Studying international design in France
A master's program dedicated to international design in Nantes
Want to study design challenges in France? Discover the Ruggero Kitio's testimonial as an international student in the master's program in Nantes. Italian and Cameroonian, he shares with us his experience as in the 'international design strategy' master’s program in Nantes at Le Studio France. In this interview, find out more about his daily life in an international class, the school's facilities and collaborative projects, life in Nantes but also his advices to other designers...
What do you like about the school?
It’s an amazing university on one side, thanks to the professionals and the teachers that are here to help us, but secondly because we have amazing studios, especially a digital lab with different tools that we can use and mockup workshops like ceramic workshops, serigraphy workshops, wood workshops, metal workshops... Everything we need to bring our designs to life and create prototypes and models.
The courses are also very interesting. We focus mainly on group work. This has taught me a lot about teamwork. We have professional design teachers who are able to give us an insight into their experiences, but also guide us through our process and help us with the projects we're working on.
We have carried out many collaborative projects. For example, we've worked with partner Atlic on the blue economy, and with Africa Design School on water management and living conditions in Africa. We often work on short workshops, tackling different subjects, such as prospective design, but also exploring workshops through these processes.
Why study in an international class?
The advantages of working in a multicultural classroom came with a number of challenges. First of all, confronting different cultures, as I wasn't used to working in a group. Here, we're really forced to show empathy. It's essential to understand who we're working with, but also to know how to facilitate communication and open-mindedness in order to work together on projects. And finally, what I've learned a lot about this too, is to stay open-minded, always ask questions and find ways to use everyone's abilities and qualities in the right direction for the design project.
What about studying in Nantes?
My experience in Nantes has been very positive. The city is really focused on an artistic and cultural approach. We have a lot of exhibitions, cultural spaces, events, as well as a great motivation for entrepreneurship and business. France is a country with a great history and background in design, and for me it was really interesting to come and see this center, to get in touch with different people, but also to use the heritage and culture to my advantage.
What about your design communitites?
I started to produce some content on social media around the beginning of my studies in design. It was an opportunity for me to share my work and I've observed that designers need to make their work known, and that this isn't always easy for the young students who were in my situation before.
Secondly, showing my work in the form of a sort of evolving portfolio allows potential clients to come and see me, and I can welcome them and take them on as independent projects.
Take Milan Design Week as an example: it was an opportunity to get in touch with other designers with exciting projects, and to participate in the whole ecosystem and evolution of design in different communities and places around the world. This experience grew out of a collaboration I had with the IDES Awards, whose aim was to connect young designers with the industry. In this case, we wanted to bridge the gap between young designers and the industry. My role was to organize events, but also to participate in the overall media production. In this case, we organized a conference during Milan Design Week, tackling questions such as “Is AI ruining design?
Any advice for students in design?
One advice that I would give to students in design is really to be confident about their work, to always stay curious, to show your work, ask for advice, challenge yourself in learning new tools, new technologies and new things that will help you push your work further. But especially creating a work that is yours and personal, that can’t be sort of replicated from other people. Share your work, ask as many questions as possible, and continue being curious and exploring new avenues of creativity.
If you are curious in seeing this type of work that I do, I invite you to follow my social medias, RuggeroKitio on TikTok and Ruggero.designs on Instagram!
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