SPD Scuola Politecnica di Design Review

SPD is the culmination of disastrous teaching, unqualified staff and overall disorganization.
No other school advertises online to the extent of SPD. I realize now why this school is continually hunting new students, because they have some of the lowest student retention levels imaginable. I have met students who have been offered scholarships and still turn down this school.
Please do not waste any money at this place, it is not an educational institution, but rather a giant scam in which students are tricked by a facade of promises.
Undoubtedly the worst post secondary experience of my life.

SPD is a great school, an important pillar in the design field and forge of many skilled designers. Tutors are all professional, and the organisation always aims to give the students the best opportunities. Whoever wrote that SPD is not a good school is simply because they are a Failure themselves, in terms of not being able to cope with tutor's request, work load and design itself. You need to be creative and able to hold a Copic marker in your hand rather than just wonder around lost. So please be aware that all previous reviews were surely made by failing students that did not succeed and instead of blaming themselves they blamed somebody else. Simple as it is.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND FOR ANY REASON TO THE WORLD THIS SCHOOL IS THE MOST DISASTER SCHOOL THAT HAS NEVER SEEN BEEN AWAY AS THE PESTE FROM THIS DECEPTION AND FROM THIS SCAM. ALL NEGATIVE REVIEWS ARE REAL GUARANTEE IO.
SPEND YOUR MONEY ELSEWHERE AS THIS SCHOOL IS CLOSING FROM WHEN FIDELIZATION IS IN THE MINIMUM TERMS PLEASE LISTEN TO ME IF YOU WILL ATTEND YOU WILL BE LIKELY TO PAY.

The worst school I have ever been in. Please save yourself the wasted tuition money and attend a far more reputable school.

This school is a genuine mess from administration to teaching faculty, there is no communication and no responsibility taken by any members of the staff.
Not only do they waste your time by failing to teach or instruct in any manner, they will also ensure you have no voice to disagree with them.

A sad excuse for an "educational institution".

Worst design school You can go to.
They don t have qualified or professional staff
Although Some of the professors are very good and creative.

The school can t handle a multi national or different cultural basis students.
You will be forced to attend non related conferences . Waste of time and kind of power abuse over students
Plus the program well not secure the student finding work.
You also have to do three months free internship without even your right to choose where or with who.
They choose based on unknown reasons.
All design studios in the city will also not pay enough money for students that at least secure your life expenses as a student ( food , transportation, and accommodation ).

It s a negative and unfriendly environment that is not proper for creative sectors

Save your money and time.

List of things that do not work at this school.

Elevator
Printers
Vending Machine
Academic Office
Prof Leonello

Great exposure with excellent faculty like Mr. Leonello, Mr. Fassini and others. Special regards to Mr. Leonello for pushing the quality and his commitment towards students #Forza

Best post graduate school to learn about Italian design in an international context

Hi everyone!
I studied there.
It s been 2 years ago from my graduation in SPD
It s a very good school that prepare you to be a professional designer.
I suggest the school for people who are really motivate to work..(and not dream)
I think it s a very good experience for people passionate in design.
Teachers are professional designers that help you to groove in different aspects starting from hand sketching 2D to 3Dmodel including animation realization of real models in scale ecc

Thanks to everyone.

You will undoubtedly become a better designer, but unfortunately it will be because you have to deal with the continuous "BS" from the school. I have never seen such disorganization in all my academic career. We as students are forgotten about entirely. The school's only goal is to impress the co-op companies.

Worse yet are the contract lecturers the school brings in. It should be stated that simply working in a design field does not make you fit to teach it. So many of these "teachers" (they are not professors) as NONE of them have PHD's or any actual accreditation, are simply spewing out their verbal garbage without any rhyme or reason. You wont be taught only lectured by differentiating opinions. Typical Italian way.
All of this could be forgiven if the sad excuse of a "didactic office" made any effort to organize the school. However they are more occupied trying to market themselves and acquire the next years tuition. *They dont care about you only the tuition.

