reputable ID school in Asia

Hi,
any recommendations for a good design program in Asia? Undergrad or Grad…I know it’s pretty cheap there, plus you get to experience new culture.

Hong-Ik is really good. Better technique and form development than most US schools. Not sure about design strategy and problem solving though.

do they teach in english or korean? i would like to get info from someone there…i think you’re right it’s a good school…anybody reading this from Hong-ik?

I’m not from hong-ik but I’m pretty sure most classes are taught in Korean (probably some classes in English).

national institute of design, india. it is one of the best in asia.

Yeah no doubt Hong-Ik University in Korea has a long excellent tradition and reputation in the areas of architecture, ID, etc. I am a student studying in the states, and I know a bunch who did their undergraduate studies there. From what I hear, it is pretty seriously intense and the school curriculum is no different from top US design schools. It’s s a relatively small university specialized in design. Located in the northern part of Seoul(Shin-Chon), in a setting surrounded by major top Korean Universities, the area is one of the coolest place to live too! Very Lively and fashion related shops / artist studios are here. Almost all classes are taught in Korean, but they use English textbooks or readings from all over the world, so I guess you would be in an advantage in some way in that case. The professors are mostly US or British or European educated, so they tend to speak good english too.

Website:
http://www.hongik.ac.kr/english_neo/

Hope this helps

sometimes it’s frustrating to navigate their websites…even if it’s in english the info is lacking…
anyway, i’m looking at taking my master’s degree in ID somewhere in asia…is National Institute of Design the same as IIT in India? which one has a stronger program? How abou Japanese schools?

korea is uasually a problem if you talk english only. look for hong kong polytech. it’s a good blend of asia, teaching is in english, well structured, many international profs.

hey c’mon, there must be more info on this!

sharing guys -thats key!

any design schools in japan with english instructions?

any design schools in the U.S. with Japanese instructions?

Hi there,

NID (National Institute of Design), Ahmedabad, is the premiere school of design in India giving a 4 yr undergraduate diplomas and 2 1/2 yr postgraduate diplomas. I should say they are the best. They educate designers for the Indian market but there are many designers who have made it big in the International circuit. I guess India is so big that it takes a lot of effort and time to make it to the interantional circuit.

IIT, Delhi (Indian Institute of Technology) is another institute that gives only Masters degree in ID. They are famous for the technical and technological innovations in ID. Both schools are very good. To give you an example the ex head of the ID department is now the dean of the ID dept at RMIT,Melbourne. I have known that many students from IIT get into the transportation design circuit. Whereas ppl from NID are more flexible to get into any field of ID. They are strong with their concept designs.

Other schools that are good for a Masters program are:
IISc, Bangalore (Indian Institute of Science)
IIT, Kanpur
IDC, Mumbai (Technology oriented).

Nevertheless all these schools teach students all the required skills. To elaborate, there are 2 kinds of schools concept based and skill based. All these schools have a strong skill based education giving freedom for new concepts to emerge…unlike the European schools.

Hope this was of help.

Regards,
Hariesh.

thanks hariesh!

helps a lot…ya i’ve heard good things about NID, and also IIT in delhi…
i will definitely look into them.

and PROF, what’s up with the attitude?

it’s really funny, does it really need an explanation? why do some people always expect foreigners to teach in english? studying in a foreign country also means to absorb their culture, part of which is their language. so I am definitely in favor of international students making an effort to learn a foreign language.
Of course, English is the working language of the world (for now), and here at our design school in Germany and elsewhere in Europe we work and teach in English quite often. I have students from China who speak fluent English and German, but American students usually come with nothing but their own language, expecting that everybody else accommodate them. that’s why my “attitude”. i’ve seen too much of this.

got it prof! understand your point. i’m willing to learn a new language why not? i’m just curious if there are any english programs, since i can absorb more if it’s in english.

I disagree. Only if you learn a foreign language will you be able to absorb a foreign culture. if you expect a foreign instructor to teach in English, it will not be his or her primary language, so many details get lost. If his/her English is really good, he/she probably spent many years abroad, so you won’t get the “real thing” either, because long-term exposure to foreign culture makes you a different person. if you attend a foreign design school that employs lots of american instructors, you won’t get the foreign culture exposure either. really, it won’t hurt to make a real effort and learn a language. there is room for several languages in one’s brain.
and, by the way, speaking only your language in a foreign country will never earn you the respect that you would get if at least you tried… be serious about it, or just don’t go. maybe as a tourist…

English is lingua franca. Thats why Americans dont have to learn other languages. I am sure that soon we will have to learn Chinese, but till then dont be so hard on the folks who dont speak every language on the globe.

do you know the difference between “every” and “any”?

prof - i think you are one arrogant bastard. i am european - i speak 4 different languages, and i know on what level to understand culture.

i have lived in different countries for prolonged periods of time. it is obvious that one needs to learn the language - but don’t force it down our throats. do you think only in school settings do we learn culture? actually to tell you the truth school is one of the least venues for cultural assimilation…why? because they eradicate culture in school. do you think chinese history books were written based on facts? or are there some information that were lost? or deliberately eradicated? and don’t even start about german history.

you sound like like another hitler to me. are you trying to be politically correct or are u just a plain fascist?


people beware!

prof- I am an Indian who studied in an Indian school in English. English is merely a medium of communication. It is the reason why Indians are having such success farming out brain power to countries like Japan and the US. English gives people a baseline from which to communicate ideas. The fact that school instruction is in English does not make an Indian student British any more than learning German would make an American German. I dont consider myself to be a fake Indian either.

It is to the detriment of the American if he does not learn a language while in a foreign country- this goes without saying. However you can still learn plenty about ideas and motivations of another culture without learning the language. The language I speak has very little to do with the ideas that go through my head.

Though it is arrogant for someone to expect everyone to speak English, it is equally arrogant to criticize Americans for not learning more than one language. Though Americans take the effort to learn second languages like Spanish, the sheer size of the country, combined with the mass of citizens speaking the same language makes it very difficult for an individual to maintain fluency in a language other than American.

Prof and I both agree that you can immerse your self deeper by learning more languages. Where you and I differ is the character trait that we assign to those who dont learn more than their mother tongue. If I were in Germany and did not speak German, it is not necessarily that I am arrogant, I just have had other things on my mind. If I can learn from a German teacher who knows English I would be very greatful because I could learn something while acclimatizing to the country. I believe most Americans abroad are like this. Americans in America can say all they want to about not learning other languages, but I have never met an American abroad who has not tried to learn the local language or reach out to the local culture.

My 0.02