21 A List Of the Best Design Schools Around The World

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If you are an adventures designer like me who likes to travel around the world trying to expand your horizons, here is a list of the best Graphic Design schools around the globe.A panel of innovation consultants, academics, and executives selected the best design programs around the world. From Arizona State to Zollverein, The advantages of studying abroad is endless. You can learn another language while studying what you really have passion for.ENJOY!

Arizona State University, College of Design

Tempe, Ariz.

2,480 students, both grad and undergrad
Design, Engineering, and Business

Partnerships

Academic: Arizona State's Colleges of Engineering and Business

Babson College Babson Park, Mass.

3,300 students, both grad and undergrad
Business

Partnerships

Academic: Olin College of Engineering, RISD (new this

Claim to Fame: Home Depot co-founder and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank is an alumnus.
Signature Programs: In the creativity program, there is a mandatory arts class in the first year of the MBA, to instill creative principles that are invoked in second-year courses on entrepreneurship, innovation, and new-product development.

Bainbridge Graduate Institute

Bainbridge Island, Wash.

140 graduate students
Business

Top Employers: Most students start own companies, but REI is a big employer

Claim to Fame: Founded by Gifford Pinchot, inventor of the term "intrapreneurship."

Signature Programs: An MBA program that focuses on sustainable business.

Bainbridge treats creativity as the route to the human insight necessary for socially responsible leadership. Students manage CreateSessions, problem-solving seminars that are structured like design-strategy workshops.

California College of the Arts

San Francisco

1,660 students, both grad and undergrad
Art and Design

Partnerships

Academic: UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business, Köln International School of Design (Germany)
Business: Project sponsors include Gaia & Gino, Pantech, Tupperware, Simpson Strong-Tie, Samsung, IDEO, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Timbuk2.
Top Employers: Gensler, MBH Architects, Anshen & Allen, Dahlin Group Architecture, Pentagram

Claim to Fame: Yves Béhar of Fuseproject is the chair of the industrial design department.

Signature Programs: CCA's longstanding joint product-development program with Berkeley's business and engineering schools is now focusing on sustainable design. CCA is launching its own Design MBA.

Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering

Hanover, N.H.

305 students, both grad and undergrad
Engineering

Partnerships

Academic: Dartmouth College, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth Medical School
Business: Course sponsors include Mascoma.
Top Employers: GE, Analog Devices, Goldman Sachs

Claim to Fame: Dartmouth professor of engineering Tillman Gerngoss is the co-founder of GlycoFi; alumnus Terrence McGuire is the founder of Polaris.

Signature Programs: Situated within a liberal arts curriculum, the Thayer School is interdisciplinary by nature, offering courses in engineering design, design thinking, and sustainability to students from business, medicine, and the arts as well as a masters

Delft University of Technology

Delft, The Netherlands

1,800 students, both grad and undergrad
Design

Partnerships

Business: Does client work for Philips and P&G.
Top Employers: Google, McKinsey, Microsoft, Siemens

Claim to Fame: Adrian van Hooydonk, design director for BMW, is an alumnus.

Signature Programs: A design program with a technology and engineering school, TU Delft emphasizes management and ergonomics. Business courses are mandatory in both undergraduate and graduate industrial design degrees, and graduate students do client work for companies. TU Delft also offers a masters in strategy design.

Design Academy Eindhoven

Eindhoven, The Netherlands

700 students, both grad and undergrad
Design

Partnerships

Academic: RCA, (United Kingdom), UIAH (Finland), ECAL (Switzerland), ENSCI (France) RISD, Technical University of Eindhoven (Netherlands)
Business: Professors and students have done project work for Unilever, Sara Lee, and Heinz.
Top Employers: Philips, IKEA, Siemens, BMW

Claim to Fame: Famous alumni include Hella Jongerius, Maarten Baas, Tord Boontje, Jurgen Bey, Richard Hutten, and Job Smeets.

Signature Programs: In Design Academy's Compass curriculum, students go through eight "rotations" to expose them to various aspects of design: user-centric categories like leisure and well-being; technological categories in the lab, and business categories, finishing with a mandatory one-semester internship.

Domus Academy

Milan, Italy

200 graduate students
Design

Partnerships

Academic: Bocconi School of Management (Italy)
Business: The academy does consulting work for Nike, Samsung, and Hyundai.
Top Employers: 3M, Abercrombie & Fitch, Decathlon, Nike, Samsung

Claim to Fame: Chief Versace designer Lorenza Baschieri is an alumna.

