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Profile: Digital Transformation – Urban Futures Forming Society

Communication Design (BA)

Aufnahme aus dem Graphic AR Lab des Studiengangs Kommunikationsdesign
© Bernd Hiepe, 2022

From the smallest character to a complex campaign – the task of communication designers is to convey information, messages and news in an exciting and emotional, but also clear and understandable way. We prepare you for the diverse professions in the creative and media industry.

Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Type:
Full time
Course language:
German
Standard study period:
8 semesters, including a practical semester
Start of study:
Winter semester
Application deadline:
15/05 – 15/07 (restricted admission)
Admission requirements:
General university entrance qualification/ entrance qualification for studies at universities of applied sciences/ equivalent recognised vocational training/ passed aptitude test
Credits:
240 ECTS credits
Module Manuals & Regulations
Profile

There are many good reasons to study communication design at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam:

Studierende schauen auf projizierte Plakate

Broad spectrum of subjects

With our 22 professors and their teaching areas, we are one of the largest design faculties in Germany. We combine the relevant design disciplines into a broad field and thus offer you a future-proof career perspective.

Zwei Studierende in neongelben Outfits

Individual focus

You design your studies yourself and we support you in doing so: You create your individual course of study from a wide range of courses. You can also choose seminars from our product and interface design courses.

Studierende sind draußen auf dem Campus

Family atmosphere

Our campus is the place where teaching, research and study take place. You develop your projects and ideas in close exchange with the lecturers. The FHP is located in Potsdam and only a few kilometres from the cultural metropolis of Berlin.

Studierender mit VR-Brille

Design for future

On the one hand, our degree programme is the space where everyone develops their own future, and on the other hand, we shape the future of our society together. Starting with new technologies and topics, this leads us directly to the great challenges of our time.

Studierender mit futuristischer Brille formt einen Rahmen mit seinen Händen

Making dreams come true

In design studies, good questions become themes. Together we develop forms, media and formats from your ideas. We teach you the necessary methods and techniques and pave the way for a future in the creative industries.

Zwei Studierende arbeiten mit Augmented Reality

Place of ideas

Our campus is full of inspiring people, spaces and situations: Here we try things out, conceive, discuss and realise. The perfect place for big ideas!

Communication Design at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam

Our degree programme is all about developing your own distinctive designer personality. Posters, typefaces and books, but also infographics, logos, photography and animation are created here. From the classic analogue medium to various digital formats and mixed reality, everything is included. You learn conceptual design, but also craftsmanship and creative thinking in the context of the social, cultural and technological challenges of our time. You put together your ideal mix from the diverse offers of the communication design degree programme to achieve an individual and strong position as a starting point into your professional life.

Is this degree programme right for me?

You bring these qualities with you

  • Enjoy design, art, culture, media, people and technology
  • Fun in developing new ideas and concepts
  • Creativity, independence and curiosity
  • Ability to communicate and work in a team

Podcast of the Campus Specialists

Rebekka and Toni explain everything prospective students need to know about the product and communication design degree programme. In addition to tips on aptitude tests or the study process, they give insights into their student life.

To the podcast

Showcase

Let yourself be inspired! In our virtual showcase you will find current projects and works from the courses of study of the design department.

Showcase of the Design Department

Our goal

With our degree programme, we want to impart solid specialist knowledge and develop highly individual design action and expression skills. Our graduates should be able to make well-founded design decisions and be equipped with communicative skills. Our ideal, however, is for designers to develop a sense of ethical and social responsibility in addition to their design skills.

Our idea: Study as an event field

We divide the programme into two study sections: The first three semesters, which serve to teach the basics and provide orientation, and the following five semesters, which can be used for personal consolidation or further exploration.

And we have a few specialities: We don't have year cohorts, which means that with us you study together with people who have already gained a few semesters more or less experience within a study period. All seminars in the design basics, the theoretical subjects and the workshops are originally interdisciplinary, i.e. they take place together with students from the other design degree programmes in product and interface design – this enriches the perspective enormously. And speaking of interdisciplinarity: the fact that our students can (but do not have to) take almost half of their design courses in our other degree programmes (i.e. interface and product design) enables us to offer highly topical combinations of skills beyond the specialist areas. In addition, we have no fixed timetables, which – admittedly within certain regulations – allows students to study according to their own interests, which in turn increases motivation (and mood) immensely.

You can find more details about the study structure and the two study sections here.

Our claim: Design as a field of research

We understand design as a form of artistic research that is conducted and reflected upon together with professors.

