KISD

A special public toilet has now been installed at the Kölner Uniwiesen: it is accessible, requires no water and operates in an environmentally friendly manner. KISD alumna Anastasia Bondar developed it with the aim of creating an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional chemical toilets, whilst also enabling human waste to be used in the circular economy. Anastasia has been working on sustainable sanitation solutions for several years. Sustainable sanitation was also the subject of her final thesis, for which she won the Cologne Design Prize in 2022. In 2023, she tested an initial prototype in the Volksgarten in collaboration with the City of Cologne @stadt.koeln , and this has now been followed by a further developed version. The facility is cleaned daily. Instead of water, dry litter ensures hygiene; solid and liquid waste are collected separately for later processing. An information board explains how it works. Time will show, how the „Holy Shit“ concept fares in everyday life. We wish Anastasia every success! For more information please go to the link in the bio. Photo 1: Anastasia Bondar and Roland Schüler, District Mayor of Köln’s Lindenthal district, officially open the dry toilet, Photos 1 + 2 © Anastasia Bondar #kisdesigns #integrateddesign #sustainabledesign #uniwiesenköln #holyshit

Ask A Student 2: Tipps for First Year Students Created by Sefa Tolamann Music © „Made A Way“ by Ketsa CC 4.0 International /music/Ketsa/master-builder/made-a-way/ #kisdesign #integrateddesign #designcologne #kölndesign #Designstudents #lifeatkisd #kisdvibes #freshmen

What happens when competition stops being the norm in design? Underpaid work, unpaid pitches, and constant hustle don’t have to be “part of the deal.” In their KISDtalk “Life After Design School: How to Survive the Industry, Together”, Hannah Böker, Elena Landschützer and Quang Nguyen from the Designgewerkschaft ver.di talk about solidarity, collective power, and fair conditions for everyone. KISDtalk on ⏰ May 27, 2026, 5:30-7:00 p.m For many designers, the years after design school tend to look the same: underpaid internships and jobs, one unpaid pitch after another, and overtime that is simply considered “part of the deal.” These conditions force us to compete against one another. Those who cannot or do not want to participate in this competition are often left empty-handed. In this talk, we want to discuss alternative ways of working: solidarity instead of competition, collective strength instead of individualism. We will share our own experiences as designers, our union work, and talk about our concrete political demands—fair fees, better working conditions, social security for freelancers, and much more. An open conversation about solidarity and collective action in the design industry. Hannah Böker, Elena Landschützer and Quang Nguyen are part of the Designgewerkschaft ver.di, an independent group of designers with different perspectives, lived experiences, and working situations. Since May 2025, they are also part of ver.di Bildende Kunst & Design. They organize regular meetups, events, and workshops, develop political demands, and fight together for a fair, diverse and solidary design industry. Group photo © Vivien Staff Project photo © Mona Osterkamp #kisd #kisdesigns #integrateddesign #designtalks #colognedesign #kölncity #kölndesign #kisdtalk

KISD @ LUCID DREAMS Festival 2026 – Motion Experience Lab meets the Master Class Experimental Media at FH St. Pölten @lucid_dreams_ustp The Motion Experience Lab from @kisdinternational is coming to St. Pölten.
On May 22 and 23, the Köln International School of Design (@th_koeln ) will be part of the LUCID DREAMS Festival with an extended student project program from the Image & Motion field, led by Prof. Nina Juric. She brings 15 Integrated Design students, along with MXL alumni Nima Hülshorst and Julian Spath, who are teaching as guest lecturers this semester. Their bachelor projects from the Köln International School of Design are being further developed specifically for the Lucid Dreams Festival. Under the title happy palace, the LUCID DREAMS Festival at Bühne im Hof constructs a space of the ephemeral. Following previous chapters on AI, [digital] fungi, and STONEAGE, a palace of perception emerges—a transitional zone between the precariousness of the real and the dreamlike qualities of the virtual. A shimmering space of data, myths, and glitches that raises the question: who is allowed to enter—and what remains outside its luminous gates? A central element of the contribution to happy palace is a student-led MXL production team that develops a spatial and atmospheric media framework for the exhibition space at Bühne im Hof. It shapes the visual and acoustic presence, as well as the overall media staging and public representation of KISD within the festival context. The festival presents over 50 international positions. As part of the program, two experimental MXL teaching formats are presented. Stay tuned. Student Production Team:
Nele Oberbiermann, Lucie Wernecke, Lisa Marie Kneuper, Felix Klei, Paul Kimmerl Student Project Teams:
Yannick Lethgau, Benedikt Bruchhausen, Anna Aptsiauri, Corinna Schwager, Marie Goldbach, Sofia Fellinger, Marie Kochs, Joscha Dammert, Vincent Johnson, Biyu Zhang, Davide Vignando, Greta Cesaris, Melis Kozak, Elena Savoldi, Leandro Ramirez Supporting alumni Nima Hülshorst and Julian Spath; Initiated and creatively led by Prof. Nina Juric, dept. Image and Motion / head of the Motion Experience Lab, TH Köln

