for different materials and mediums. Creating great models adds valuable information to your designs and makes you stand out from your fellow applicants!

6. Portfolio examples

This lesson shows examples and analyses of successful portfolios from different design fields. The same portfolio does not work for all purposes. You should always tweak your content to fit the purpose. Learn from the examples and start ideating your own portfolio!

DAE portfolio preparation course

In this teacher-led zoom course you will study in group, getting support from both your teacher and your fellow students.

DAE portfolio preparation course

690 €

850€
incl. VAT

SAVE – EARLY BIRD!

Experiences

“

Attending the course was the best decision I ever made. I got more self-confident and learned a lot about myself. If you want a solid base for both the entrance exams and your future studies, I recommend that you sign up. I got into every school I applied to.

Google Reviews

5.0

★★★★★ 5/5

Goals

Is this course for me?

Design Academy Eindhoven in The Netherlands is one of the world’s leading Design Universities. The admittance rate for this Dutch higher education institution is 30-40%, making it a fairly selective university. It is home to a community of over 700 students from more than 40 different countries.

To be admitted you need to submit a creative portfolio of your previous art and design projects with 2 mandatory home assignments (published on their website), which measure the creative skills and applicant’s general suitability for the creative design studies.

Don’t worry if all this is new and little bit daunting – we got you!

Course content

This prep course will train you to view and think creative design from multiple perspectives. DAE and the other Dutch Design programs value the presence of the creative process in your portfolio. A Designer’s work actually happens before the final result is realized and that is where your creativity best shows itself: what kind of choices and decisions you make while searching the answers which finally lead to your final work. This course will teach you how and why it is important to explore that process, and how to document and present it to the evaluators in an interesting way. We offer variations of the previous year’s assignments from DAE and other prestigious design universities as practice to develop the creative skills you need in order to succeed in the application process.

Putting together a portfolio that presents your skills and thinking in depth takes time, as the creative process requires research, thinking and visual development. Join the course early enough to give yourself the benefit of time to become a plausible applicant.

We give you:

Professional guidance and lessons that increase your understanding of creative process, design thinking, concept building, portfolio compilation & content and the homework assignments.
Tailored project assignments to work on and include in your portfolio
Feedback from our highly experienced teachers, who have evaluated thousands of art and design assignments. The feedback will increase your understanding of what you should focus on in your projects.
Tutoring. After the Aalto preliminary assignments are published, we tutor and comment on your process so that you can be certain your work meets the requirements the school has set.

Why us?

As we are located in Finland and have guided our students to Finnish creative degree programs for over a decade, our professional teachers have a solid understanding of the qualities and requirements the programs are looking for in their potential students. This course is dedicated to students applying to Design Academy Eindhoven, DAE ‘s BA -programs, but in joining the course you will attain skills and capabilities to apply to any Design BA program in the world.

Course Teacher

Eeva Jokinen

I’m a passionate craft-oriented designer and teacher. My first degree was in Ceramics and I currently run my own company where I make small scale ceramic production and unique artworks.

For my whole artistic career I have also been teaching both in private and University positions. This woke up my interest in pedagogy and learning theories and I graduated from my second MA degree of Art Education in 2020.

My interest in the design field is wide. I teach both research methods and ceramic practices in Aalto University as a part time teacher and art techniques and content creation methods in Scandinavian Design School. I’m interested in how we learn and how to teach creative skills which are very individual and based on practice and materials.

My teaching philosophy is based on social-constructional methods, where the teacher is guiding the students towards their goals as a companion and provider, facilitating the learning which happens in each individual learner in their own unique way. I believe reflection and critical thinking of one’s work is the key to personal development and success.

About Eeva

Master of Arts (MA) in Ceramics and Glass Design

Master of Arts (MA) in Art EducationTeacher of art and design for 20 years
Preparatory course teacher for 7 years
Owner of Eeva Jokinen Ceramics design company
A passionate and well liked Scandinavian Design School teacher, who is dedicated in training you to reach the study place of your dreams!

For the Parents

The role of the parent is many time surprisingly significant when preparing for admission exam for university. Here are some tips for you, if you are a parent or the one supporting the applicant.

The role of the parents in the application process

As parents we want our children to succeed. However, the creative journey is very personal and stepping in too much may feel overstepping. How to be supportive in the right way?

Your endorsement as a parent is essential for the applicant, as your approval of their career choice gives them a psychological leave to fully explore their creativity and put all their energy to the application process.