We plan design experiments and use them to force formulaic aesthetic discoveries; we conceive visual inventions and develop questions about communication culture, for example; and we formulate design theses about the world, markets and society on the basis of our acquired artistic knowledge. The alert observation, classification, cataloguing and evaluation of visual phenomena of everyday culture is one facet of design research; and how can such design patterns be formulated in (generally) valid models?

But don't worry: we don't do all this as an end in itself for design, but because we know that (self-)aware, capable and reflective designers enjoy the very best prospects for a fulfilling future in the dynamic media industry.

You can find out more about our research fields and questions here (soon).

Contact

The colleagues at the student counselling service provide information to prospective students, first-year students, parents, teachers and students on all general questions about the degree programme. If you have specific questions or concerns about the bachelor's degree programme in communication design, please contact the subject counselling service.

Subject Counselling Service

Prof. Sven Völker

Prof. Sven Völker

Professor of Experiment and Strategy

These degree programmes might also interest you

More courses
Degree programme Teaching language Start of study Application deadline
Communication Design (BA) German Winter semester
15/05 – 15/07 (restricted admission)
Design (MA) German Summer semester, Winter semester
15/06 – 15/08 and 15/01 – 15/02 (restricted admission)
Registration for the qualifying examination: by 15/06 for the winter semester / by 15/12 for the summer semester
European Media Studies (BA) German Winter semester
until 15/07 at the University of Potsdam (admission restricted)
European Media Studies (MA) German Winter semester
until 01/06 at the University of Potsdam
Interface Design (BA) German Winter semester
15/06 – 15/07 (free of admission)
Product Design (BA) German Winter semester
15/06 - 15/07 (free of admission)
Career Prospects

Career prospects

The career profile in communication design is as diverse as our teaching areas and your talents and interests. Communication designers work in agencies and design studios, in the cultural sector, in start-ups and companies or are self-employed. By specifically setting your own distinctive focus in your studies, you will develop your own profile and a strong portfolio.

Professional fields: A broad and exciting field

From specialist to generalist, everything is possible – and it is almost always about inventing images and visual worlds, telling stories and information visually. This is a very broad but also exciting field with ever new professional perspectives. Here are a few examples:

  • Photographers work in advertising and journalism, but also in artistic professions. They tell stories with expressive and unmistakable images. A picture is taken in a fraction of a second, preparation and post-production take much longer and are often an important and exciting part of the work.
  • Illustrators work in an editorial or artistic context, but also often in advertising. Stories and interviews are illustrated, covers of magazines and novels condense complex content into a memorable and powerful image. There are illustrators as independent artists but also as employees in agencies and editorial offices. Many graphic designers use illustrative elements in their daily work.
  • Art directors in design and advertising agencies develop visual ideas and concepts. They present the communication concepts to clients and conduct the concert of texts, images and graphic design. In editorial offices, they also design fashion spreads or the entire graphic appearance of an issue.
  • Corporate designers take care of the long-term brand image and its strategy. They not only develop logos but also design a complex interplay of very different graphic elements that make the appearance of a company or organisation unmistakable.
  • Editorial designers design books and magazines, but they are also at home in digital media. Here it is a matter of structuring multi-layered content and bringing it together in images and texts. From exhibition catalogues to magazines, there is a wide range of possible projects that also require intensive consideration of the content.
  • Information graphic designers give data and information a face and ensure that we can see through the most complicated contexts. Information design often takes place at the interface with illustration, and editorial offices and media companies are often the clients.
  • We are all graphic designers and of course there is a lot of overlap between all the professional fields mentioned here. And so it's not surprising that many graphic designers offer a bit of everything for their respective clients. Small design studios in particular are often looking for »all-rounders« who see themselves as graphic inventors.
  • Motion designers used to be more at home in film and television. Nowadays, however, there are hardly any media in which images cannot move. From graphic animations on the internet to augmented reality posters and classic animated films, graphic design meets timing, rhythm and sound.
  • UX designers design and conceptualise the experience of users of interactive applications. Since our students can combine their course choices from seminars in communication design and interface design, there are many communication designers who specialise in the interactive area of communication design.
  • Packaging designers give products a form and do not only have to consider aesthetic criteria. Technical criteria but also questions of sustainability are an important part of the design work on a project. Packaging is often the face of a brand and makes a decisive contribution to the branding of a product.
  • We are all typographers , because communication design without words is rare. But there are designers whose great passion lies in the field of design with text and type. This is achieved quite classically in theatre posters or poetry collections, but good typography is also crucial in orientation systems and on the internet.
  • Type designers give typefaces a form – character by character. The development of a typeface always balances the criteria of legibility and uniqueness. When the typeface is finished and launched on the market, it is the starting point for new designs by other designers.
  • Web designers are often at home at the interface of interface and communication design. Today, hardly any brand or media presence is conceivable without the internet. Yet »the internet« has long since ceased to be just one place. The multitude of forms and technologies are a daily, exciting challenge.
  • Exhibition designers create with space. From museums to flagship stores, from trade fair presentations to stage sets, the boundaries in this field of design are fluid. But whenever text and images come into play, communication designers are also involved.

