The image of the school through the eyes of creative university students
In recent decades, business and educational organizations have begun to interact much more frequently. Students from Italian design institutes intern at fashion houses Gucci and Ferragamo, students from Swiss business schools gain experience at the UN, and students from the world's leading technical universities perform tasks for Google. Not only large corporations and world-famous brands, but also small companies are showing interest in cooperation with educational organizations.
All participants in the process benefit from joint activities. By getting involved in real-life projects, students learn how the industry actually works and better understand the requirements of future employers. Companies, in turn, gain an advantage in the competition for talented young employees: as a rule, based on the results of an internship, the most successful students are invited to work. However, the business benefits don't stop there. Student participation in a company's projects can add value to its products. The editors of Forbes Education were convinced of this from their own experience.
“While working on a special section of Forbes magazine dedicated to the release of the ranking of the best private schools in the Moscow region 2024, we thought it would be great to give students the opportunity to participate in the design of this section. Firstly, we were interested to see how the children, who had recently graduated from school themselves, would convey her image in the layout and how much this image would coincide with our ideas. Secondly, we knew we could give undergraduates hands-on experience and the opportunity to build their professional portfolio. Forbes Education, a publication promoting the best educational practices in Russia, could not miss this chance.
We invited students from the British Higher School of Design's graphic design program to create cover concepts for us. We were confident that refining student work would require more resources than creating layouts from scratch. But when we saw the results, we were pleasantly surprised. The most difficult thing was to choose one option that would go to print.”
Yulia Cherepanova, director of Forbes Education
“Today, cultural institutions and businesses, at least in Moscow, collaborate with young designers and students much more often than before. This is very good. I hope there will be even more such projects. While studying in Amsterdam, I envied the opportunities available to students in the Netherlands, a country renowned for innovative and quality design. During my studies, my group managed to do projects with the Van Gogh Museum, the Amsterdam City Museum and other galleries. These giants collaborated with students not because they lacked funds, but out of interest. To see the future of the industry, it is worth listening more carefully to those who are closer to it.”
Stepan Lipatov, curator of the undergraduate program “Graphic Design” at the British Higher School of Design
“Working on real projects helps students a lot: it not only gives them confidence in their own abilities (which is important), but also allows them to penetrate deeper into the profession: face real deadlines, the need to set priorities and find compromises. At first, such conditions seem limiting: during study we are much more focused on graphics, and any shift in focus from the search for visual quality seems like an unpleasant hindrance. But then, having gained experience in the profession, you begin to understand how important it is to work together on projects and how the synthesis of different views and the need to fit within a framework enriches both the graphic language and ideas about design in general. And live briefs actually provide the first chance to bring something new into practice and become more flexible. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to ensure that a live brief benefits both parties, so it is especially joyful that our cooperation with Forbes Education turned out to be so productive. All students interpreted the theme of the issue in their own way, based on their own creative interests, but at the same time tried to convey the intonation of the magazine. Such decisions are always interesting to watch.”
Evgenia Nechaeva, graphic designer and teacher of the undergraduate program “Graphic Design” at the British Higher School of Design
Gallery of works by students of the British Higher School of Design for the cover of the special section “Best Private Schools in Moscow and the Moscow Region - 2024” in Forbes magazine (December 2023)
The students were faced with the task of proposing a design concept for the opening and closing covers of a thematic section dedicated to school education in Forbes magazine. The main material of the section - the ranking of the best private schools in the Moscow region in 2024 - promotes the ideas of an individual approach to each child, tolerance, respect for the individual, and the value of a happy childhood.
Polina Vazhenina
“When creating the cover concept, I was inspired by the idea that a good school is like a construction set, each element of which plays a role in creating a quality educational environment. I decided to take recognizable aspects of school life and turn them into figurative graphics. From to
Through the power of composition, I sought to show how each element contributes to the creation of the final image.”
Valeria Voevodina
First cover option
“Drawings in squares combine many school attributes: notebooks, pictures, games and entertainment. This is a multidimensional and variable visual image.
The basis of the design is a checkered notebook and shapes drawn on a square grid.
This makes it possible to create a large number of compositions and graphics of different sizes for any application. You can experiment with the placement, color and shading of the drawings, which is reminiscent of playing Tetris or a construction set.”
Second cover option
“"We believe that schools should support tolerance, acceptance of the right of every person to be themselves (not force students to adapt to the mold)..." [quote from the technical assignment - ed.]. Based on the template metaphor, I chose a curly ruler. I styled it on the cover. On the closing cover I left the same ruler, but disassembled, as a symbol of a new approach to education and a rejection of templates.”
Karina Dudnik
First cover option
“The idea is a dynamic composition, which consists of diagonal lines (opening page), gives way to a static composition containing a balance of verticals and horizontals (closing page). Thus, at the beginning of the special section, work on the project begins, and at the end it comes to a logical conclusion. The texture of the pencil symbolizes childhood and school years, and the inscription on the wall “That’s it!” - the end of the process."
Second cover option
“The second version of the composition retains the same plot, but on the final cover there is an open book, which demonstrates that we are fully familiar with the most important information about the best schools.”
Veronica Pavlova*
“It was not easy to decide on the idea and concept. Everyone has their own associations with school. Personally, I remember it as something colorful and childish. So I decided to use real paints. My choice fell on watercolor. I wanted to convey the feeling of a child’s drawing being hung on the wall.”
Alena Povetkina
First cover option
“I combined scans of objects from the school pencil case with shapes associated with school, ranking and creativity.”
Second cover option
“Private schools are different from public schools. They position themselves as communities of people in which everyone can be themselves, first and foremost. To reflect this statement, I decided to use air as the main symbol of freedom. Objects seem to float in space, and the typography emphasizes this effect.”
Ksenia Rogozhina
“The school building was chosen as the main illustration, which reflects the main theme of the issue - ranking of the best private schools in Moscow and the Moscow region 2024. The distinctive style of the covers and additional graphics is a puzzle, which symbolizes unification and structure. This image makes it clear what the school includes and what the main metrics are in the ranking.”
Danila Chekushkin
“At the heart of the work is the idea that knowledge is the lifting force that leads us to the stars. To implement this concept, I chose three-dimensional graphics, supplemented with raster elements. This approach allowed us to fully reveal the theme of the project and convey its atmosphere.”
How the British Higher School of Design evaluates its students and programs
“At our school,” explains Stepan Lipatov, curator of the BA Graphic Design program at the British Higher School of Design, “we work on the technical side of design, theory and a wide variety of competencies and disciplines. In our workshops you can print, cut, sew using industrial machines. But technical skills are not the main thing for us: sensations and personal qualities are important. This is what makes students interesting.
Graphic design, like any language, tends to change and develop. Each generation finds new words, develops its own music and visual language. Contemporary graphic design includes many approaches, technologies and value systems. I believe that a design curriculum can be considered good if it is completed by people with different approaches and styles.”
