Where to Study Graphic Design in Israel
I’m finishing up the Graphic Design and Multimedia program at John Bryce in Jerusalem and thought I’d review the course and recommend other resources for people interested in graphic and web design in Israel.
Discounts
If you made Aliyah within the last 3 years, you may be entitled to some major discounts off these schools. But you’ll need to check with Misrad Haklitah or Misrad Hastudentim first.
Graphic and Web Design Schools / Programs
Below are some of the better known schools for graphic design in Israel. Almost all the courses are in Hebrew, but don’t let that stop you since the software is in English. At first, I thought the Hebrew would be extremely challenging, but by the second day, I caught on to the Hebrish lingo of “checkbox-im”, “undo-im”, and “tab-im”. And by the end of the course, I had a whole notebook full of these little phrases.
Also, many of these schools offer other creative classes such as video editing, jewelry design, animation, etc.
Considering that these are design schools, let’s see how creative and effective their websites are. After receiving grades throughout the year, it feels good to give back a little constructive criticism.
Please leave a comment if you have a review of a school or if I left any out, which is very very possible.
John Bryce Doesn’t sound Jewish, but hey…
Location: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv & Haifa
Phone: *6460; In Jerusalem, 02-678-1881 and you have to push 011 after you dial.
Length of Course: 10 months (in theory). Due to snow days (in Israel, crazy - right?), teacher sick days, random no-days, it turned into a year. Classes are twice a week at night for 3.5 hours each. Don’t worry, you get breaks, and a free coffee machine. You receive a certificate of completion at the end although I’m not sure how valuable the certificate is, since portfolios carry the real weight in the design world. So if you work hard on the projects during the course you’ll come away with a nice portfolio.
Programs Taught: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, HTML, CSS, Dreamweaver, ImageReady, Flash/Actionscript
Overall Review: B+ I can now use each of the design programs pretty easily and quickly, but there is still much more to learn and practice but Photoshop and Flash are no longer scary programs where I don’t even know where to start. However, the program lacked in teaching design principles and fundamentals. In an amazing bookabout design for non-designers, Robin Williams (not the comedian) teaches basic design principles simply and brilliantly, but unfortunately John Bryce never mentioned any of her ideas. Also, I felt like the Dreamweaver section spent too much time on building websites with tables, and not enough time on DIV’s and CSS.
Website Review: D Annoying sound when you enter which I couldn’t figure out how to turn off, crazy flying flash sections in sidebar, inside pages look much different than home page, scrolling welcome message unnecessary.
Bezalel: Academy of Art and Design
Location: Jerusalem
Phone: 02-5893323 Email: viscom@bezalel.ac.il
Length: 4 years - Bachelor’s Degree
You’ll Learn: Visual Communications: Graphic/typographic design, Interactive design, Broadcast design (including animation), Illustration, and Advertising
Website Review: A I love the clean looking design and colorful photo. Nice touches of Flash. Easy to use menu with good English section.
Hadassah School of Practical Engineering
Location: Jerusalem
Phone: 02-6291932 Email: oragolan@hadassah.ac.il
Length: 2 years - Associate’s degree
Track: Print Production
You’ll Learn: Typography, Graphic Design, Website Design, Drawing & Sketching, Engraving and Etching, more
Track: Interactive Communications (Internet and Multimedia)
You’ll learn: Design for user interface, HTML, Introduction to Java, Introduction to Photography Three Dimensional Images and Animation, Website Production, Interactive Animation, more
Website Review: B+ Very informative with a good English section and usability, but could use a little creativity
Location: Jerusalem
Phone: 02 654 4555
Length of Course: 700 hours, women only ages 19-25
You’ll Learn: Graphic design in English and Hebrew
Website Review: D Very 1990’s and missing finishing touches- could use some creativity, fonts and alignment.
Shenkar College of Engineering and Design
Location: Tel Aviv
Phone: (0)3 6110094 Email: graphicdesign@shenkar.ac.il
Length of Course: 4 years, Bachelor’s Degree
Departments: Visual Communication, illustration, Interactive Media
Website Review: A- Very neat and clean with a nice color palette, a little too much Flash
Location: Tel Aviv
Phone: *5700 or 0573333331
Length of Course: ~300 Hours
Track: Graphic Design
You’ll Learn: Illustrator, Photoshop, Freehand, Indesign
Track: Web Design
You’ll Learn: Illustrator, Photoshop, HTML, GUI, Dreamweaver, Flash
Website Review: A Easy to navigate with good descriptions of the classes, and I love the hand-drawn look of all the icons.
Location: Tel Aviv, Haifa
Phone: 03-5291888
Individual Programs taught: Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, HTML, Flash, Dreamweaver
You can learn individual graphic design programs - good if you are limited in time or already know some of the programs.
Website Review: A- Nice, clean, easy to read and use site. But yet again, why the crazy distracting annoying flash banner in the middle?
Location: Herzilya
Phone: 1700700892
Length of Course: 230 Hours
You’ll Learn: Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, FreeHand, Flash
Website Review: D+ Weird Phone Operator picture too close to logo, weak logo - in low resolution, bad use of underlines on a website (should only be used for links, not emphasis), way too many colors, no focus, I’m not sure about the technicolor teapot either featured , scrolling ticker - a definite no-no. The only good thing was lots and lots of pictures so you really get a sense of who goes there and what they do.