Master's programme

Graduates of the bachelor's degree programme in communication design can expand their knowledge and acquire specialist skills in a further degree programme. The master's programme in design focuses on scientific and artistic research. In this degree programme, you deal with specific research questions and work on your own and joint projects. You can then pursue the path to a doctorate.

The six degree programmes in the design department

More courses
Degree programme Teaching language Start of study Application deadline
Communication Design (BA) German Winter semester
15/05 – 15/07 (restricted admission)
Design (MA) German Summer semester, Winter semester
15/06 – 15/08 and 15/01 – 15/02 (restricted admission)
Registration for the qualifying examination: by 15/06 for the winter semester / by 15/12 for the summer semester
European Media Studies (BA) German Winter semester
until 15/07 at the University of Potsdam (admission restricted)
European Media Studies (MA) German Winter semester
until 01/06 at the University of Potsdam
Interface Design (BA) German Winter semester
15/06 – 15/07 (free of admission)
Product Design (BA) German Winter semester
15/06 - 15/07 (free of admission)
Study Structure

We have a plan

More precisely: a module plan. Modules are thematic containers or questions for individual seminars. And the module plan is a timetable through your studies. It indicates in which module groups how many credits must be earned. And since almost all of our seminars are elective courses, the module plan is a practical guard rail. In the following, we will go through the module plan for each study section (StAb) - StAb I describes the subject semesters 1 to 3, StAb II the subject semesters 4 to 8.

Modulpläne der Bachelor-Designstudiengänge

In the currently valid module handbooks, study and examination regulations and statutes of the design department, you will find the module overview, a detailed description of the modules and study contents, the study plan as well as the statutes for determining the course-related aptitude for the study programme communication design.

First stage of studies: basics and orientation

Please get on board!
For the first three semesters, there is a thoroughly ambitious programme that you can put together individually from many offers. Our »module plan« provides a rough guide for this, which must be fulfilled not in the order shown, but in the sum of the ECTS credit points (CP) from the respective module groups. The following sections explain our current module plan, broken down into its module groups.

All seminars in the area of design basics take place across study programmes and semesters, i.e. together with students from interface and product design who are in their first three semesters. We recommend that you complete the seminars in this module group at the beginning of your studies.

Modulgruppe I/1 Gestaltungsgrundlagen

Elementary Design

The seminars in the area of »Elementary Design« are concerned with teaching elementary, i.e. decidedly not (yet) applied, design basics through the development of representational and technical skills (11EG-B, Basics = Basic Representational Techniques), through the development of an understanding of formal-aesthetic-contentual interactions (11EG-K, Context = Perception and Differentiation) as well as the creative and methodical ability to act for designing (11EG-P, Process = Design Processes and Methods).

Our professors for elementary design Prof. Klaus Keller, Prof. Alexandra Martini (focus on »3D«) and Prof. Myriel Milicevic (focus on »Form and Process«) teach here. In the elementary design modules, three certificates of achievement must be completed in the first stage of study.

Studio

In the »atelier« area of the design fundamentals, artistic representation techniques are trained and creative explorations are undertaken. In the studio area, we draw, paint, collage on site - it's all about experiencing composition, proportion, situation, body, space, body, light, colour. ...

Our academic staff members Maria Kleinschmidt (drawing and colour) and N. N. teach here. In the studio area, two certificates of achievement must be completed in the first part of the course.

This is where it is applied: All eight teaching areas of the communication design degree programme teach their respective subject-specific basics here. The aim is to try out the essential design and analysis methods of a subject. They also gain a first perspective insight into the field of activity of communication design.

