This course presents you with in-depth knowledge of, and professional skills within the field of graphic design. Develop your graphic sensibilities through analysis of existing examples of real-life visual identity, branding, and communication along with project-based studio assignments. You work in physical and digital media, and are challenged to use these media in each of your projects throughout the semester. Studios are taught vertically, combining students of different levels. Expectations relate to you as an individual student.
One drawing course at university level. Knowledge of one or more programs in Adobe Creative Suite.
Use the city as your classroom through the combined lens of learning more about Danish language and culture with a focus on architecture and design. If you enroll in this studio, consider also enrolling in the 3-credit elective course Danish Language and Culture for Architecture and Design Students. See more details for Danish Language and Culture for Architecture and Design Students.
Examples of studio work in a portfolio must be submitted to your studio instructor at the beginning of the semester. This will allow your instructor to become acquainted with your design skills and better tailor their teaching.
Travel on Study Tour
You only take one Core Course per semester, and each Core Course includes two Study Tours: one Short Study Tour to a nearby destination for three days, and one Long Study Tour to another European country for six days.
Led by your faculty, Study Tours take you into real-world settings where you will apply what you’ve learned outside the classroom.
M.A, Danmarks Designskole, Institut for Visuel Kommunikation, 2002-2007. Creative Lead, Art Director (Icons of Denmark, DK+UK, 2019-2025), Senior Designer (Blomus, DK+DE, 2018-2020), Senior Creative with HGP WORK (Other clients, 2017-2025), Senior Art Director (Fredericia Furniture, 2015-2017), Senior Art Director (Hello Group, 2013-2014), Senior Designer (Rethink, 2011-2012). With DIS since 2026.
Katja Bjarnov Lage
Graphic designer (Danish School of Media and Journalism, Copenhagen 1988). Master in Design 2013 (KADK Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen). Bonnier’s Magazines from 1988 to 89 and The Monthly Magazine Press from 1989 to 92. Partner in X2 Grafik 1991-96. Own design studio 1996-2013. Design teacher at Visual Communication 2013-23 (Danish School of Media and Journalism, Copenhagen). Own design studio since 2020. With DIS since 2024.
Long Study Tour
About this tour
This week-long Study Tour to the Netherlands forms an integral part of the studio curriculum by broadening your understanding of how design shapes human experience. You will examine graphic design in the built environment by studying cultural destinations in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and the surrounding areas. The Netherlands is a visually captivating country and the Dutch have continually been at the forefront of graphic design starting with the De Stijl movement in the early 20th century. By visiting sites and immersing yourself in the environment, you will begin to identify cultural differences through visual and graphic expression.
The sites visited, as sensory experiences, provide you with an opportunity to develop your critical observation skills and diagrammatic and representational proficiency. Simultaneously, you will be equipped with a vocabulary of design concepts, strategies, and materials, which can then be applied in your own creative work in studio and beyond.
Learning outcomes
Study graphic design as manifest in contemporary and traditional sites within the built environment of Holland
Meet local offices and experts in the industry and learn about innovative design
Develop sketching and note-taking skills for recording impressions of sites in a journal
Possible activities
Visiting the Stedelijk Museum, Rijksmuseum, and the EYE Film Institute
Office visits to prominent Dutch graphic design firms
Short Study Tour
Denmark
About this tour
Core Course Week, including this short Study Tour, forms an integral part of your studio curriculum by broadening your understanding of the social and physical context of Danish design. Not only will you discover the qualities that make a design quintessentially ‘Danish,’ you will also experience Danish culture, traditional cuisine, art, and music. You will study graphic design at all scales but with a focus on visual identity and way-finding in the built environment, through examples including significant religious architecture, innovative museum designs, historic and contemporary urban environments, and other graphic design related sites.
The two-day seminar in Copenhagen and three-day Study Tour to western Denmark will provide you with the opportunity to develop your critical observation skills and diagrammatic and representational proficiency. Simultaneously, you will be equipped with a vocabulary of design concepts, strategies, and materials, which you can apply in your own creative work in studio and beyond.
Learning outcomes
Study graphic design as manifest in contemporary and traditional sites within the built environment of Denmark
Gain an understanding of Danish history, geography, and culture outside the Copenhagen region
Develop sketching and note-taking skills for recording impressions of sites in a journal
Possible activities
Comparison of different systems of visual identity and way-finding in spaces for art museums, including the Trapholt and ARoS museums
Visiting a traditional Danish church with centuries old iconic chalk drawings
Studying Brandts Museum in Odense, with an extensive graphic design program covering building identity and communication
