IADE started its activities in 1969, as a pioneer of Design Education in Portugal by introducing the course “Interiors and General Equipment Design”. The programme pursued the Anglo-Saxon Arts&Crafts approach and the avant-garde line followed by the Scuola Politecnica di Design, in Milano. Since the beginning, the institute followed an internationalisation route. António Quadros, the first leader and ideologue of IADE, invited foreigner teachers of recognized merit in the area of Design, such as John David Bear, Stephanie d’Orey, Claude Ternat, Tomás Maldonado, Bruno Munari, Elio Cenci Attilio Marcoli, along with Portuguese references in the area of arts and humanities: Lima de Freitas, Manuel Lapa, Costa Martins, Manuel da Costa Cabral, Rafael Calado, António Pedro and David Mourão Ferreira.
In IADE’s history, several milestones are noticeable: in 1984, the first portuguese advertising course was launched; in 1989, subsequent to the introducion of a new legal framework that governed the private university’s entities, two new schools were created: ESD – Escola Superior de Design and ESMP – Escola Superior de Marketing e Publicidade. In 2000, the R&D Unit – UNIDCOM/IADE was launched. Recently, this research unit in design and communication was awarded with a “very good” mark by an international assessment panel. In 2002, new curricular programmes, including a semester structure and a weighted credits organisation, were introduced. In 2004, IADE started the first Master Course in Design and Visual Culture. As an outcome of the efforts already put in place, in 2006, the CNAVES (National Council for the External Higher Education Assessment) evaluated IADE as the best design school in Portugal. In the same year, IADE was already fully compliant with Bologna requirements regarding its course’s organisation and the credits granted by Curricular Units.
In December 2008 IADE, requested an institutional evaluation by the Institutional Evaluation Programme (IEP) of the European University Association (EUA). This evaluation has been undertaken, as part of the system evaluation of Portuguese higher education institutions, which has been commissioned by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal.
The current situation is expected to change after the application of IADE recognition and registration under the status of a private University Institute (Instituto Universitario) consistent with the Portuguese Law for higher education. According to the application, the University Institute will hold the title “Instituto de Artes Visuais, Design e Empresa – Universitário” (IADE-U).
· The degrees taught
Today, the IADE offers the following study programmes already accredited:
A. First cycle (3 years – 180 ECTS)
1. Design
2. Photography and Visual Culture
3. Marketing and Advertising
B. Second cycle (Mestrados/Master degree – 2 years – 120 ECTS)
1. Production Design
1.1 Industrial Design Production
1.2 Environment Design Production
2. Design and Visual Culture
2.1 Graphic Design
2.2 Visual Culture Studies
2.3 Photography Studies
3. Marketing
4. Advertising
5. Image and Communication
6. Branding and Fashion Design
7. Visual Arts for Teaching (in primary and secondary schools)
· The relationships you have developed with the industry (internship schemes, professionals’ involvement…)
Research activities of the IADE are carried out through its research and development unit UNIDCOM (“Unidade de Investigação em Design e Comunicação”). UNIDCOM operates as a non-profit organization. It is recognized and is funded under this status by the FCT (“National Foundation for Science and Technology”) still 2003 with mark “very good”.
In 2008, IADE created the “IADE School Agency”, structured as a communication studio lab, producing real projects in an agency context, and aiming to: a) develop a new brand dimension for IADE; b) promote junior training in a working environment agency; c) participate in students evaluation; part of these projects and works are evaluated in academic terms, with the participation of teachers and course coordinators. This way, students participation is subjected to an additional incentive. Agency has been applying for several design contests and has provided services in areas such as: 1) Identity – sign.identity; 2) Internal and external communication – sign.communication; 3) Internal and external events – sign.events, and 4) Production – sign.production.
– Careers – Student Support Service
This support service is essential for preparing students to move towards the professional life; help search for traineeship opportunities in companies; as well as receive feedback from the market. A mentoring programme, including former IADE students, is also in preparation. In May 2009, a pilot survey, targeted to companies that employ former IADE students, was launched and the results were analysed.
– Entrepreneurship
For several years, entrepreneurship has been lectured in the third year of first cycle. Since June 2009, IADE gave a step forward, launching a service, located at Chiado Centre, to assist students with ideas for business to start in building a successful venture. Having started few months ago, it is still early to have feedback from results.
