GDVC Projects
Course: Graphic Design Foundations // Potsdamer Strasse: Splendour and Misery
Lecturers: Prof. Katharina Lemke, Anna Bernhardt, B.A
In this course, students learn to develop a concept for a design task and to translate communication goals into visual design. In winter semester 2024, we looked at the historic Potsdamer Strasse in Berlin. We explored this street through walks and research and each student presented their own view of this street in a magazine. This resulted in a variety of stories and completely new worlds, which were realized using different means such as photography, illustration, comics and self-written poems.
Mouthfeel / Alzad Chicken: Jakub Pawlowski
Animated Magazine Overviews: Yasmin Gendelevich, Jinhyun Park, Mona Löw, Jakub Pawlowski, Yuchen Su, Jaelynn Jurga
Course: Typography // Types Posters & Type Textures
Lecturers: Prof. Alexander Tibus, Anna Bernhard, B.A, Martin Hinze, B.A.
Type specimens allow designers to explore different font styles and features, and also serve to promote and celebrate fonts. Students are asked to create a visually compelling poster using only typography. They should respond creatively to the specimen's challenge while providing detailed facts about the featured typefaces.
Furthermore, the course teaches students to design and fabricate custom type ornaments using analog sketching, digital design, material selection, and laser cutting techniques.
Typography Posters 2023–2025, LTR: Katharina Herrmann, Frederik Iszlai, Mona Vuglar
Acrylic “Type Textures” within the animation: Maria Melo
Course: Basic Interaction // Pattern Poetry + The Unexpected UI
Lecturers: Prof. Henrik Riess, Felix Müller, M.A
Basic Interaction introduces the students in crafting Digital Design Experiences.
Creative Coding teaches through playful exercises how to design experimental patterns with code. Gradually, students build up to their own customizable pattern generators and print their work on paper. Besides, students learn how to access state of the art UX tools and create interactive prototypes that make use of the potentials of their smartphones.
Abstract Patters, LTR: Hikaru Shiozawa, Ferzan Dokumanci, Thianon Klausmann / Hanul Yim
Vinyl Cover Patterns: Jakub Pawlowski, Mona Löw, Ketlin Hila
Besides, students learn how to access state of the art UX tools like Figma and create Interactive prototypes that make use of the potentials of their smartphones.
Brushy App: Árdís Lilja Gísladóttir, Apollinariya Dzardanova, Hanna Kovari
Toothfairy App: Hanul Yim
Course: Graphic Design Foundations // Poster Designs
BI Annual - Animated Posters
Lecturers: Prof. Alexander Tibus, Prof. Katharina Lemke, Anna Bernhard, B.A.
BI Annual Posters, LTR: Thelma Haraldsdottir, Ekaterina Vororbeva, Maximilian Friedrich
Every year, the BI Annual Exhibition showcases student work from the Faculty of Architecture and Design. Students of the BA in Graphic Design and Visual Communication design the poster for the show in a friendly competition. The coursework includes both a large printed poster and its animated digital version, which are shown here.
re:publica – Poster Design
Lecturers: Prof. Katharina Lemke
re:publica posters, LTR: Anna Lena Halldorsdottir, Ferzan Dokumaci, Thianon Klausmann
In this course, we developed posters for the Berlin-based re:publica, a festival for the digital society that reflects the social and political changes brought about by digitalisation.
After analysing the identity and researching the motto of the 2024 annual conference, 'Who cares?', the students developed and designed posters to announce the festival in a four-week design sprint. Anything goes in terms of design, resulting in motifs developed using a variety of techniques that visualise the breadth of the 'Who cares?
Course: Tangible Interaction // New Media Design
Lecturers: Felix Müller, M.A., Lukas Esser, B.A.
This New Media course reinterprets modern communication design through physical computing with Arduino boards, sensors, and actuators. Students develop practical skills and critical perspectives while creating interactive installations that bridge virtual and physical worlds, resulting in tangible, experimental design experiences.
Lumina Drop Performance: Hanna Kovari & Maria Melo
A Day In A Life Sound Machine: Tata Kvavilashvili, Thelma Haraldsdottir, Anna-Lena Halldorsdottir, Sara Omarsdottir
Course: Editorial Design // The Chicago of Europe
Lecturers: Prof. Alexander Tibus
“I feel lost in Berlin” is the first sentence in Mark Twain’s humorous Berlin travel report from 1892. Students are asked to interpret the story with typography and images they create, and learn how to turn their design concepts into a fully functioning prototype of a physical book. The course also opens the spectrum from hand-drawn illustrations to GenAI image generation.
Book Designs, LTR: Ferzan Dokumaci, Thianon Klausmann
Course: Motion Design
Lecturers: Nico Buenaventura
This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the world of motion design, combining creative development with technical training. The students learn the complete production workflow: from scriptwriting and storyboard creation to styleframe illustration, animation, and post-production. Using professional Adobe software (After Effects, Illustrator, and Photoshop) students develop their own fully produced video projects.
By the end of the course, the students not only build a strong portfolio piece but are also encouraged to submit their work to international film festivals, gaining valuable exposure and real-world experience in the field of motion design.
Plastiq Tree: Larissa Steinhauser / Isik Goktas
Underbed Monster: Sofiia Mudrak / Elmira Bilokon / Lorena Santamaria / Sofia Redondo
Course: Design Project 1 // Punk & Participation
Lecturers: Prof. Henrik Rieß, Felix Müller, M.A., Anc Ciechanowicz, M.A., Barbora Demovič, M.A, Anna Bernhardt, B:A
Cornerstone toolkit: Illia Boyko, Katarzyna Stromska, Monika Bronowicz
Shaped-By media installation: Apollinariya Dzardanova, Kateryna Tovstyha, Lily Star Hardy, Veronica Melissari
Born-to-be-eaten critical table arrangement: Ekaterina Vorobeva, Hanna Kovari, Maria Melo
The German Experience: Árdis Lilja, Azura Naveed, Katharina Hermann, Thea Haaker
Our 3rd semester's Design Project 1 explores how young designers can tackle today's big challenges through storytelling and design. 'Punk & Participation' has students create projects that spark conversations about everything from body image issues to fighting fake news in authoritarian systems. Students blend passionate protest with meaningful participation, producing diverse outputs from poster campaigns and physical installations to virtual experiences that challenge societal problems.
The BI students of Design Project 1 exhibited their projects in a curated exhibition at Berlin Design Week 2024 and 2025.