Modulgruppe I/2 Entwurfsgrundlagen

The students learn how to design with and from writing (12EKd-SA: Writing + Expression), produce photographic, illustrative and graphic images and examine their reception (12EKd-BW: Image + Effect), develop analogue or digital, static or animated or moving publication formats (12EKd-FN: Formats + Narration) and design signs and communication systems and conceive address strategies (12EKd-ZA: Signs + Address).

Here, Prof. Lisa Bucher (Information and Image), Prof. Matthias Beyrow (Identity and Sign), Prof. Klaus Dufke (Motion Graphics), Prof. Luc(as) de Groot (Type Design), Prof. Wiebke Loeper (Photography), Christina Poth (Typography), Prof. Sven Völker (Experiment and Strategy) as well as the assistant professors Constanze Hein and Susanne Stahl (Editorial Design) teach. You can find out more about the individual teaching areas of the degree programme here.

In the module group design fundamentals, 5 credits must be completed in the first part of the degree programme, at least 3 of which must be from the student's own degree programme. Our speciality in Potsdam: The other credits can also be obtained in seminars from interface and product design.

In the module group »Theory«, the basic professional-scientific knowledge is taught and tested. The goal is a basic knowledge of analytical, historical, contextual as well as opelrational (strategic, economic, procedural, legal) methods, practices, facts and theories. The seminars are offered across all degree programmes.

Modulgruppe I/3 Theorie

The subject canon of the theory module group offers an analytical approach with the modules design media theory (13Th-DMT), a historical-sociopolitical approach with design/cultural history (13Th-DKG) and an operational approach with design management and design law (13Th-DMR).

In this module group, our colleagues Prof. Dr. Marion Godau (Design, Art and Cultural History), Prof. Dr. Rainer Funke (Design Theory), Prof. Dr. Nico Heise (Design Law) and Prof. Dr. Enrico Sass (Business Start-up and Management Techniques) teach full-time.

In this module group, 2 certificates of achievement must be provided.

Our workshops – like the entire degree programme – are interdisciplinary per se, but there are, of course, workshops that are strongly associated with the respective degree programmes and teaching areas. Here, the technical and craft basics of the respective trades are taught. Each student can take an individual workshop portfolio, which also extends beyond the boundaries of their own subject area.

Modulgruppe I/4 Werkstattpraxis

In communication design, the following colleagues lead our workshops: Friederike Goll (bookbinding workshop), Katrin Katzek (photo labs and studio), Christine Mangelsdorf (digital colour management and fine art print), Ricardo Meier (graphic AR lab), Jan Schütze (AV/video lab), Felix Walser (graphic lab). Read more about the workshops in Communication Design here. You can find all the workshops in the Design Department here.

From this module group, 12 ECTS credit points are required in the first part of the degree programme, which means the equivalent of 3 to 6 credit points, depending on the course intensity. Some workshop courses are offered in combination with design subjects and are additionally credited.

»Perspectives and Social Skills« are our little »disruption machine«, because here we specifically promote thinking outside the box.

Modulgruppe I/5 Social Skills

The module group »Perspectives and Social Skills« includes the module project weeks, (15PSs-PW), which is the first course for students in the first semester as one of the few compulsory courses at the beginning of the winter semester. In addition, events are developed and carried out in interdisciplinary teams in the module project organisation (15PSs-PO). The flex module (15PSs-FM) enables students to participate in university-wide, interdisciplinary courses – i.e. also from other departments of the university of applied sciences.

The »Colloquium« is a cross-module examination in which the students critically reflect on the subjectively central results of the 1st study section, document them and present them to a commission. The subject of the assessment is not the quality of the work shown, but the quality of the presentation, reflection and documentation. The presentation leads to a personal discussion between the candidate and the commission with critical feedback as well as recommendations for the further course of studies.

Modulgruppe I/6 Kolloquium

The colloquium is developed independently – the department organises an information event in preparation. The examination is taken in front of a commission of three lecturers from the design department and lasts about one hour.

Second stage of studies: diversification or specialisation

Keep going!

It's your turn! Semesters four to eight can be devoted entirely to personal development. The majority of the credits are earned in the design seminars – but you set the focus yourself: You have the option of specialisation and can intensively deepen your favoured discipline, or you go for diversification and try out many different areas or even other design courses – our basic elective principle makes both paths possible for you.

We understand »designing« as a cultural practice that allows different approaches through design: communication design as problem solving, as speculation, as design research and as artistic practice. All four design approaches move thematically in the domains of »Society and Public Sector«, »Mobility and Urbanism«, »Culture and Transformation", »Consumption and Production«, »Science and Technology« or »Economy and Commerce«. This allows for additional alignment of one's own course portfolio with specific knowledge areas.