A parental perspective is important especially in practical matters: You can help search for the best programs and discuss their benefits and possible future careers. Finding the right course to help them in the application process is a great way to show your support.

Supporting creative work

To support the creative work, focus your attention on the process, not only the end result. Curiosity and creativity are meant to lead to uncertain results that cannot be determined beforehand. Supporting the process communicates understanding of the creative journey and motivates your young to explore more.

The work of the designer always happens before the final product/work is finished. That includes trials and errors, but also insights and feelings of flow. Encouraging them to be resilient and commit to the process of improving their work, even if it feels hard, will prepare them for actual work in the creative field.

Sometimes there is no time to wait for inspiration, but just to do the work that is given to you. In our courses we will take part in that encouragement process, adding our professional insights and educational skills into the projects and feedback we give to our students.

Competition is the main concern

There are several aspects the parents usually are concerned about:
the competitive nature of the application process is worrisome.

It is very hard to get in, especially to the top ranking schools. How will your child take the possible rejection? How motivated are they to try again if they are rejected?
Discuss the possibility with your child. It is always a good idea to apply to several different schools, perhaps with slightly different rankings, especially if a gap year is not an option. You should always reach high, but also keep your head cool and add some easier options as well.

The method of selection varies between countries but also between schools. You either apply with a portfolio or through an entrance exam process. In some schools you need both a portfolio that includes some pre-assignment projects. If you don’t get accepted, in most countries there are foundation years/different level degrees or other lower education schools/courses to improve your skills and apply again next year. In Finland it typically takes 2-3 tries to learn how to apply and get the necessary skills. During each gap year these students have developed their skills in other courses, such as ours. Of course in every year many students also get in on their first try. Usually those students have a strong background on creative hobbies.

The motivation to reapply proves your career choice is legitimate. Skills can always be improved, will and determination must rise from within. The schools are looking for creative potential, curiosity and courage. Our courses focus on bringing those qualities out of our students and show them in their projects and portfolios.

Will they find employment in the uncertain creative field?

The applicants are rarely aware of all the possible career paths the creative fields may offer. An artist or a designer is the most obvious one and directly related to their current abilities and desires.There is a vast array of other possibilities that may open for them with a creative degree.

In recent studies it has been proven that creative industries have been growing twice as fast between 2013 and 2019 than the rate of the European economy as a whole.
Similar statistics are reported around the world. Creative economy has more and more jobs and the modern digitalized society is more in need of creative professionals than ever before.

Also, due the very nature of creativity, tolerating uncertainty in the creative process makes creative professionals especially equipped to navigate the challenges in our modern societies. Many universities also support interdisciplinary degrees, where the benefits of two or more disciplines steer you into a unique individual career path.

Why Scandinavian Design School?

Our teaching method is focused on three things:

Professionally curated curriculum that focuses on the skills needed in the application process
Project assignments that force you to stretch your creative thinking and creativity to a new level.
Feedback given by the professional teachers. Our teachers have a long experience in evaluating the projects and portfolios from the application process perspective. The key is in communication, our comments are always kind, but direct in their assessment.

The actual learning happens in the relation of these three. So the course does require commitment and resilience in working on the assignments. Just watching the videos won’t provide any feedback. In working with the assignments the learning changes from information to knowledge, and when repeated, into a skill.

In most art courses in this price range you don’t get as much personal communication with the teacher. In the evaluation we try to see the motives and and reasons in each project and focus our reviews to both the great parts, but also the challenges. The feedback always has some insights on how the work could be made more interesting and the ideas communicated more clearly.

690 €

850 €

OFFER AVAILABLE!

DAE portfolio preparation course

Succeed in the applying process for Design Academy Eindhoven Design BA program! Our prep course is for anyone who plans to apply to DAE and wants to know how to shine in the process. On the side you will get the knowledge and skills to successfully apply for any Design program in the world.

We have 10+ years of experience with proven results

Fixed-time zoom classes

Peer support

Teacher’s feedback

Curriculum

1. Creative exploration

2. Sketching and Ideation

3. Concept Design

4. Visual Concept and Identity

5. Prototyping

6. Portfolio examples

DAE portfolio preparation course

In this teacher-led zoom course you will study in group, getting support from both your teacher and your fellow students.

DAE portfolio preparation course

690 €

Experiences

Google Reviews

Courses

Contact Us

Contact Us

Contact Us

DAE portfolio preparation course

Courses

Contact Us

Contact Us

Contact Us