Folk4
Folk4 is the department’s podcast – made by students for students.
Digital publishing practice
The studio's foundation course: a full publication process from concept to release.
Course description
You work on the Studio’s ongoing projects (see Open Calls) and go through every stage of the publishing process: editorial planning, research, concept development, design, production and publication. This is the starting point if you have never published before.
You begin with an existing publication format or a defined overarching theme, gaining experience in the conception, design and production of the respective publication format. Based on your interests and skills, you further develop these formats in terms of their concept, content and design.
In the 2026/27 winter semester you can work for example on: the faculty podcast Folk4, the visual identity for Rundgang 2027, and conceiving, designing and building a digital magazine.
The possible topics are presented at the introductory session on Tuesday 20 October 2026 at 2 pm.
Target group
Students of any semester and any subject group who want to take part in a digital publication from beginning to end. Setting your own thematic focus is possible.
Way of working
Weekly sessions for talking through where the publications stand. Afterwards we work together on the various formats. Individual sessions are given over to one format and serve as its starting point; students group themselves by interest and carry that format on from there.
The studio's other offers round out the course. Topics are developed in the editorial team; the skills lab teaches the skills needed for designing and building different publication formats in weekly workshops. Open Studio is where everyone can talk about what they are currently working on. Every workshop of the studio is also listed, filtered by learning path, in the workshop calendar.
Attendance is open: you are welcome at sessions and courses you have not enrolled in.
Current projects
Rundgang
We design the visual identity for Rundgang 2027, the annual exhibition of the Department of Design – from posters and flyers to social media.
Zero-Zero-One
Conceiving, designing and producing a magazine from and for the Department of Design – by students, for students.
100 years – 100 voices
An anniversary project for the centenary of the Folkwang University of the Arts.
Schedule
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Wk 43
Kurseinführung
14:00–17:00
Add to calendarIn dieser Einführung beschäftigen wir uns mit den grundlegenden Fragen und Prinzipien des digitalen Publizierens. Bringe dazu jeweils eine analoge und eine digitale Publikation mit, die wir gemeinsam anhand der vier Grundpfeiler des Studios – Kontext, Form, Öffentlichkeit und Verantwortung – analysieren und diskutieren. Dabei untersuchen wir, unter welchen Bedingungen Publikationen entstehen, wie sie gestaltet sind, wen sie erreichen und welche Verantwortung mit ihrer Veröffentlichung verbunden ist.
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Wk 45
Web design basics 1
14:00–17:00
Workshop
In this workshop you learn how to structure the content of a website and build a comprehensible path through it with information architecture, visual hierarchy and design grids.Add to calendar -
Wk 46
Web design basics 2
14:00–17:00
Workshop
In this workshop you learn how to design websites with typography, colour and layout, and how to adapt them to different screen sizes and interactive situations.Add to calendar -
Wk 50
App design basics 1
14:00–17:00
Workshop
In this workshop you learn how to structure the content and features of an app and develop first concepts for its navigation.Add to calendar -
Wk 51
App design basics 2
14:00–17:00
Workshop
In this workshop you learn how to design app interfaces and make them intuitive to use through visual hierarchy and interactive elements.Add to calendar