Signature Programs: Not only does Domus Academy incorporate professional internship experience and strategic management thinking into its own design degree, but it offers a joint masters in business design with the Bocconi School of Management.

ENSCI Les Ateliers

Paris, France

215 students, both grad and undergrad
Design

Partnerships

Academic: EMUDE, Masters of European Design
Business: Project sponsors include Electrolux, Legrand, and Kenwood.
Top Employers: Philippe Starck, Lunar, IDEO, L'Oréal, Renault

Signature Programs: A design school that is intimately in touch with business practice, ENSCI partners with technology departments around France and design schools across Europe as well as major global companies to incorporate classes in management and internships with firms for all its industrial and interaction design students.

ESDI Brasil

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

220 students, both grad and undergrad
Design

Partnerships

Academic: University of Art & Design Helsinki (Finland), ENSCI Les Ateliers (France), TU Delft (Netherlands), and Köln International School of Design (Germany)
Business: Course project sponsors include Microsoft, Electrolux, and Motorola, which runs a lab on campus.
Top Employers: Most students start their own companies.

Claim to Fame: Oscar-nominated cinematographer Walter Carvalho is an alumnus, as is Ivo Kos, art director of recent movies The Matrix and Ratatouille.

Signature Programs: Offering degrees in Integrated Product Design and Design Methods, ESDI connects to students in local and international businesses for projects, while a university design incubator lets students turn their own projects into viable business models. Recently, resources have been given to courses and projects in sustainable design, some of which have been sponsored by Microsoft.

George Brown College

Toronto, Ont.

700 graduate students
Design

Partnerships

Academic: Polytechnic University of Milan (Italy), DUOC (Chile), Veritas University (Costa Rica)
Business: Course sponsors include Canada Mortgage Assn., government agencies, Magna.
Top Employers: IDEO, Bruce Mau, Umbra

Claim to Fame: Paul Rowan, co-founder of Umbra, is an alumnus; so is Alex Wigington, creative director of Oxygen Design.

Signature Programs: George Brown's innovative design program offers degrees in design management. A 10-month graduate program on sustainable design is currently working on World House, a global initiative to design sustainable affordable housing.

Hochschule Pforzheim

Pforzheim, Germany

75 students, both grad and undergrad
Design

Partnerships

Academic: RISD, UIAH (Finland), ENSCI Les Ateliers (France), NID (India), Hongik University (South Korea)
Business: Course clients have included the former DaimlerChrysler.
Top Employers: frog design, IDEO, BMW, Porsche

Claim to Fame: Famous alumni include Michael Mauer, head of design at Porsche; Peter Faasbender, head of design at Saab; Thomas Ingenlath, head of design at Skoda; and Claus Potthoff, head of exterior design at Audi.

Signature Programs: Pforzheim's design program places students in project studios to design products for companies. The school is now looking to expand its offerings in marketing and management studies. In its graduate studies, Pforzheim takes students with backgrounds in design, sponsored by corporate employers to learn the ties between design and business. This year, they will be launching a creative design Masters with a focus on design leadership.

Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Hong Kong, China

1,300 students, both grad and undergrad
Design

Partnerships

Academic: Köln Institute (Germany), TU Delft (Netherlands), UIAH (Finland)
Business: Has done projects with Benetton and Bang & Olufsen.
Top Employers: TCL, Philips

Claim to Fame: Vivienne Tam, fashion designer is an alumna

Signature Programs: Hong Kong Polytechnic University's College of Design offers business-minded degrees such as design strategy, product innovation, and design in practice. In a strategic design lab, students work with companies on design projects. In the Asian lifestyle lab, they collect ethnographic and anthropological data to help international companies target products to

Hongik University College of Design

Seoul, South Korea

1,140 students, both grad and undergrad
Design

Partnerships

Academic: RCA (United Kingdom), RISD
Business: Course sponsors include Nissan and GM.
Top Employers: Samsung, GM

Claim to Fame: SunGul Whang, design manager for Motorola, is an alumnus.

Signature Programs: Although Hongik is known chiefly for the technical skill of its product-design graduates, theoretical, environmental and human factors are getting increased attention in its program as companies now come to the school with sponsored projects in user-centered design.

Indian Institute of Technology, Industrial Design Centre

Mumbai, India

62 graduate students
Design

Partnerships

Business: Member, International Council of Societies of Industrial Design.
Top Employers: Ashok Leyland, Honeywell, Tata Motors, Ford, Motorola and Microsoft

Signature Programs: IIT's Industrial Design Centre takes a broad and holistic approach, combining mandatory art and marketing components into an industrial design course. Students and professors both do consultancy work and sponsored projects for Mumbai industry, and the Institute hosts conferences on innovation for business leaders from around the world.

