ESDi School of Design, affiliated with Ramon Llull University, is located in Sabadell (Barcelona). It offers official degrees in various design disciplines (Graphic, Product, Interior, Fashion, Audiovisual, Multidisciplinary Integration) with a strong emphasis on innovation and research.
Affiliated with Ramon Llull University. Promotes research in design (e.g., through its Design Research Center) and collaborations with companies for innovation projects. International exchange programs.
Research:
Research in areas like sustainable design, smart design, design for health, digital humanities, and new media.
Famous Alumnis:
N/A
International recognition**:
Number of staff***:
120
Current students***:
1000
Foreign students***:
10%
Cumulative former students***:
4000
Pros
Strong research component in design, broad range of design specializations, affiliation with a recognized university.
Cons
Private affiliated school. Located in Sabadell, outside Barcelona city center.
Best For
Students interested in a research-informed design education across various disciplines, with a focus on innovation.
Both schools build their programmes around ergonomics, industrial design and materials, and Elisava Facultad de Diseño e Ingeniería de Barcelona is the one to compare first within the country, since it is also a private institution and also offers graduate diploma programmes.
IED Barcelona Istituto Europeo di Design overlaps with this institution on ergonomics, industrial design and materials, so the two are easy to compare, and it is larger, enrolling about 2,000 students against roughly 1,000 here, and is also a private institution.
A good alternative in the same country is ESNE Escuela Universitaria de Diseño, Innovación y Tecnología, which likewise covers ergonomics, industrial design and software engineering; it is also a private institution and also offers diploma programmes.
Centro Universitario CESINE offers a comparable education in industrial design, software engineering and engineering: it does not run the doctoral programmes found here, and is slightly smaller, at about 800 students against roughly 1,000 here.
Also strong in ergonomics, industrial design and materials, Escola Universitaria de Deseño Industrial makes a sensible second look at home; it is smaller, enrolling about 400 students against roughly 1,000 here, and is public, whereas this institution is private.
Most Similar Schools Abroad
If this university is on your list for materials and engineering, California Institute of Technology in the United States deserves a comparison, because it is larger, enrolling about 2,400 students against roughly 1,000 here, and is also a private institution.
Pohang University of Science and Technology (South Korea) works on the same fields as this institution, chiefly materials and engineering; it runs the same bachelor's, master's and doctoral programmes, and covers physics and mechanical engineering as well.
École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Lyon in France shares the industrial design, materials and software engineering orientation of this institution, and it covers civil engineering and structural engineering as well, and is slightly smaller, at about 700 students against roughly 1,000 here.
École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Montpellier (France) works on the same fields as this university, chiefly industrial design, materials and software engineering; it covers civil engineering and structural engineering as well, and is slightly smaller, at about 800 students against roughly 1,000 here.
Design Academy Eindhoven (the Netherlands) works on the same fields as this university, chiefly ergonomics, industrial design and materials; it does not run the doctoral programmes found here and covers manufacturing as well.
*our own picks (our criteria: a mix between domains, diploma delivered, reputation and size), but obviously too many criteria for an apple-to-apple ranking.
*: without any judgment of the quality, readers are strongly encouraged to check the official status of the exact diploma envisioned as many universities have a mix of recognized diplomas, not recognized, “co-delivered,” “equivalent to”, “some pathways” (…), can change over time, and can be named differently from one country to another.
**: international reputation: is based on some criteria that do not mean much in some domains or specialties (number of researchers, of scientific publications, on budget ….). Our approximate 1-4 scale:
known locally
known locally and internationally
is listed in some of the world university’s classifications
is listed among the 20 firsts in some of world university’s classifications
***: estimated numbers, based on online sources and/or feedbacks. The numbers can vary greatly depending on school organisation (ex.: school is part of a group, it employs internal staff or external consultants or has public staff without employing them …). Refer to all the links provided to have accurate and updated numbers.
Innovation.world is not affiliated with this school/university. We recommend to contact them directly on their website for any special request.
To complete or correct any information here or share your opinion, please comment below or > send us a direct message <.