Modulgruppe II/1 Entwurf Kommunikationsdesign
Modulgruppe II/1 Entwurf im Studiengang Kommunikationsdesign, Studien- und Prüfungsordnung 2019

Communication design as problem solving describes what is probably the most common understanding of communication design: purpose-oriented design, with the aim of conveying specific information and messages. In contrast, communication design as speculation creates scenarios and imaginative material of possible futures and critically comments on our present - »critical or speculative design« or also »design for debate« are the names of such methods in Great Britain. In the module communication design as design research, design is at the same time the instrument, object and method of gaining knowledge and generating knowledge: design methods and research processes are tested here to generate new knowledge. Communication design as an artistic practice represents an independent form of operative and receptive world exploration and provides unconventional perceptual stimuli and comments that are to be valued as a form of knowledge in their own right and as their own access to knowledge.

Prof. Lisa Bucher (Information and Image), Prof. Matthias Beyrow (Identity and Sign), Prof. Klaus Dufke (Motion Graphics), Prof. Luc(as) de Groot (Type Design), Prof. Wiebke Loeper (Photography), Christina Poth (Typography), Prof. Sven Völker (Experiment and Strategy) as well as the assistant professors Constanze Hein and Susanne Stahl (Editorial Design) teach here. You can find out more about the individual teaching areas of the degree programme here.

Although the module group is called »Theory«, it usually comes across as quite practical: The subject canon of the module group »Theory« offers an analytical approach with the modules design and media theory (13Th-DMT), a historical-sociopolitical approach with design/cultural history (13Th-DKG) and an operational approach with design management and law (13Th-DMR). The seminars are offered across all degree programmes.

Modulgruppe II/2 Theorie
Modulgruppe II/2 Theorie, Studien- und Prüfungsordnung 2019

In this module group, our colleagues Prof. Dr. Marion Godau (Design, Art and Cultural History), Prof. Dr. Rainer Funke (Design Theory), Prof. Dr. Nico Heise (Design Law) and Prof. Dr. Enrico Sass (Business Start-up and Management Techniques) teach full-time.

In this module group, 3 certificates of achievement must be provided.

A 6-month internship is integrated into our curriculum; however, the timing within the second degree programme as well as the internship location can be freely chosen. For quality assurance, the internships are »reviewed« by the respective internship supervisors.

Modulgruppe II/3 Praxissemester
Modulgruppe II/3 Praxissemester, Studien- und Prüfungsordnung 2019

In this module group, 2 credits must be achieved; one for the internship itself (28 CP) and another for the internship report (2 CP). Both CPs are ungraded.

This module group is a kind of »disruption machine«. Here there is the possibility of earning credits with offers within the project weeks (24PSs-PW – one is even compulsory!), with interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary offers from the flex programme of the FHP (24PSs-FL), with the organisation of one's own (design ) projects (24PSs-PO) as well as with in-depth offers from the area of workshops (24PSs-HT) or in the studio formats (24PSs-AT). In addition, there is the possibility to offer and receive credit for initial small teaching formats (accompanied by a professor) with tutoring (24PSs-T).

Modulgruppe II/4 Perspektiven & Social Skills
Modulgruppe II/4 Perspektiven & Social Skills, Studien- und Prüfungsordnung 2019

A total of 8 CP must be earned in this module group; three to four certificates of achievement are necessary for this, because the credits can be measured differently depending on the course-specific scope of work.

The bachelor' s thesis, the individual final paper, is represented by a cluster of three modules: the conception and draft within the framework of the bachelor's thesis itself (25BA), the personal work overview within the framework of the bachelor's portfolio (25BP) and the presentation and argumentation within the framework of the bachelor's oral defense (25BD).

Modulgruppe II/5 Bachelorthesis
Modulgruppe II/5 Bachelorthesis, Studien- und Prüfungsordnung 2019

The processing time is 3 months; the topics for the bachelor's thesis are chosen by the student and coordinated with the supervisors, who are also chosen by the student, in advance of the registration deadline.

Teaching Areas & Workshops

The eight teaching areas in communication design

The eight teaching areas are the backbone of our degree programme. They range from photography, infographics and illustration, experimental graphic design to typography and font development, to editorial design, branding and signs as well as motion graphics.

At no time was photographic image-making as easy and inexpensive as it is today, which underlines the urgency of reflective handling. Wiebke Loeper not only teaches the technical and creative competence of image making, she also trains the visual competence of reading and evaluating images - closely coupled to the communicative competence of developing a language about images as well as their presentation.

