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Google is partnering several prominent design schools and Swedish educational company Hyper Island for ‘30 Weeks’, an experimental design program.
The schools involved are Parsons The New School for Design, Pratt Institute, School of Visual Arts and The Cooper Union, all established institutions in their own right.
By bringing the four powerhouse schools together, the creators hope to create a resource pool from which new ideas and approaches to design will be generated.
The 30-week program is aimed at product-oriented designers aged 18 or older. It will operate out of a co-working space in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood.
The curriculum, which was designed by Hyper Island with input from the four schools, includes crash courses in business, engineering and product design. Well-known designers, engineers, CEOs and venture capitalists will serve as guest mentors and offer advice to students.
“This is the real world in some ways. It’s not meant to be siloed, going to some beautiful green campus where you’re remote from the real world. The designers focus on their product from day one. They ideate, validate, iterate. They’re constantly pitching to different audiences, investors, others in the design-tech industry, and the various people involved with 30 Weeks,” said Founder-in-Residence Vivian Rosenthal in an interview with Fast Company.
The timeframe of 30 weeks is meant to split the time taken by traditional schools that span one to four years, and incubators, which typically run for a period of three months.
Rosenthal explained that the duration of the program allows students adequate time for self-discovery, learning and receiving feedback.
Students pay US$10,000 to attend the program, though there are scholarships on hand to offset some of the cost. In return, they have full ownership of their product, instead of it being owned by the company.
It’s a bold initiative which probably won’t replace traditional schools, and the program’s founders expect the first intake of 20 applicants to possess design perspectives as well as entrepreneurial mindsets.
30 Weeks is currently accepting applications for its inaugural session which starts in September, and interested individuals can apply here.
What do you think of Google’s new design program?
[via Fast Company, video via 30 Weeks]
Google is partnering several prominent design schools and Swedish educational company Hyper Island for ‘30 Weeks’, an experimental design program.
The schools involved are Parsons The New School for Design, Pratt Institute, School of Visual Arts and The Cooper Union, all established institutions in their own right.
By bringing the four powerhouse schools together, the creators hope to create a resource pool from which new ideas and approaches to design will be generated.
The 30-week program is aimed at product-oriented designers aged 18 or older. It will operate out of a co-working space in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood.
The curriculum, which was designed by Hyper Island with input from the four schools, includes crash courses in business, engineering and product design. Well-known designers, engineers, CEOs and venture capitalists will serve as guest mentors and offer advice to students.
“This is the real world in some ways. It’s not meant to be siloed, going to some beautiful green campus where you’re remote from the real world. The designers focus on their product from day one. They ideate, validate, iterate. They’re constantly pitching to different audiences, investors, others in the design-tech industry, and the various people involved with 30 Weeks,” said Founder-in-Residence Vivian Rosenthal in an interview with Fast Company.
The timeframe of 30 weeks is meant to split the time taken by traditional schools that span one to four years, and incubators, which typically run for a period of three months.
Rosenthal explained that the duration of the program allows students adequate time for self-discovery, learning and receiving feedback.
Students pay US$10,000 to attend the program, though there are scholarships on hand to offset some of the cost. In return, they have full ownership of their product, instead of it being owned by the company.
It’s a bold initiative which probably won’t replace traditional schools, and the program’s founders expect the first intake of 20 applicants to possess design perspectives as well as entrepreneurial mindsets.
30 Weeks is currently accepting applications for its inaugural session which starts in September, and interested individuals can apply here.
What do you think of Google’s new design program?
[via Fast Company, video via 30 Weeks]