Students.
Don't ya just love 'em!
Spend years studying and then....
Whereas most sociology, philosophy or art history students eventually end up working in banks, call centres or become King of England; the situation with design students is somewhat more complicated.
You don't study design just for the sake of getting a qualification; you study design so that you can work as a designer.
Ideally an independent, freelance designer, controlling the entire process and developing your own ideas.
The trick is successfully negotiating the numerous steps from optimistic student over disillusioned almost there and onto experienced professional.
Burg Giebichenstein College in Halle has responded to the problems by opening a start-up centre for designers, film-makers and other creative types: Design Haus Halle
In essence an extension of the existing "Transfer Centre", the Design Haus Halle seeks to foster links between the graduates and industry, offer business skills training and generally provide a secure, supportive, base from which graduates can develop their careers.
Among the first Design Haus Halle tenants are "established" companies such as award winning textile designer Lydia in St. Petersburg, promising up and coming designers who have tasted their first successes including Stephan Schulz and those still taking their first tentative steps into the commercial world such as film makers Tim Romanowsky and Falk Schuster.
Each tenant has their own work space; however communal rooms allow for contact to the other tenants. And one of the real strengths of the project is the mix of specialisations and experience - a situation that allows the tenants to learn from one another, make use of the services the others provide and develop the networks that they will need for a successful future.
The natural extension of this multidisciplinarianism and networking is also one of the principle, long-term, goals of the Design Haus Halle; namely, to offer Burg Giebichenstein students the chance to remain in Halle and so help strengthen Sachsen-Anhalt as a centre for the creative industries.
For although the region isn't completely devoid of creative and artistic talent, it certainly isn't one of the centres of such in Germany - and that despite it's Bauhaus heritage
And Burg Giebichenstein.
As far as we are aware Design Haus Halle is one of the first such "creative start-up" centres and is certainly a much needed concept that we wish well.
Not least if it stops the drift of design students to design journalism.
More information can be found at http://www.designhaushalle.de/
