Home Assignments

We ask everyone who applies for the DAE Bachelor course to complete two home assignments. This is one of the main topics of your selection interview; we like to talk about your way of thinking and working, your design process and how you approach the assignments. Not only do we want to see what the end result is, your process* towards the end-product is equally interesting to us. Make sure that you can present your home assignments in your Microsoft Teams meeting - and don’t forget to include photos of your home assignments and their processes in your portfolio. Portfolio suggestion: if you think you don’t have enough 3D work in your portfolio, you could always include more home assignments. Make sure there is a variety of work in your portfolio.

*Process means: Research, Sketches (2D as well as 3D), ideating, adjustments, conclusions, end results and all what can support the communication of your work.

Challenge yourself, step out of your comfort zone and make sure the result surprises even you.

The home assignment consists of two parts:

A. Mandatory assignment
B. Choose one of the five big home assignments

A. Mandatory assignment for all candidates

The sleep over Build your own hut outside and sleep over. We really want to see your interpretation of ‘a hut’. If you don’t have an outside space or if there are safety issues, find an area inside. A place where you normally don’t sleep. If you had a hellish night, improve your design and try again. If you slept like a rose fine tune your design and do it again. Bring sketches of your ideas, photos from the building phase, your sleep over experience, adjustments as well as an exact copy scale model of your hut, its interior and its materials. Challange yourself.

B. Choose one of these five home assignments

1. Seating object

   Collect various materials in or around the place where you live. Choose a maximum of three. One of the materials should be a hard material. Add a soft material and for the third material take something transparent. Use these materials to create a ‘seating object’. If one of the materials does not work or does not fit, find a replacement. When choosing the materials and during the creation, think about construction / comfort / functionality / appearance. You can use extra materials for connecting. Document the process from the beginning: the choice of materials / sketches / images / prototyping and the final result.

2. Souvenir for the future

   Create a souvenir for future humans. What is something that is around you now that might not exist in 100 years, but you want people in the future to remember or be aware of?. Collect your inspiration through object/illustration/photography/materials and design/make your souvenir and present it to the future humans. Document the process from the beginning: the research / sketches / images / prototyping and the final result.

3. Dream assignment

   (Digital programs only for editing. All items are real materials and props!) Document the process from the beginning: the research/ materials / sketches / images / prototyping and the final result. 4: Write a short text. Describe it in a clear way: What is your dream about and who are you in your dream? Place your text next to the link of your film (upload the film to YouTube and place the hyperlink in your PDF). 3: Perform by being present for 1 minute in your fantasy dream world and make 1 minute Dream Film out of it. 2: Create your self-made Dream Outfit and step into your Dream Set yourself. It is important we see you present in your Dream Set. (Can you be someone in a plant? On another planet? or in unknown worlds? Or have you become the other side of the door?) 1: Build with real materials and real objects your own fantasy Dream Set. Make a 1-minute DREAM FILM:

4. Design a Time waster

   A time waster might be something to gaze at and be transported by. A time waster could be a toy or a game; an activity for people to lose themselves in, or it could be a kit from which to build something. Invent an object that has the power to distract and to entertain.

Create an object whose job it is to deal with surplus energy, anxious minds, or idle hands.

Google executive desk toys of the eighties; addictive kinetic objects that did very little apart from mark the passage of time and became part of the landscape of the desk. Or mobiles like those by Bruno Munari and Calder whose function is about creating atmosphere and working in tandem with the environment. The Eames’ Do-Nothing machine did do something; it harnessed solar power and made it tangible, whilst also being a kinetic feast for the eyes.

You might also consider how the end product is aesthetic or sculptural, makes a noise perhaps, or might power something or be useful in some other way. Document the process from the beginning: the research / sketches / images / materials / prototyping and the final result.

1. Animal-food

   Reducing meat consumption is high on the environmental agenda. But what if we could still enjoy animals through our food, without eating them or their products? Prepare and design a recipe, an eating experience or a new food ritual, inspired by an animal or insect that is foreign to your home country. Share it with someone else. Document the recipe, the eating experience or food ritual, the preparation, eating and reaction to the meal, experience or ritual. Use your fantasy & imagination. Document the process from the beginning: the research / sketches / images / materials / prototyping and the final result.