Cycle 1: graphic design option
The graphic design option of the isdaT offers teaching which emphasises experimental and critical attitudes, combining paper, screen, typography and public spaces through the more general notion of contextual design. This approach combines the need to consider the contemporary social context with questions about the scope of graphic design and its flexibility.
The student’s course revolves around the acquisition of fundamental skills in the fields of publishing, image and design, typography, type design, signage, web design and programming languages. By experimenting with different mediums and media, the teaching addresses issues of meaning, project methodology, function, production and distribution.
Teaching takes the form of workshops which are organised in an organic way; they include individual meetings, collective presentations and discussions, theoretical and technical contributions.
This specialised education is enriched by theoretical courses (general culture, philosophy, cinema, live performance, art history and design) and language courses necessary for the training of designers open to the world.
Semesters 3, 4 and 5 are a time to discover the field of graphic design and acquire the technical, methodological and cultural fundamentals specific to this area of study. In semester 6, in consultation with their teachers, students are asked to choose 2 workshops among the practical lessons offered. This specialisation allows students to free up workshop time to develop personal projects and to deepen certain work proposals from semester 5. This is done to support the emergence of a field of research specific to that student, which will be developed during the second cycle, or of a professional project.
Internships and workshops
Before the end of semester 5, an observation internship of at least one week is to be carried out, ideally at companies having a direct relationship with graphic design, its production or distribution. The workshops are a multitude of educational moments brought to life by the discovery of a designer’s practice, the deepening of certain mediums or the opening to other fields of creation, as well as the confrontation with foreign languages and the subject-specific vocabulary used when inviting international designers.
Assessments
Added to the reporting sessions specific to each course, semester evaluations make it possible to know the progress of each student. In semesters 3, 4 and 5, the displaying of work and an oral presentation by the students are an opportunity to appreciate the transversality of mediums and approaches and to have a collegial critical reading. In semester 6, during the “DNA meeting”, the invitation of a professional outside the teaching team completes the continuous collegial feedback by offering a fresh perspective on the student’s works, with the goal of preparing them for the presentation of the DNA. All courses are compulsory (including the 3 workshops chosen in semester 6).
Courses catalog
Since the start of the 2023 academic year, all information concerning the course programme and timetables can be found on the dedicated Art, design and graphic design courses catalog website (in French).
The path to a diploma
At the end of the first cycle, the DNA validates the achievements of two years of teaching in the respective option. Through various unconventional experiments, the student will bear witness to a well-defined general and artistic culture and possess the foundations for questioning graphic design, a knowledge of its practices and its methods and the acquisition of its fundamentals with a view to self-led creation. To qualify for the DNA, the student must have obtained 15 credits in semester 6, the diploma being an equivalent 15 credits. A written submission is required for obtaining the diploma. It will take the form of an illustrated article based on a case study related to the student’s research.
DNA evaluation criteria
- Presentation of student’s works (formal and critical);
- Relevance of the course and research related to the project;
- Contextualisation of the work (quality of references, diversity of knowledge);
- Quality of achievements.
Admission into cycle 2
Admission to the second cycle requires having obtained the DNA and is validated by the presentation of a written project to a committee made up of graphic design teachers, one doctorate and the director of studies or a representative. The text, including a research title, albeit provisional, will present the main outline of the project: themes, approach by medium, reflections on practice. It will be based on the various works carried out during the first cycle and any cultural contribution necessary for its argument.
Staff
Art, design, and graphic design studies director
David Mozziconacci
david.mozziconacci@isdat.fr
Coordinating teacher
Olivier Huz
Department secretary
Bettina Mellet and Fabrice Matéo
+33 (0)5 31 47 11 95
+33 (0)5 31 47 11 94
bettina.mellet@isdat.fr
fabrice.mateo@isdat.fr