Lecturer: Prof. Wiebke Loeper

Associated with this teaching area are the photo lab and studio as well as camera lending and the FineArt-Print Lab.

Information and contexts can be made visible in the editorial context through explanatory visualisations, infographics or charts and enriched with emotional aspects. But craft and digital illustration, comics, caricatures and graphic novels also have their professional home here. Lisa Bucher teaches the creative methods for content conception and visual interpretation as well as comprehensive analogue and digital methods of representation.

Lecturer: Prof. Lisa Bucher

In addition to frequent cooperation with external partners, various communication design workshops are integrated into this teaching area, depending on the project.

Experimental graphics between art and design, strategy and experiment, heart and hand. At Sven Völker, the process of design is seen as one in which failure offers no less insight than success. In a correspondingly open and unconventional working atmosphere, graphic concepts and visual ideas are created – from classic posters to modern augmented reality applications - and always in an interdisciplinary way. Students in this area write, design and produce the award-winning »Some Magazine«, which is published twice a year.

Lecturer: Prof. Sven Völker

The teaching area frequently cooperates with the graphics lab and the Graphic AR Lab.

Typography not only makes language visible, but is a mirror of society and an expression of our culture. Christina Poth conveys a conceptual understanding of typographic design as a communicative practice. Here, the experimental potential of typography is discovered as well as the rule-compliant use of type in reference to its historical and craft roots. Magazines, books, flyers, typographic objects, digital applications and much more are created in this course.

Lecturer: Prof. Christina Poth

Associated with this teaching area are the typography workshop, the graphics laboratory and the bookbinding workshop. Christina Poth is supported by her research assistant Felix Walser in the area of »Type & Coding«.

Only 20 % of the population may be able to name the difference between an antiqua and a grotesque font. Luc(as) de Groot, of course, knows much finer categories of font classification and, in addition to the necessary software knowledge for creating a font, i.e. a digital typeface, teaches the design impulses for the formally coherent development of a series of characters.

Teacher: Prof. Lucas de Groot

By publication we mean printed media such as books, magazines or newspapers, but also digital media. In reference to their content and the reception situation, the development of an independent (typo-)graphic language is trained here as well as the ability to conceptualise content and its media-appropriate staging. Our two substitute professors Constanze Hein and Susanne Stahl teach not only design but also content conception and the development of publication formats and strategies.

Lecturers: Substitute Prof. Constanze Hein, Substitute Prof. Susanne Stahl

No body has no face – they would be nothing without a visual identity. Matthias Beyrow teaches the conceptual formulation of essential features of a corporation and their transformation into visual signs, markings, signals, symbols, events, spaces. In the past, this was called corporate identity, brand development or branding. Today, it starts with the development of a content-related address strategy, which is always linked to communication media, locations and events.

Lecturer: Prof. Matthias Beyrow

In this area of teaching, cooperation with partners from business and administration usually takes place.

Moving images have a particularly high attention-grabbing effect and are used precisely for this reason to convey complex content. Klaus Dufke teaches the necessary technical, dramaturgical and formal steps for transforming complex content into moving – and ultimately moving – images.

Lecturer: Prof. Klaus Dufke

Associated with this teaching area are the AV studios, editing suites and AV lending as well as the Graphic-AR Lab.

Our workshops

In the carefully equipped teaching workshops of the study programme, students can realise their own projects with professional equipment. This brings to life our claim of a solid craft and technical education and supports the idea of a practice-oriented degree programme.

Eine Person schneidet an einem Arbeitstisch ein Papier zu.
© Jeannie-Darlene Köppe

Bookbinding workshop

You could also call it »further processing paper«: Friederike Goll accompanies students in her workshop as they fold, crease, sew, glue, press, punch, stack and cut. Here, paper and cardboard are turned into book objects, notebooks or folding sheets.

Bookbinding workshop

Ein Student fotografiert eine Studentin vor einem weißen Studiohintergrund
© Bernd Hiepe

Photo studio and labs

The photographic workshops are the domain of Kathrin Katzek. Our photo studio offers plenty of space for the production of studio shots with various flash systems, coving and backgrounds on around 130 square metres. For the right camera equipment, we run a lending service exclusively for students at the department. And those who would also like to experience how analogue black-and-white development works from film and on various photo papers can do so in our photo labs.

