Smart and Sustainable Design

Objective

You learn to design products that take into consideration the future’s challenges and possibilities. You learn to use different materials and manufacturing methods that utilise traditional and modern technologies.

Qualification provided by education

You will become a professional designer. You can create environmentally conscious products for example as a fashion designer, product developer or entrepreneur.

Structure of studies

In our Smart and Sustainable Design degree programme you learn to take into consideration the challenges of sustainability in modern design. You learn to use different production techniques and materials in practise so you can design more sustainable products and services that fit to our future’s needs.

In your designs you research the users’ needs, create solutions and utilize digital sketching tools side by side with traditional ones. You familiarise yourself with different materials and manufacturing products in real studio environments. Our students have for example printed shoes with a 3D printer and created new fashion from leftover fabric scraps.

During your studies you develop as a designer in real working life projects. You often work in teams and will get skills that you can apply in working life.

As a designer you will specialise in fashion, glass or ceramics. In your chosen studies you will deepen your knowledge based on your interests. You can complement your design skills for example by choosing studies from international fashion business or sustainable business.

Specialization options

Profiling studies in fashion design allow you to first explore both clothing and footwear design before you choose which one to specialise in. As a fashion student you design and manufacture outfits, footwear and whole collections during your studies. In practical projects you solve the fashion industry’s sustainability challenges with your designs and utilize digitisation like 3D modelling. Our 3rd year students’ 2023 collection was showcased in a fashion photoshoot and premiere. See the video of their collection here!

In our glass and ceramic design studies you get to work in real studio environments for example with clay. You learn to use recycled materials and develop your own glazes. You learn to design and manufacture lasting and practical items using different techniques. You can use for example 3D modelling and 3D printing as part of your product development. Our students’ designs in our unique programme have previously been displayed in Finland’s glass museum and in our traditional Design Market.

Your studies include work placement and a thesis. In your work placement you have an opportunity to practise in real-life working environments in companies. In your thesis you research a subject that interests you in analytical and solution-oriented way, often for a company in your own field. Check out for example our fashion student’s thesis, where she created a prototype utilising sustainable upcycling-method to design new fashion.