The faculty-led international trip afforded students and faculty a unique opportunity to experience remarkable art and design projects from leading design teams of established creators to recent graduate work from renowned design academies from across Europe. Beyond the obvious inspiration these works evoke, there was a myriad of benefits to this initiative for both faculty and students.

The creative work showcased dealt with a range of issues and variables that impact and shape contemporary art and design. These emerging and present issues go beyond the traditional considerations of form and function, such as use and influence of AI, accessibility, inter-disciplinary collaboration, social design, and sustainability. These issues helped shape much of the work displayed at DDW and underscored the importance of these developments in design and art. Far from hindering the creative process, these variables allowed for further innovation amongst designers and artists.

Students and faculty were able to view the works in person, including speaking directly to the creators about how these variables were parsed out in the creative process. Many of the works of art and design exhibited highlighted the need for expertise in one’s area, balanced by the ability of all artists and designers to work collaboratively together.

As faculty, I was struck by the absence of barriers between the fields of art and design. In the Netherlands, and across Europe, the lines that delineate the boundaries between these two disciplines are blurred. Strong art contains great design, and vice versa, strong design contains great art. Many of these creative works exhibited at DDW 2024 were done in unison between artists and designers, and in some instances, incorporating the work of engineers and scientists. This confirms the importance of and re-affirms the aims of Humber Polytechnic for more robust collaboration: between programs within FMCAD, between faculties at the college, and the institution and international, education partners such as Fontys.

After touring through the various areas of Eindhoven that housed these projects, from design studios to fully immersive, art installations, students were well grounded in the terrain of contemporary art and design and its demands. The students’ experience of DDW culminated in a collaborative brain-storming session with students and faculty from Fontys Interactive Design program. The focus of the session revolved around the use of AI – the ways artists and designers can leverage this tool, while retaining one’s autonomy and creativity.

I encourage faculty and students within FMCAD to partake in this wonderful opportunity to attend DDW and collaborate on interdisciplinary projects that confront issues of accessibility, AI use, and sustainability that will shape our future designs.

Marc Colangelo is the Program Coordinator and Faculty member of the Visual & Digital Arts and Art Foundation programs. Click here for more on Faculty-led International Trips.