Olá!
We are Santiago Correa, Sheyla García and Alba Bonachela and we are going to tell you how was our Erasmus experience in Porto, Portugal, during the academic year 2014-2015, corresponding to our 3rd year of Graphic Design.
CITY
To begin with, let's tell you about Porto. If you haven't visited before you will be surprised by the great contrasts; from the streets full of history with art galleries to the more contemporary architecture such as Casa Da Música. Also, no matter that most of the time it rains, life in this city is never dull and there is always something to do with a variety of activities; exhibitions in art galleries, concerts, cider in the Piolho area or second hand markets, to give just a few examples.
SCHOOL
ESAD (Escola Superior de Arte e Design), which was our school during those months, is located in Matosinhos, a town near the sea and 20 minutes from the centre of Porto.
In terms of working methodology, the projects carried out always consisted of an initial and a final presentation. Communication between the students as a whole and the teacher played an important role in helping to improve problems through constructive criticism.
The work we did was close to reality. We went into the situation we were asked to find out about the real space or visited the centres where we were going to carry out the project. The research part was a part that lasted a long time until we reached the final solution. Many of the projects proposed were carried out with other specialities such as product or interior design. As a result, we always had to look for coherence through meetings and exchanges of ideas.
As Erasmus students we had total freedom to choose which optional subjects we wanted to take among the different disciplines. This enriched us on many levels as it allowed us to have knowledge in other subjects such as product packaging or textile printing in fashion.
The facilities facilitated the development of the work with a copy shop within the school where you could obtain the necessary materials and even a cafeteria where you could spend the day according to your schedule. There were also areas where you could work on handicrafts such as screen printing or painting workshops, spaces for photography with a teacher dedicated to making the most of your work or video and sound recording studios.
LANGUAGE
As for the language, communication in Portuguese teacher-student was not a big barrier and after a few weeks it was possible to understand everything. Otherwise, we always resorted to English, which was also used with other non-Spanish Erasmus students.
RECOMMENDATIONS
-Take advantage of the freedom in the choice of subjects to find out what interests you most or to focus on a more specific field.
-Experiment, "try and try almost could be the motto of the school. The creative process and learning new techniques will give you many more resources to do a good job.
-It is a good time to increase the portfolio, as this is one of the objectives that exists in all subjects in their third and final year.
-Travel as much as you can to get to know the country, to places close to Porto and cheap like Guimães, Braga, Aveiro and beaches like Gaia, Francelos... or more remote places like the Açores Islands or Madeira thanks to Ryanair.
Obrigada! Thank you!
