Design Foundation Course

All you need to get on with your creative journey!

We have 10+ years of experience with proven results

Study at your own pace

Study at your own pace with support of our university educated teachers

Get feedback

Get live feedback on your portfolio

Reach your goals

Increase your chance to enroll to academy

Curriculum

The course lessons are chosen to build your understanding of the Design process and the perspectives you can take on design projects. After the course you have a better understanding of how to start and carry a creative process and how you get to the result you desire.

1. Design

Design is not only how things look, but how they work. This lesson takes a look at the different focus areas in the design field, showing you the wide scope of possible futures. We will also walk through the design process and observe how it can be used to to solve different kinds of problems and challenges in the world.

2. 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.

3. 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.

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. Designing a 3D form

The shape of an object communicates its function and use. All the things we use are three-dimensional. This lesson takes a look at how to design and draw three-dimensionality and how the shape of an object is realised.

6. 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!

7. 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.

8. Composition

Composition is in the core of visual communication. How to place the elements in your design/presentation so that your idea is in the focus and the visual choices in the image support that focus. This lesson will help you understand and choose the best methods for different compositional purposes.

9. Surface design

How to design patterns & surfaces in any scale from architecture to textile design. Surface design is its own field amongst design. How to create 2d continuous patterns and how to scale and variate your design for different purposes?

10. Layout

Layout choices are an integral part of your final presentations. Layout tells the reader in which order and hierarchy you have intended your presentation to be read. Great layout is visual, but doesn’t override the content you are presenting. In this lesson you will learn the tricks to make great layout choices!

Design Foundation Course

This is an independent course where you study at your own pace with personal tutoring meetings and support of our teacher.

Design Foundation Course

850 €

incl. VAT

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 covers a vast array of under-categories: Product Design, Industrial Design, Creative design, Service Design, UI/UX Design, and even Craft. This Foundation course is for anyone who wants to learn and understand more about what is design, how to approach a design process and how to get and develop interesting design ideas and concepts. The course will approach the design process from different perspectives and through the projects and homework you will get a solid understanding of how to create interesting and multidimensional design concepts and how to present those ideas in a visually interesting and communicative way.

Course content

The course consists of 10 Design- related lessons. The lessons observe design from different perspectives and teach you how to go through a design process from concept creation, sketching and ideation to visual presentation stage. You will learn to build scale models and prototypes of your ideas and reflect and iterate your ideas into better and more defined versions.At the end of the course you will have several design projects to include in your portfolio.

Each lesson consists of video lectures and lecture documents.
Several quick tasks ease you into the lessons key ideas and two interesting project assignments channels the learned theory into practice.
You will get professional teacher feedback from each assignment and task. The purpose of the feedback is to help you further understand what kind of choices you have made and how you could improve your work.

Why us?

We have guided our students to enter both Finnish and European 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. Studying in this course with the pedagogical and tested guidance of our teachers and curated learning materials, you will be better prepared to enter your future career in any design 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.

850 €

Begin your creative journey!

Design Foundation Course

All you need to get on with your creative journey!

We have 10+ years of experience with proven results

Study at your own pace

Get feedback

Reach your goals

Curriculum

The course lessons are chosen to build your understanding of the Design process and the perspectives you can take on design projects. After the course you have a better understanding of how to start and carry a creative process and how you get to the result you desire.

1. Design

2. Concept Design

3. Sketching and Ideation

4. Visual Concept and Identity

5. Designing a 3D form

6. Prototyping

7. Creative exploration

8. Composition

9. Surface design

10. Layout

Design Foundation Course

This is an independent course where you study at your own pace with personal tutoring meetings and support of our teacher.

Design Foundation Course

850 €

Experiences

Google Reviews

Is this course for me?

Course content

Why us?

Courses

Contact Us

Contact Us

Contact Us

Design Foundation Course

Courses

Contact Us

Contact Us

Contact Us