Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Danish Education Special – Højskoler
Creativity is about thinking differently Whether you are looking to explore your creative skills or prepare for a design programme, or you just want to learn to think outside the box, Den Skandinaviske Designhøjskole (the Scandinavian Design College) can give you an experience for life. Located in central Jutland, the school combines creative subjects within design and architecture with life at a traditional Danish ‘folkehøjskole’ (folk high school). By Signe Hansen | Photos: Den Skandinaviske Designhøjskole
Icelandic Snærun Tinna Prorsadóttir did not have any experience with graphic design before starting at the Scandinavian Design College last summer; she just wanted to try it out. The experience has, she says, been beyond her expectations. “It’s such fun – I never had so much fun in my life. But I’m also learning so much, not just about graphic design but also about myself. I definitely think I want to do something creative in the future. Graphic design is a lot of fun, and there are so many different aspects to it.” 76 | Issue 106 | November 2017
Graphic design is one of four programmes offered at the Scandinavian Design College. The other three are fashion and textile design; architecture and urban design; furniture, interior and product design.
Not just drawing Founded in 2000, the Scandinavian Design College has become a popular choice for young people preparing for the admission examinations for Denmark’s creative programmes. But the school is
about much more than preparing for an architecture or design programme. “A lot of people associate design with something about aesthetics, but creativity for us is much more about solving problems; the aesthetic is just an extra tool for that purpose,” says principal Jakob Nørregaard. “Creativity and design do not even need to materialise in a physical product; you can use it in all kinds of connections, as an approach to socio-economic problems or to develop a functional solution to a specific problem.” Still, 80 per cent of the people who apply to a creative programme after a stay at the Scandinavian Design College are accepted. Prorsadóttir is among the students set on taking their new skills further. “Yes, I definitely want to apply to design school after this. It has given me