Welcome to this special edition of Kolding School of Design’s newsletter. 

With it, we mark the beginning of our celebration of 10 years of Play Design – a field initiated by Kolding School of Design in collaboration with the LEGO Foundation and the LEGO Group, and which today stands as an international design discipline.

Play Design began as a strategic decision to take play seriously as a design discipline. Today, we see the results in a strong academic environment where research, education and practice reinforce one another, and where Play Design is applied in contexts far beyond what many typically associate with play.

This expertise has also proven its value in the job market. Our graduates bring their design approach into organisations and industries ranging from museums and media to technology development and international companies. It is a clear sign that the field meets a real and growing need.

This week, we are also welcoming international figures such as Cas Holman and Tom Klinkowstein – each a pioneer in their own way within the design field. Their visits underline that Play Design has developed a global language, and that Kolding is a place where this conversation can both unfold and be put into practice.

As Rector, I see one thing as particularly important: Kolding School of Design has helped establish play as a professional competence. When designers work with play, they design frameworks and experiences that invite people in – creating wellbeing, learning and innovation in schools, cultural institutions, healthcare settings and urban spaces.

In this special edition, we bring together perspectives, projects and voices that show what the first ten years have set in motion. The anniversary marks a milestone. But it is also about direction.

As society becomes more complex, the need grows for design that fosters participation, community and agency. Here, play plays a vital role – and here, Kolding School of Design has both a responsibility and an opportunity.

Enjoy the read.

Carina Christensen
Rector, Kolding School of Design

Ten years ago, no educational programme in the world combined design and play as a distinct academic field. Today, Play Design has become an international reference point, and Kolding School of Design has educated a generation of designers working with play across everything from toys and museums to hospitals, fashion and urban spaces.

For LEGO, the collaboration with Kolding School of Design has been transformative. According to Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Head of Educational Impact at LEGO Education, the partnership has helped expand the company’s understanding of play.

“It has strengthened our view of play as something that exists not only in products, but also in processes, learning and development,” he says.

A concrete example is the collaboration with LEGO House in Billund, where researchers and designers worked together on new methods for observing and understanding play experiences.

For LEGO, understanding where children are heading is essential to developing relevant products.

“If you don’t understand where children are heading, it becomes very difficult. And that’s exactly where play designers truly excel,” says Søren Lethin, Innovation Catalyst at The LEGO Group.

Today, Play Design is used to put people’s needs before products – and to develop new solutions in a world where play is constantly evolving.

Watch the video with Søren Lethin – and hear how LEGO works with Play Design.

Since 2019, 132 play designers have graduated from Kolding School of Design. One of them is Nanna Amalie Dahl, who now designs playful museum experiences at the National Museum of Denmark:

“My core design craft is creating processes that focus both on the outcome and on how we get there.”

Today, Play Design is used to develop new ways of working with learning, culture and communities – including in institutions such as the National Museum.

The artwork Not All Whens Are Time was recently unveiled at Kolding School of Design, as New York-based artist and designer Tom Klinkowstein gathered students, staff and guests around his five-metre-wide universe of words.

Drop by and explore the piece for yourself – and let it lead you through reflections on time, life and design.

On Tuesday 24 March from 13:00–15:00, Kolding School of Design welcomes internationally recognised play designer Cas Holman, who will share insights into how play can be used in exhibitions, experiences and creative processes – and how to work with it in practice.

Following the talk, we invite you to join a facilitated open space session, where participants will develop their own ideas and challenges in smaller groups.

Programme
13:00–13:45: Talk by Cas Holman
13:45–14:00: Break
14:00–15:00: Open space and discussion

Light refreshments will be served. Participation is free, but places are limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.