My Erasmus+ Mobility for studies at ESADA: Lucas Farah, University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca

From the very first day the city of Granada has aroused my interest as a lively city with a rich culture and a high university status. The town, mostly populated by students, is very similar to my hometown Cluj-Napoca. In Granada there are many prestigious universities with a wide range of majors ranging from fine arts to medicine, architecture, business and many others. The city's culture is unique as it was strongly influenced by the culture of the Middle East during the Muslim occupation. A reflection of this culture can be seen both in some of the city's architectural elements but also on the gastronomic scene where Middle Eastern cuisine has a large share on the tables of local restaurants.

The university where I did my mobility, ESADA is a private university with a specialty in fine arts. It has cemented its position in Spanish academic circles through partnerships with successful private companies but also by employing academics who are at the top of their professional careers. A blend of overqualified teaching staff, an absolute interest in student training and abundant faculty resources are the ingredients of a successful university. The university is divided into 4 categories: Fashion Design, Interior Design, Product Design and Graphic Design. I was enrolled in the Graphic Design section. Within this section I had 2 semester projects to complete my mobility. The first project consisted of building an infographic, with a theme of my choice and presenting it in front of a panel. All subjects were involved in this project, each having an individual mark on the final project. During the project I learned everything I needed to create an infographic from typography, working in the 3D space, technical English, colour technique and print materials as well as design styles.

The second project consisted in creating a school album with the school's achievements from the previous year. The aim of the album was to attract future students. This was the final project and a team project, each team having 3 students. The project went through multiple stages from research to intermediate terms, design and finally to print and presentation. The main aim of the project was for each student to learn teamwork alongside other designers with different ideas and visions, as in our future professional lives we will often find ourselves in the position of working in a team where compromise and teamwork skills are valued. To this end I believe that this university is succeeding in shaping the next generation of artists and preparing them for the future in an ever-changing field. Students at this university follow a specially tailored syllabus with delicately chosen subjects and topics to build the foundations of a successful future artist; the lack of exams and the unfication of projects into one conveys a sense of unity and stability to students encouraging them to apply all their accumulated knowledge into a project with semi-major significance. 

In conclusion, I support the fact that ESADA University is a key partner of UAD Cluj and a destination where students succeed in achieving their academic goals.