Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado student Manuela Tendolini Ribeiro joined UAL in 2022 for her Summer Study Abroad: Graphic Communication Design course and decided she needed to return to UAL to keep studying Graphic Communication Design in the 2023 Autumn semester.
How was studying abroad in London? What is your favourite thing about the city?
It was a veryeye-opening experience, London is not only a cosmopolitan city but also a centre of Art and Design, so it is truly one of the best places to study in this field. There are many amazing accessible museums and galleries, which are great to find references and to learn about contemporary discussions. My favourite thing about the city is that it has a strong visual personality. I would often walk around without a plan, just to observe, and I would always find something interesting to look at.
What is your favourite memory of studying abroad?
My favourite memory is being surrounded by constant movement and creativity while working at CSM. The building becomes frenetic and alive when the students are creating. You are able to feel everyone’s passion and determination and the encouragement to let yours out too.
What did you enjoy about your classes?
I enjoyed how reflective and critical the classes were. We would have topics to discuss with our peers and use that to generate references and prompts for the creative process. Conversely, we were highly encouraged to work on the outcome with a hands-on approach, so the time used to develop the concept was oriented and always a valuable contribution to the project.
Can you tell us about a project you were particularly excited about?
Yes! My last project of the term was an Information Design work that consisted of a semiotic research about bathroom signs, focusing on how they are used to represent gender. My input was the first 100 ‘bathroom signs’ from Google Images, that I studied to create parameters to analyse the symbols, which were, firstly, the type of bathroom (men’s, women’s, all or not specified), then whether it presented a binary idea of gender and finally how stereotypical the sign was, indicated by a scale. The first layer of the outcome was a diagram presenting the visual parameters of each symbol, and the layer underneath showed the actual pictures, that you could access by opening door-like folds. And as this is a subjective theme, I was very interested on other people’s thoughts about it, so I included a miniature bathroom door and markers at the Open Studios for people to interact with it.
Why did you choose UAL Study Abroad?
I found UAL while researching for Art and Design universities when I was in high school. In 2022 I had the chance to take the Summer Study Abroad: Graphic Communication Design Course at UAL. I loved my time there; I was able to learn a lot about myself as a designer and to discover as well as dive into new interests. At the end of the 3-weeks of the course I knew I had more to learn from UAL and that I wanted to go back, so I applied for the Autumn semester Study Abroad Programme in 2023.
How do you think your study abroad experience will help you with your future endeavours?
During this time, I got to know an area that I had not known before, namely Information Design, which fit right into two of my biggest interests, data, and communication. I believe that my study abroad experience will help me direct myself to the line of work I feel fulfilled doing.
What is the most valuable thing you learnt from the experience?
The most valuable thing I learned was to not feel intimidated to create projects that involve complex subjects. Because even if you are not able to work with the entirety of it, you can always start somewhere and give it time to develop.
Is there anything you want to share with future study abroad students/ future applicants?
Get to know yourself and what is meaningful to your practice, UAL will always stimulate you to pursue your own path.
Would you recommend the experience at UAL?
Yes, I definitely would. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at UAL, it enabled me to dive deeply into my practice, learning new skills and creating projects that I am passionate about.
