- Full-time program in English
- Full-time and part-time programs in Polish
How do people sleep, eat, and rest? Why do they surround themselves with certain objects? Product Design is not only about aesthetics, but also about the knowledge of materials, tools, and processes, throughout their whole lifecycles, on the one hand, and on the other hand about understanding of basic behaviors as well as environmental and cultural contexts. It is an activity geared towards problem solving paralleled with thinking about individuals, communities, the natural environment and the future.
Review SWPS University's School of Form 4-year undergraduate Design program »
Key aspects of our study program
Product Design is a specialization where technology and handicraft are tightly intertwined.
Forget a notebook and a pen. Cut your nails short, and gather your hair in a ponytail. Once you figure out what, how, and for whom you want to design, you will roll up your sleeves and do it yourself. In the ceramics studio, you will get covered in white dust, while in our woodworking workshop, you will be pulling out wood chips from under your collar. We can also guarantee that our KUKA robot will not listen to you the first time you try to command it.
The Product Design program will teach you how to work in a 3D environment. You will be designing objects, furniture, and dishes as well as processes and materials.
„Our Product Design program sensitizes students to the near and far environment, in which people live. We treat daily rituals as a performance, which after all, requires a friendly set design and adequately designed props.”
Bartosz Mucha, Ph.D.
Coordinator of Product Design specialization
Choose your tool tract
During your 3rd year of study, you will select your tool tract. You can choose between:
Analogue Tract
where you will perfect your construction skills, expand and improve your knowledge of traditional materials and handicraft techniques.
Digital Tract
where you will learn everything there is to know about robotics, parametric design, and digital design software.
Product Design – Key skills and knowledge
You will complete individual and team projects in the fields of ceramics, furniture making, textiles, and interaction design. While working on these projects you will also develop a prototype, technical documentation and a description.
You will learn the basics of parametric design and robotics, how to make technical and design drawings, prepare photographic and film documentation of your projects.
You will focus on your favorite tools and practice skills related to the equipment that will become part of your future career. You will acquire knowledge about design tools, such as materials and their properties and how to select them, taking into consideration their color palette and texture.
You will participate in Master Classes, led by our collaborators, renowned professionally active designers, who work in Poland and abroad. During Master Classes you will have an opportunity to learn about new tools and design strategies, but most of all, you will meet acclaimed individuals, specializing in design and related disciplines, such as science, art, and business.
Moreover, you will participate in some inter-specialization projects conducted in collaboration with our business and community partners, and you will complete a module that will help you to successfully enter the job market.
Under the supervision of two thesis advisors, you will work on your product design graduation project, that will include both, a design and a description component.
You will also complete over 800 hours of professional practicum, which will give you an excellent opportunity to use your practical skills in an actual professional environment. School of Form provides you with an opportunity to complete your practicum with one of our partnering businesses/organizations however, you may also secure the practicum with another organization of your choice.
Student Projects
Mindfulness in everyday life, designing sensory objects
User-friendly house for visually-impaired
Buraki Lab
Sknocone
Studios and Workshops
You will have an opportunity to work in our specialized studios and workshops equipped with state-of-the-art tools and machines. This way, you will be able to work on your own projects, including those extending beyond the curriculum, and consult your work with teachers. Some studios and workshops are accessible to students during school hours. Others are open at specific times and students may work there under the supervision of teaching assistants and specialists. This is what you will learn over the course of your studies:
You potential career path
- designer in various branches of industry, including: home appliances, electronics, furniture, telecommunications, and robotics
- designer working for a design studio
- home furnishings designer (furniture, lighting, ceramics)
- pattern designer (textiles)
- project coordinator in design teams
- set designer
- photo stylist
- designer of new materials and technologies
- social innovation designer (e.g. designing solutions for socially excluded individuals or for people with disabilities)
- designer in an R&D team
- designer in a start-up company
- owner of a design studio
- artisan, manufacturer
Our Graduates
300 graduates have already completed studies at School of Form. Here are some of them:
Faculty
Our faculty comprises acclaimed expert-practitioners, renowned designers who combine technological expertise with humanistic sensibility and who share the wealth of their professional experience with students.