It is time to continue our ‘Ask a Student’ series about various aspects of studying at KISD. A big thank you to Sefa Tolamann, who creates and edits the series. 👏 No. 1 this term: What designer should everybody know? Music © „Super Sonic“ by JMHBM CC 4.0 International /music/beat-mekanik/single/super-sonic/ #kisdesign #integrateddesign #designcologne #kölndesign #bestdesigner

Submission of the assignment to the BA Programme "Integrated Design" Admissions Process 2026 📢 Final reminder: BA assignment deadline! ⭐Today, 30 April 2026, is the last day to submit your term paper (TP). ⭐ Please note: Mandatory: Registration via CAMS Mandatory: Digital submission of the assignment by 11:59 p.m. CET at the latest 📦 Submission of the printed version (optional): In person: By today, 30 April, 6:00 p.m. in room 232. By post: Today's postmark counts as on time. For more information please click on the link in our bio, open „Apply at KISD“, then open „Application Procedure“ and read it carefully. Good luck with the final push! 🚀 #kisdesign #integrateddesign #designcologne #designstudent #designapplication

Touchpoint Vol. 17, No. 1 is OFFICIALLY here! The latest edition from the @ServiceDesignNetwork , “From AI to Synthetic Services,” is now live. It’s packed with insights on how AI is reshaping the way we design and deliver services. 🚀 What’s inside? Deep dives into synthetic services, expert case studies, and the latest trends in human-AI collaboration. 📅 Save the Date! Our live Roundtable for this issue is scheduled for: Wednesday, May 20, 2026 📍 Online via Zoom 💡 SDN Members: Your digital copy is FREE! Head over to the SDN website to download the journal and register for the roundtable at no extra cost. Not a member yet? Join the global community today to get instant access. Link in Bio #ServiceDesign #TouchpointJournal #SDN #DesignThinking #AI

Participatory Memory – Collective Imagination: Connecting Institutions and Communities We cordially invite you to our KISDconference 👉 02 July 2026, 9:00–16:15 in room 11 at KISD The symposium contributes to ongoing debates on gender, race, and class within cultural imaginations of the past. It does so by examining the participation of co-researchers from cultural institutions and civil society activism, including those from marginalised communities. The symposium seeks to advance participatory memory studies that approach cultural memory in socially engaged and inclusive ways. It addresses the general challenges and opportunities of participatory methods in transdisciplinary research, maps memory researchers’ experiences with these approaches, and aims to initiate collaborations with co-researchers during the event. 👉 Aim: to explore cultural memory in an inclusive, socially engaged and collaborative way. The attendance at the symposium is free of charge. For further information and to attend, please follow the link in the bio. #kisd #designresearch #integrateddesign #designschool #erinnerungskultur #memoryculture #colognegermany #koeln #thkoeln #designconference #culturalmemory

How to summarise an entire degree in design in 45 minutes? With a lecture on the essence of all creative work: the design process itself. ⭐️Lecture “This is design.” by Prof. Jenz Großhans ⏰ May 05, 2026, 5:30-6:30 pm, room 137 (Lecture Hall)⭐️ In This is Design, Prof. Jenz Großhans explores the question of what actually happens between the initial idea and the finished result. What steps does one go through in this process? How does one keep track of things amidst research, drafting and discarding ideas? And how does one manage to avoid typical mistakes, deal constructively with creative blocks and ultimately arrive at a good solution? #kisdesign #integrateddesign #kisdlecture #designprofessional #designprocess #creativeprocess #designerprocessing

Our first FRIDAY PRESENTATIONS for this semester are a Service Design Special. Here’s the programme: 🌟Friday 24.04, room 12🌟 • 11:00 Short Termin - „Participatory Futures in Public Service Design“ by Pascal Ackerschott • 11:30 Short Term - Career Ready: Designing Your Professional Service Design Story by Disha Mittal Looking forward to seeing you on Friday! #designpresentation #kisdesign #thkoeln #integrateddesign #designschool #designuni #designstudents #thkoeln #designproject #kisd #servicedesign #publicservicedesign #fridaypresentation

How does good design actually translate into good money? And why does this very aspect of the profession often feel like a secret side subject that nobody really explains? ⭐️Lecture “Money and Design” by Prof. Jenz Großhans ⏰ April 28, 2026, 5:30-6:30 pm, room 137 (Lecture Hall)⭐️ In the lecture Money and Design, Prof. Jenz Großhans discusses the often overlooked, yet all the more important economic side of design. He shows how designers can position their work convincingly in the market, how to negotiate fees with confidence, and how to actually get paid in the end. The lecture also looks ahead: what does it actually mean to work in a financially sustainable way? How do you manage your income wisely when projects are few and far between? And how far ahead should you be thinking about tomorrow – think savings, investments and eventually even a pension? #kisdesign #integrateddesign #kisdlecture #designprofessional

🫘 Un grupo de estudiantes del Grado en Ingeniería de Diseño Industrial y del Grado en Diseño e Innovación ha participado en “Sexy Beans”, un bootcamp internacional organizado por varias escuelas (KISD @kisdesign , ISIA Roma @isiaromadesign , EDNA Nantes y Elisava). Durante una semana de trabajo intensivo en Colonia, Alemania, los alumnos y alumnas han estudiado cómo el diseño puede transformar la percepción y el consumo de las legumbres dentro del sistema alimentario global. #Elisava #Erasmus #SexyBeans #Cologne #Diseño