Location: Haifa
Phone: 04-851-1769 Email: info@tiltan.co.il
Track: Graphic Design
You’ll Learn: Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Freehand
Track: Web Design
You’ll Learn: Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Freehand, HTML, dHTML, Flash, Dreamweaver,
Course Length: 600 Hours
Website Review: B+ Very cute and colorful. The navigation menu is hard to use on the inside pages - you have to mouse over each tab to read the option. Also, the font used is too small. And lastly, the logo made me think of this article about unfortunate and unintentional phallic looking logos.
Location: Tel Aviv, Haifa
Phone: 1800-360-366 Email: limodim@6bstudio.co.il
Length of Course: Twice a week, 3.5 hours, 3 semesters
You’ll Learn: Illustrator, Flash, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, InDesign
Website Review: B+ I really love the logo, but the Flash on the site is a little much, misuse of underlines, but I liked the building/studio feel and the grey tones.
Phone: 03-5612029, 1-800-203-103 Email: info@concept-academy.co.il
Length of Course: 10 months, twice a week for 3.5 hours each
You’ll Learn: Illustrator, Flash, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, InDesign, HTML/CSS
Website Review: B- Graphic Design spelled with an ‘f’ on the graphic design page. Not sure if it’s intentional misspelled?? No color palette - uses every color possible.
Location: Haifa
Phone: 04-856-2555 Email: limhead@wizocollege.co.il
Length of Course: 1 and 2 year programs
You’ll Learn: Fundamentals and principles of design, Freehand, Indesign, Photoshop, Illustrator
Website Review: B For some reason, the positioning on the graphic design page was scrolled to the right. I like the grid and dotted lines and clean look.
Location: Jerusalem
Phone: 02-6733767 ext. 101 Email: info@emuna.ac.il
Length of Course: Bachelor’s Degree, women only
You’ll Learn: Visual Communications
Website Review: A Nicely laid out, with cute slideshows in each section and a nice logo and color scheme
[Update thanks to Mike]
Location: Holon
Phone: 03-5026777 Email: limudim@hit.ac.il
Length of Course: Bachelor’s Degree
You’ll Learn: Visual Design and Communications
Website Design: A- The English link doesn’t work, but the site colorful and I love the logo, and the flash is interactive which is pretty cool
Resources for graphic designers in Israel
Job Sites in Israel
Assistance
- Graphic Design Israel Yahoo Group
- Nefesh B’Nefesh Article about Graphic Design and Employment in Israel
General
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10 Responses to “Where to Study Graphic Design in Israel”
Posted by: Ziva - 07/20/2008
Great post! Thanks for putting together these invaluable resources. I’ll be sure to link to them from DD!
Posted by: Rebecca - 07/20/2008
Ziva - Thanks!!
Posted by: Shelley - 07/20/2008
rebecca, I so wish I’d had this post about 4 years ago when I was applying to schools!
one thing applicants should be aware of is that emunah is accredited as a teachers college so you’ll come out with a BEd and a certificate in visual communications. the school also offers certificates in studio arts and drama. students may also take extra courses to receive a BEd in Judaic studies. emunah really has some phenomenal teachers in the visual communications program and if you’re willing to put up with all the requirements in the education end of things I highly recommend the program.
The 2008 graduates exhibit is currently on display through Tuesday, July 29th at the school: 104 Derech Beit Lechem (the corner under tzomet habankim) hours: sun-thurs, 9am-8pm.
anybody looking for advice on michlelet emunah from an english speaking olah, feel free to contact me.
Posted by: Mike - 07/28/2008
Neat list except you forgot the largest design school in Israel - the HIT http://www.hit.ac.il
The HIT’s design school has Interior , Industrial (where I teach) & graphic design BA programs.
check em’ out and if you have any questions you can contact me through the blog I use to run the courses I give there: http://hit-foundations-of-design.blogspot.com/
All the best
Mike
Posted by: Rebecca - 07/28/2008
Mike: Thanks for letting everyone know about HIT - I hadn’t heard of it and it definitely should be added to this list.
Posted by: Jacob from JobMob - 07/29/2008
Rebecca, good review and reference. I Stumbled it:
http://jobmob.stumbleupon.com/review/23861360/
A suggestion - this has pillar/flagship post potential for your blog. I would add a call for subscription at the end of the article by inciting people to stick around for updates to the list. Meanwhile, continue updating it with suggestions like Mike’s. Then, consider doing other Where To Study…in Israel posts. Once you have 10, dress them up in an e-book and use it to drive more subscribers/exposure or create a mailing list.
All that because I was a Blog Mastermind :)
Posted by: Rebecca - 08/06/2008
Jacob - Thanks for the advice, I think that’s a really good idea and will try to keep it in mind for future posts :)
Posted by: Aidai - 08/08/2008
Hello Mike,
The English Link of hit.ac.il doesn’t work… :(
Would love to read the info…
Aidai
Posted by: Payel (HIP) - 08/22/2008
Hi! Rebecca
Really good post. It is a perfect guide for new aspirants who want to excel in the field of web graphic design.
Payel
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