Köln International School of Design

Cologne, Germany

460 students, both grad and undergrad
Design

Partnerships

Academic: Master of European Design, Shih Chien (Taiwan), Parsons, Musashino (Japan), CCA, Arizona State
Business: Does projects for Nokia, Siemens, German Telecom, Motorola, and Coca-Cola.
Top Employers: German Telecom and Vodafone

Claim to Fame: Alumna Nina Kleebank is project manager at Interbrand Germany; alumnus Markus Kossmann is product developer at Lego's headquarters in Dublin.

Signature Programs: With a focus on service design and user-centricity, Köln offers a program in design thinking. With its projects for major German companies, the school is expanding its curriculum on design management.

Kaos Pilot International

Aarhus, Denmark

135 students, both grad and undergrad
Design and Business

Partnerships

Academic: Runs its own affiliate schools in Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands
Business: Course clients have included Google, Apple, and Carlsberg.
Top Employers: Lego, Statoil

Signature Programs: Kaos Pilot International is an interdisciplinary business program that takes students at both the graduate and undergraduate level and puts them into interdisciplinary teams with leaders, but no official professors, to travel internationally and work on design projects for companies or as social enterprises.

Keio University

Tokyo, Japan

4,876 students, both grad and undergrad
Engineering and Business

Partnerships

Academic: Imperial College, London; University of Technology, (Germany), Xian Jiaotong, (China); Ecole Centrale de Nantes (France)
Business: Nissan Motor and Yosuhara-cho Kouchi prefecture are course sponsors.
Top Employers: Canon, Toyota, Sony, Tokyo Gas, Nomura Research Institute, Nissan

Signature Programs: In the engineering degrees at Keio University, professors have an institutional approach to technological innovation, focusing on the role of engineering design in organizations and companies and putting students to work on sponsored projects for auto companies like Nissan.

London College of Communication

London, England

9,000 students, both grad and undergrad
Art and Design

Partnerships

Academic: ECCA Enterprise Centre for the Creative Arts is open to students from all other London U. of the Arts colleges
Business: Has done projects for Jordan Oil and EPR Architects.
Top Employers: John Brown Citrus Publishing, BBC, Red Bee Media, The Times, Reuters.

Claim to Fame: Sir Charles Saatchi, founder of Saatchi & Saatchi is an alumnus.

Signature Programs: Truly an arts college for businesspeople, LCC offers classical graphic and product design degrees as well as a marketing degree in creative enterprise. At the Enterprise Centre for Creative Arts, arts students learn about business management. In the Design Practice, a college consultancy, students work for real business clients on design projects.

Musashino Art University

Tokyo, Japan

7,589 students, both grad and undergrad
Art and Design

Partnerships

Academic: University of the Arts, London; KISD (Germany); Pratt; UIAH (Finland); Polytechnic University of Milan (Italy)
Business: University cooperation projects with Toshiba, IKEA, Nissan, and Casio.
Top Employers: Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, Honda, IBM, Toyota

Claim to Fame: Shiro Nakamura of Nissan, Satoshi Wada of Audi, and Toyoyuki Uematsu of Panasonic are alumni.

Signature Programs: In addition to a traditional arts and design curriculum, Musashino offers degrees in arts management and the science of design. Almost all professors are professional practitioners, and students have the chance to work with companies on hands-on design projects, specializing in automotive and consumer electronics industries, where many Musashino graduates work.

National Institute of Design

Ahmedabad, India

650 students, both grad and undergrad
Design

Partnerships

Academic: ENSCI (France), RCA (London), Shenkar (Israel)
Business: Has worked with Fiat, Autodesk, GM, and Whirlpool.
Top Employers: Suzuki, Whirpool, Infosys

Claim to Fame: Alumnus Satish Gokhale runs consultancy and studio Design Directions, a four-time Design Excellence award winner.

Signature Programs: A design institution with strong links to industry, NID offers students the chance to work with companies on class design projects and on rapid prototyping through its consulting arm, the Design Vision Centre. In addition, NID now offers a degree program in strategic design .

Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHIO)

Oslo, Norway

150 students, both grad and undergrad
Art and Design

Partnerships

Academic: Norwegian School of Management, member Cumulus network
Business: Project work for Live Work and the Norwegian lottery company, Gjensidige.

Claim to Fame: Edvard Munch was an alumnus.

