The Challenge

Getting a visa, finding a place to live, getting a residence permit, opening a bank account, finding a doctor… All of these are things that international degree seeking students have to deal with in an unknown environment and it makes the beginning of the studies incredibly overwhelming. We as a team of two international degree-seeking students and an Erasmus student know this from experience, and we decided to take the challenge and improve the situation.

Identifying Pain Points

Before starting with the solutions right away, we wanted to know a little bit more in depth what the issues faced by the international degree seeking students are. That's why we conducted a survey to identify the most important points and which sub group needed the most help: 

- Applicants

- Newcomers

- Actual students

We realised the group that needs the most support were the new comers, since there are already some programs of support for the students, and the applicants.

Thanks to the survey we saw that the feeling of being welcome at the FHP could be improved, and we came to the conclusion that the best way to do so is by providing a little extra support and care at the beginning.

Why the Cards?

We thought of different ways of doing this, like a brouchure with all the information given in the „Ersti Tüte“, or something similar to this. However we know that multiple of those are already given at the beginning, and we don't want to create more clutter, but more ease that feeling. We then decided to go for a set of cards that contain the information, in each card you find a problem, and a solution or some tips on how to overcome it.

The Concept

Problems are only solved when they are broken down and addressed one by one, and not all at one. This concept is the one we want to apply to the cards and that's why each card contains a problem and tips on how to overcome it. On some cards there are QR codes that contain extra information or link to articles, videos, and other types of information that is not necessarily written.

Mid-Term Presentation

Graphic Design: An Iterative Process

In the graphic design process we first wanted to have a more handmade look, so we first made some paints using watercolors and acrylics, scan them and use them as a base for the cards.

However we received the feedback that the colors are not exactly welcoming, and also that the paintings were way too abstract and didn't contain any meaning. We also found it hard to match the colors so they all look the same, so we decided to iterate more. 

Created a list of words that we associate with the different topics of our cards, and tried to illustrate the objects or words of this list.

At the end we decided to put the most significant objects on one design, and use this one for all the cards.  We also used the light in our design as a symbol of knowledge and insight, which is what our cards intend to do. Some of the homey elements like the tea pot, should symbolize that the students are welcome, as a home-like element.

Typography & Colours

For the typography we decided to use one of the fonts from from the Fine Fonts for FHP initiative, a fund with a lot of typefaces donated for non commercial purposes for FHP students. The font we choose is ABeZeh Sans from bBox Type 

ABeZeh Sans is slightly rounded and gives off a friendly feeling in our opinion. We decided to not use any accent fonts and leave it clean and minimalistic.

After a lot of trials and errors we got to the following color palette for the project: turquoise, yellow and light blue. The combination of this colours looks friendly and welcoming to us, even given the cold colours like blue and turquoise.

Printing

Since there was a printing lab course offered in combination with the typography course, we had the opportunity to print our cards in the Drucklabor of Prof. Christine Mangelsdorf.

Content of the Cards

The cards are trying to give answers to some common questions international degree-seeking students might have upon arrival, or give tips of any kind in case there is no definite answer. As mentioned above, some cards have a QR code that leads to some additional information that might be helpful. 

The questions we tried to answer are following:

•  How do I find an apartment?
• How do I get a registration (Anmeldung)?
• How do I choose an insurance company?
• How do I choose a bank?
• How do i get a residence permit?
• How do I find a doctor?
• How do I make friends in Germany?

The list is, of course, not final, and the content will be approved and adapted in further collaboration with the International Office.

Future Vision

As mentioned, the goals is to perfect this set of cards so that International Office can use them to advance the welcome culture at FH;P. 

But another thing we have in mind is creating a website with all this information and more, so that it can be accessible to people who just want to apply to FH;P or already got in, but are awaiting arrival. It will help them prepare for the oncoming integration process in Potsdam and feel welcomed. 

A part of this (bigger project) can be personal videos from FH;P international students giving tips and sharing their own experience with studying here.