For the first time in NIU history, the NIU Study Abroad Office offered “Exploring Contemporary Graphic Design & Design Education in Poland.” This program was the beginning of what the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Poland and NIU hope to soon develop into an exchange program between the universities. Students will be given the opportunity to travel to Poland and study art and design for a semester.

During Spring Break, 11 students traveled to Poland with program director and design professor Aleksandra Giza. The students traveled to more than five cities, visited several museums and cathedrals, attended gallery exhibitions and participated in discussions and workshops about art and design.

A firsthand account

After loading up the van and driving to the hotel, it was obvious we were in a place very different from DeKalb. Tiny, box-shaped cars zoomed down narrow roads and steep buildings lined the streets. The city was covered in month-old snow that hadn’t melted. On top of the snow was sand, which is used in the same way as salt is in Illinois. We weren’t in the Bahamas or Florida Keys, but that was okay. Katowice had a mind of its own and a restorative vitality we couldn’t wait to explore.

It was not long after arriving in Katowice that we freshened up and visited the Academy. Waldemar Wegrzyn, a talented professor of design and printmaking, welcomed us with a cup of hot tea and showed us the studios in which we would work.

During the course of our 11-day stay, we participated in printmaking workshops using silkscreen techniques, developed posters under the direction of famous Polish poster designer Roman Kalarus, studied expressive and contemporary typography, traditional typography methods and created package designs. Our group was assigned to design promotional material for the city of Katowice using our photographs and impressions of the city and the people as our inspiration for the project.

One of the most impressive aspects of the trip was the way in which the faculty encouraged us to experiment with different techniques and ways of portraying ideas and concepts in our design work. Instead of relying on modern technology and obvious messages for creating “good design,” the faculty showed us how to create good work using a more inventive approach using other media.

These concepts demonstrated how to bridge the gap between American graphic design and Polish fine arts and poster design.