I am taking a shot because I am not sure there is enough design community on HN but anyway, what are some of the good designs schools you have had the chance to study in or you know about through someone?<p>I am more interested in the surrounding culture than the degree itself.
There doesn't seem to be enough data about European design schools online so that's one thing I'd like to know specifically.
RISD has an amazing reputation. RIT has an awesome program I once heard Barbarian Group cofounder Rick Webb extol the values of. He said it was a great program for exposing students to a vast number of things (video, 3D, design, development) and letting them enrich their studies. In full disclosure: I went to New Mexico State University and had a great BFA program. In all honesty design school shouldn’t matter as long as you have opportunities to create and are motivated do great work.
I'm strongly looking into transferring to the Koln International School of Design (<a href="http://kisd.de/home.html?lang=en" rel="nofollow">http://kisd.de/home.html?lang=en</a>) which is in Cologne, Germany. (I'm currently a sophomore at a US non-design school.) It's a unique program that basically covers every field of design; the major is called "Integrated Design." You essentially choose your own curriculum.<p>It really comes down to what sort of design you're interested in. US schools tend to be focused on 2 subjects, with not much else: industrial design and communication/web/graphic design. Different schools are better at different things, but to highlight a couple:<p>Carnegie Mellon: strong in communication design, interaction design, Human-Computer interaction, and generally anything computer science related.<p>Cincinnati: not so great of a school in general, but the design department is top 5 in the country, mostly because the program requires 4+ co ops (internships.) Supposedly they're pretty good at traditional product/industrial stuff.<p>I decided to pass on design school a few years ago, mostly because I didn't want to be pidgeonholed into either of those subjects.<p>I'm pretty familiar with design schools, so I'd be glad to answer any specific questions. Also try <a href="http://boards.core77.com" rel="nofollow">http://boards.core77.com</a>
Columbia in Chicago, though the best school is the one called "just start designing" and reading every how to blog post on the internet.<p>If you're around Chicago, we're pretty plugged into the design community here and can get you intros to folks and events. Good luck!
SVA in New York is the best in my mind. It's not just the area, the professors are top-notch, James Victore, Neil Raphan, others. Most of the professors do "research" by maintaining employment at the top design agencies.<p>The Portfolio School in Atlanta is great if you're a bit more experienced and interested in reaching a new level.
Europe? Goldsmiths (<a href="http://www.gold.ac.uk/design/" rel="nofollow">http://www.gold.ac.uk/design/</a>)<p>The surrounding culture is London, and as Dr Johnson said, "when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”.
I learned a great deal at RITs Industrial Design program. Now that i've graduated I feel like I could design/build almost anything. RISD is known as being the mecca of design and I got in, but personally I wanted a school that had sporting events and other things to do, RISDs very "artsy". You can't go wrong with either school
I had a great experience at RIT in the Graphic Design program. They give you a really good base of knowledge and skills.<p>I've also heard good things about RISD.