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Design

Do you want to use design to make a difference in the world? Then this is the right degree for you. At the Department of Design we work with students interested in making a change in the world through design.

The Department of Design is structured around four programmes: the Bachelor’s program Design+Change, the bachelor’s program Visual Communication+Change, the master’s programme in Design+Change and the master’s programme Innovation through business, engineering and design. The programmes are delivered in English, we welcome students from all over the world.

In shaping our futures, designers will face unprecedented challenges compared to what conventional designers faced during the twentieth century. In fact, the role of the designer will and should change. Our programmes focus on making sustainable change through design to prepare you for a number of emerging and established careers in the world where you can use your creative skills in relation to your understanding of the complexity of sustainability.

Recent graduates from our programmes at design firms; in art and cultural organisations, human rights organisations, and NGOs; in political parties; at publishing houses; and in initiatives run by local communities or municipalities.

Some have also started their own businesses, while others are pursuing master’s or doctoral studies at prestigious Swedish universities

Why +Change?

Doesn't design already imply change? Yes – of course it does! Design means giving form to new products (and books, campaigns, services, systems, and much more), thereby also shaping and changing behaviours, attitudes, and even world views.

Today the critical state of our ecological and social systems is globally recognised. We also know that human activities, especially the overconsumption often associated with design, drives unsustainability. In our +Change programmes we want to emphasise the very potential for design to effect and create change through approaches of adaptation, evolution, and revolution. To affect change through design can be about initiatives directed at products, systems, or worldviews. We can choose to use design to effect change locally, regionally, or globally, and with a focus on ecology, economy, human health, or equality, or all of thiese aspects at the same time. In short, +Change means purposefully using design - and its inherent creativity, to build towards a more sustainable future.

Our programmes

Our programmes are highly international. As one of our 150 students you will be part of a group characterised by diversity and are well prepared for an international design career. Students will meet international teachers and practitioners during their studies in these programmes, and it’s easy for both students and teachers to go on exchanges, thanks to a number of international agreements

You can find out more about our programmes and how to apply by clicking on the links to the programmes that interest you.

Admission is carried out through a special admissions process involving portfolios and sometimes interviews as well. When you have successfully completed the programme, you will receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design, or a Master of Fine Arts in Design.

+ Change Societal Collaborations+

Change Societal Collaborations is a selection of projects within the + Change programmes at the Design Department, Linnaeus University in Växjö, Kalmar, Sweden. The projects put critical questions forward in society and have been conducted throughout the years in reciprocity with a variety of societal actors. Learn more about the project.

More about the
Department of Design

The teaching staff at the department consists of about 30 designers, art historians, and artists. The department also has a large number of guest lecturers, specialising in fine arts, design, the history of art, sustainable development, ecology, media and technology, sociology, ethnology, philosophy, history, engineering, economics, marketing, and other subjects.

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Gain insight into + Change work by staff and students

Design portfolio Lnu

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