Graphic design plays an important role in the organisation and transmission of messages. Within the Gerrit Rietveld Academie’s Graphic Design department, we explore, evaluate and experiment with the many possible ways of communicating through visual languages. 

The department’s foundation is the teaching of core subjects that we feel are valuable to a graphic design practice: editing, image, typography and theory. We approach this learning process through both analogue and digital techniques, and in a conceptual and playful manner. 

Teaching in the department happens mostly through assignments, over time leading to more independent forms of study and the possibility of applied commissions from within and outside the academy. You will be encouraged to develop a productive-critical approach to your work and learn to take responsibility for chosen points of departure when giving form to ideas. We encourage our students to explore the boundaries of graphic design. 

All the teachers in the department are actively practising designers, artists, curators or theorists, creating a proximity to contemporary practice.