Photo studio & photo labs

Nahaufnahme der Hände zweier Studierenden, die zusammen an einem Siebdruck arbeiten
© Simon Lou Schüler

Graphics Lab

Our graphic lab is the space for graphic experimentation. It is supervised by Felix Walser and allows various printing technologies: monotype (letterpress), screen printing for formats up to DIN A0 and a carousel for printing on T-shirts. But our pride and joy are two risographs in A3 format and – a rarity in Germany – in A2 format!

Screen printing workshop/graphics laboratory

Nahaufnahme von 4 CMYK-Drucker-Patronen
© Simon Lou Schüler

Colour Management and (Fine Art) Print

How does the digital image get onto paper without any nasty surprises? Christine Mangelsdorf introduces electronic image processing and digital colour management on calibrated systems and then accompanies the output. Our large-format printers allow C-prints on different materials and in proof quality.

Laboratory for DTP, Digital Printing & Colour Management

Ein Pappmodell des Buchstaben N vor einer Greenscreen-Hohlkehle
© Bernd Hiepe

Audio/Video Labs

The studios under the direction of Jan Schütze offer various technologies for professional recording and digital post-production on a total of approx. 200 sqm: an audio studio with a voice-over booth, a high-end trick table for stop-motion recordings, a professional video studio with green-screen equipment and various editing suites. And similar to photography, we also operate a loan of professional equipment for students in the department.

Multimedia and video lab

Zwei Hände scannen mit einem iPad einen Raum, auf dem Bildschirm ist eine AR-Skulptur zu sehen
© Bernd Hiepe

Graphic-AR Lab

In our latest workshop we are testing experimental technologies in the field of mixed reality and AR (Augmented Reality). This innovative interface between digital and analogue space will become an important field of activity for designers in the future. Ricardo Meyer introduces the basic software and hardware.

Nahaufnahme einer Bleidruckplatte
© Birte Rauch

Typography workshop

We are one of the few universities that still has a traditional letterpress workshop where we combine analogue typesetting techniques with the digital present. Led by our professor of typography Christina Poth, this workshop is both a hijack into the past and a seduction into the future.

Typography workshop

Application & Contact

Dates & requirements for your application

The most important deadlines, dates and admission requirements for the bachelor's degree programme in communication design are compiled here. You can find out which steps you need to take for a successful application in the next section.

Dates

  • by 01 April: register for the qualifying examination
  • until 15 July: submit online application
  • by 15 July: apply for a higher semester to continue a degree programme you have started at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam

Access requirements

  • General university entrance qualification according to the Brandenburg University Act: General university entrance qualification or entrance qualification for studies at universities of applied sciences or previous vocational training recognised as equivalent.
  • Passed aptitude test

This is how you apply!

In the following, we explain which aspects you should pay attention to from the registration for the qualifying examination to the matriculation (enrolment).

Online registration for the qualifying examination

After registration

  • You will receive the date of the examination and the topic of the homework assignment. You should work on the assignment independently and present it during the qualifying examination.
  • Fill out the enclosed application form and upload it digitally. You will receive the upload link by e-mail.
  • For the aptitude test, create a portfolio with a maximum of ten of your own creative works or recent work samples.
  • Work on the homework assignment. Be creative , avoid clichés and convince with your concept. Formalities are important, but your innovative ideas are of particular interest.

Note on the portfolio

In order to get to know your creative abilities and get a clear idea of your interests, your portfolio should present an authentic picture of you and show that you are able to communicate your ideas effectively. The following are accepted as work samples:

  • Visual material up to DIN A0 format or digital: drawings, sketches, photographs, paintings
  • Three-dimensional visual objects: Models, sculptures, installations
  • Computer representations: Renderings, web designs, websites, computer codes, graphic software
  • Films, games, videos, animations, music pieces, stories

Insights & Tips

On the website of the campus ambulance you will find many helpful tips and answers to questions about the aptitude test in the field of design: What should be considered for the homework? What are the requirements for the portfolio? How does the examination proceed?

The campus ambulance team, consisting of students, offers you advice and is on site during the exams to ensure a pleasant atmosphere between all the new impressions.

The artistic-design aptitude test takes place online. You can find the dates for the aptitude test on the page about the organisation of studies at the design department. In the aptitude test, you will have an interview with the responsible examination board and present your homework as well as the portfolio with your work samples.

