In March 2020, Association of Design Departments and Schools in Japanese Public Universities released Design Academia, its 2019 yearbook summarizing the activities of the universities which participate in the association.
The first half of Design Academia covers innovative initiatives and educational curricula of member universities, as well as the composition of the organization. It also includes a report on the 1st Association of Design Departments and Schools in Japanese Public Universities Conference held in October 2019. From the discussions on the day of the conference, one can get a sense of the current trends among design schools, and the vision toward which design education is striving.

Both students and designers participated in production of the book, and there was debate over the two major movements of digital design and the return to design by hand, which were among the trends in design schools discussed at the 1st Association of Design Departments and Schools in Japanese Public Universities Conference. These two movements are reflected in the binding design, with each of the digitally edited and compiled books individually colored by hand. This resulted in binding which offers the one-of-a-kind flavor only hand work can provide.

Design Academia is the first book which affords a comprehensive view of the unique character of design departments and schools in universities throughout Japan. We hope that it will be a useful resource for young people aspiring to a university design department or graduate school, as well as for businesses and organizations considering collaboration or joint research with university design departments and graduate schools.

To request the Design Academia booklet, please contact us here.
A sample of some parts of the booklet can be viewed on the Design Academia web site.