The next summer school will be held online between 20 May and 12 June 2025. It will be organised by the International Institute for Information Design (IIID). This information will remain on the Simplification Centre website until we complete the transfer to IIID.

The online summer school involves twice-weekly 3-hour sessions over four weeks. Each session includes short talks and discussions, with homework between times (video lectures, and practical exercises). Expect around 40 hours of lectures, discussions and practical work.

Expert tutors

At the summer school you will meet with experts in information design with a depth of experience in design practice, research and education, and who cover a range of different specialisms: diagramming, typography, clear writing, content structure, design education, health information design, financial information, government information, management communications and legal information design.
Meet the tutors

Of course, there's only so much we can teach and you can take in, in a short programme. But we introduce you to the field, explain key concepts and point the way forward. You'll go away with contacts in the field, and ideas to pursue. Past summer schools have inspired people to enrol in a degree course, work on projects together, write books and start businesses.

When the summer school is face to face, we hold many critiquing sessions to share our work. When we're online we use Mural whiteboards instead (below).

Who should join?

• Information designers who want to explore the theoretical basis for their work, and extend their range.
• Graphic designers wanting to specialise in information design.
• People without a design training, who want to learn more about information design, and apply it to their own area of work. Participants regularly include technical writers, lawyers, civil servants, medical researchers, and academics.
• Students who would like additional tutorial support and access to a like-minded peer group. We have a limited number of discounted places for students.

Past summer schools have been attended by people from as far afield as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Lebanon, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, UK, Ukraine, and USA.

How we deliver the programme

There are sessions devoted to design critiquing, visualisation, typography and layout, design patterns and genres, and user testing.

There are also practical exercises. Learning about design can’t be done just by listening to lectures – it comes through the struggle to find order in complex information, and to create new ways to communicate it to users.

We provide a Certificate of Participation to all those who attend. This is not a qualification and the course is not assessed.

Cost, and how to apply

The 2025 summer school will cost €490. There are a few student places at a discount, and we also offer lower prices for people in low income regions.