Assessment criteria

  • Creativity, intensity
  • Ability to reflect and abstract, problem orientation
  • Technique and craft
  • Motivation and identification
  • Communicative skills
  • Design-specific talent

After the aptitude test

After the aptitude test, the individual examination boards will confer and decide whether aptitude has been established. In the following weeks, you will receive an e-mail informing you of the result. If you have successfully passed the aptitude test, you can submit your online application.

Please note that passing the aptitude test does not guarantee a place at university.

For detailed information on determining the artistic aptitude for the bachelor's degree programmes in interface design, communication design and product design, please refer to the statutes for determining the artistic aptitude for the degree programmes, which you can find on the page of the module handbooks and study and examination regulations of the design department.

Have you successfully passed the aptitude test? Then you have the opportunity to submit your application for the winter semester from 15 May to 15 July in the MyCampus university portal of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.

Documents to be submitted

When applying online, the following documents must be submitted as PDF files in the application portal:

  • Notice of the aptitude test
  • If applicable, university entrance qualification
  • Proof of professional or other previous experience relevant to the field of study, if applicable
  • If applicable, university degree certificate and justification for taking up a second degree programme
  • Proof of service, if applicable
  • Proof(s) of hardship application or application for compensation for disadvantages, if applicable

Checklist

After you have completed your online application in the MyCampus university portal, you will receive a personal checklist with the following information:

  • List of all supporting documents that you have uploaded as PDF files according to the information you provided in your online application.
  • Notes on the further course of the procedure

Applicants who fulfil the admission requirements take part in the procedure for the allocation of study places.
In the allocation procedure for the first semester, the following are deducted in advance from the number of places to be allocated:

  • All applicants who were unable to accept an earlier admission due to service, as well as all applicants who are members of the national squad of a national sports association of the German Olympic Sports Confederation
  • 11 % for applicants with a foreign university entrance qualification
  • 3 % for applicants for a second degree
  • 3 % for applicants who are to be considered on the basis of hardship.

The remaining study places are allocated 80 % according to the result of a university selection procedure and 20 % according to waiting time.

The study places in the university selection procedure are awarded according to the result of the aptitude test in accordance with § 9 Para. 3 of the Brandenburg University Admissions Act.

Admission

Following the university selection procedure, the award procedure is carried out. Applicants with a correspondingly high ranking will receive a time-limited offer of admission in the MyCampus university portal, which you must actively accept. Once you have accepted the offer of admission, you will find your notification of admission in the MyCampus university portal. If you do not accept the offer of admission by the deadline, the ranking list will continue to be processed and the place will be reallocated.

You have accepted the offer of admission and received your letter of admission? Then you have the option of submitting an enrolment application for the winter semester in the MyCampus university portal of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.

Once you have submitted your online application for enrolment, please submit the printed and signed application together with all required documents in paper form by the deadline. The day of the enrolment deadline is decisive for the submission of the documents, whereby the date of receipt by post at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam is decisive.

Documents to be submitted

  • University entrance qualification
  • If applicable, further documents according to the enrolment application form.

Do you have questions about the enrolment process at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam? We have compiled a list of frequently asked questions and answers regarding enrolment and admission.

Start of studies

After you have successfully completed the application process, we recommend that you take a look at the start of studies page of the design department. There you will find important information and dates regarding the start of your studies at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.

Further information

The following links provide you, and especially international applicants, with further information on the topics of application and enrolment at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.

Girlande mit internationalen Flaggen

International applicants

You would like to apply for studies from the first or a higher semester and have acquired your school-leaving qualification and/or university degree abroad? Then you can have degrees and achievements acquired abroad recognised and study with us.

Application information for internationals

Drei Studierende schauen sich Infomaterialien der FH Potsdam an

Application & Enrolment Procedure

The application and study service provides information and advice on general questions regarding the application process, admission and enrolment at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, application for a higher semester, but also on topics such as compensation for disadvantages, part-time studies, waiting semesters and hardship applications.

Application & Enrolment University of Applied Sciences Potsdam

Contact & Services

The student counselling service provides information and advice on general questions about studying as well as on topics such as choosing a course of study, application, enrolment and study organisation.

For subject-specific questions on module content, credit transfer, examinations or specialisations in the Communication Design degree programme, the subject counselling service is the right place to go.

Subject Counselling Service

Prof. Sven Völker

Prof. Sven Völker

Professor of Experiment and Strategy

Student Financing

Room 3.02a

Family Affairs Commissioner

Room 026

Office hours

Tue and Thu 9.30 am – 1.30 pm

Commissioner for University Employees with Impairment

Room 201

Office hours

by arrangement

Contact Persons Department of Student Affairs