Signature Programs: Students in all design degrees at Oslo National Academy of the Arts take classes in various aspects of business from management to finance to marketing. One course is a joint course with the Oslo School of Management that simultaneously exposes business students to design approaches and strategy. In their final year, design students can apply to work in a design-business incubator or take project work in companies.

Polytechnic University of Milan

Milan, Italy

38,000 students, both grad and undergrad
Design

Partnerships

Academic: Design Management Week is a conference open to MBAs from global schools to discuss design; also has partnerships with Harvard Business School, MIT, and Tongji University in China
Business: Educational partnership with Ferrari.
Top Employers: Ferrari, Fiat, Continuum

Claim to Fame: Noted alumni include Giovanni Battista Pirelli, founder of Pirelli; Giulio Natta, founder of Kartell; Ernesto Gismondi, founder of Artemide.

Signature Programs: A relatively young program, Milan Polytechnic hopes to provide both designers and managers with some knowledge of the other's discipline through a degree in strategic design and an MBA concentration in design management.

Shih Chien University

Taipei, Taiwan

600 students, both grad and undergrad
Design

Partnerships

Academic: Exchange with Tsinghua University, (China), partnership with local business school, launching exchange with MIT in 2008
Business: Has worked for Motorola.

Signature Programs: In an interdisciplinary program with Taipei Business School, companies send representatives to teach as guest lecturers. Design students have the chance to work for corporate clients like Motorola.

Strate Collège

Paris, France

400 students, both grad and undergrad
Design

Partnerships

Academic: Cumulus member, exchange programs with over 20 schools worldwide, joint degree with engineering school Ecole des Mines (France)
Business: Course sponsors include Hyundai, Renault, GM.
Top Employers: Renault, GM, Mercedes, L'Oréal, Goodyear, Decathlon

Signature Programs: Known especially for its excellence in product and transport design, Strate Collège has recently launched an interdisciplinary degree in innovation management in partnership with engineering school Ecole des Mines. Graduates of this one-year degree often go on to become translators between design and engineering at the managerial level in major French companies.

Tongji University

Shanghai, China

529 students, both grad and undergrad
Art and Design

Partnerships

Academic: Cumulus member, partnerships with Polytechnic University of Milan (Italy), UIAH (Finland)
Business: Does consulting for Nissan, Volkswagen, and Decathlon.
Top Employers: LOE Design, Pan Asia Automotive Center

Claim to Fame: Song Xiaofeng of Sony Design Center, Japan, is an alumnus.

Signature Programs: Through Tongji's consulting arm, Greenchain, design students do work for international corporations like Volkswagen and Nissan.

UMEA Institute of Design

Umea, Sweden

224 students, both grad and undergrad
Design

Partnerships

Academic: MIT, University of Southern Denmark
Business: Course project sponsors include Microsoft, Palm, Nokia, Ericsson, and Volvo.Top Employers: Nokia, Volvo, Toyota, Microsoft

Claim to Fame: Erik Ahlgren, designer at Ericsson, is an alumnus.

Signature Programs: Long known for its expertise in transport design and client work for major auto companies, UMEA Institute of Design is expanding its work in service design through a collaboration with the municipal government of Umea, doing projects in disabled and elderly services.

University of Art & Design Helsinki

Helsinki, Finland

1,700 graduate students
Art and Design

Partnerships

Academic: Founding an Innovation University with the local business school and technology school; e-pedagogy program with other European schools, member Cumulus and Erasmus
Business: Does client work for Finnish companies like Kone and Semamco.
Top Employers: Nokia, Marimekko, ABB, Philips, Siemens, and Kone

Claim to Fame: Alumna Marukka Makela is a project manager at Kone.

Signature Programs: At UIAH, design students can take classes in other Helsinki universities, like the school of technology and the school of business. They can pursue the joint degree in business design management between the three schools, soon to become a joint institution, the School for Creative Entrepreneurship. Within UIAH, students explore the links between design and business in the design strategy and leaders in design degrees, and through Designium, a university-run consultancy for businesses.

Zollverein School of Management and Design

Essen, Germany

46 graduate students
Design and Business

Partnerships

Academic: Liaison partnership with six other schools, soon to be launching with University of Kansas
Business: Has worked with 3M.
Top Employers: Deutsche Klinekom, Interbrand, Karlstadt

Signature Programs: A graduate school for management and design, Zollverein offers an executive MBA on design leadership, an architecture degree with a business focus, and a corporate consulting service focus on design as innovation strategy.

font: Businessweek.com

If I forgot schools and the readers have more suggestions , please feel free to post the name of the school and the website. Thank You - ELO designer