No other school is actively advertising on Facebook ads, Google Ads and instagram.

Scuola Politechnica di Design in Milan is a really strong school if you want to become a professional designer, especially in Automotive industry. I successfully accomplished a Master Course in Car design at this school in 2014-2015. I was among several students who was awarded with 100% scholarship from VW group which means SPD is directly connected to car companies and cares about talented students and helps them to find jobs in automotive world after they finish the school.
Car master course lasts one year and is very intense and rich for projects and events. Each projects is supervised by competent tutors and designers who work in the field of cardesign. In our case we had weekly reviews with designers and chiefs from Lamborghini, Ducati, Audi, Seat.
MCAR course has miltiple desciplines which include sketching, rendering(both marker and digital), 3D Alias modeling, clay workshops, cars history, engineering basics, color and trim lessons. For me SPD was a second high school in car design and even though I learned so many new thing there that with 100% certainty I can say it was experience of a lifetime and worth going there considering that MCAR course takes place in Milan - a capital of fashion and design. Except for studying the school gave us opportunity to visit Geneva motor show and organised trips to such places as Ferrari museum and Pagani factory in Modena, Ducati and Lamborghini design centers and factories in Bologna. Can you name any other design school that does the same for students almost for free? Only thing they ask for is to study hard and do your best.
Out thesis projects we showed at big event in Ingolstadt, Germany to design chiefs of Audi and other companies. Most talented students were offered jobs by famous automotive brands directly after graduating from SPD. As for me, I was able to find a job in car design studio in my home country and get in real automotive design world. I already had chance to work on real concept car and continue to work on serial cars that will hit the streets in near future.
I would like to thank directors, administrative staff and all tutors, especially Michele Leonello, who was not only a great teacher, but also our big Friend. After one year SPD becomes you a family. Do I recommend this place to study? For sure I do.

I studied in SPD Milan for more than two years, the foundation and then the Master. Very good professors, all working in interior design, good projects to boost your portfolio and the final internship were the highlight my studies. Very interesting visits and conference
program too. It's been tough but all in all, a wonderful experience.

Great school! High teaching quality and the final internship experience adds a lot of value to the course

This school is the most painful experience of my academic career. There is no communication between anyone working on staff.
The wifi continually fails to work, the printers will not print when required and somehow all of these issues land on you the student.

Faculty members are an embarrassment to teachers everywhere.
The Master in Car Design Teacher (not professor) Leonello is one of the most narrow minded individuals I have ever met. The man is a racist to anyone who's not italian, and fails to teach even the most minute details. You'll learn more from a YouTube tutorial, trust me on that.

In my time at SPD, which has been the 1 year development course, then the Master, I have grown a lot as a designer. The staff pushes you to the best of your ability and wants you to succeed. They expect the best work you can produce and it turn, this prepares you for the real working world.
The staff are knowledgeable designers and you get the best tools from them to learn what it is like in a design center. This is not for the faint at heart, if you want to be a true designer and really want to go places, SPD will give you the tools to get there.

I recently graduated from SPD, and I definitely gained some valuable skills (which I will take and remember for the rest of my professional career) and had the excellent opportunity to work with designers from Lamborghini, Ducati and Italdesign. Though I graduated with predominantly Maths and Engineering background, I did the One Year Course prior to the Master's program. Be prepared to work extremely hard as you will be in the same class with other students who are very talented as well as having very tough deadlines. The quality of work required is very high and you won't be spoon-fed throughout the course. Be sure to put in the extra effort on your own. My favourite memories at SPD were sketching classes with Noriko Harada - Chief Designer Zagato, working on the Ducati project thesis with Giovanni Antonacci (senior designer at Ducati), and giving the Lamborghini presentation at Sant'Agata Bolognese, Lamborghini factory. As an added bonus last year, SPD also did a presentation with Sangwon Seok (Skeren.co.kr) the popular car sketching Youtube channel, and I had the chance to meet him in person! I actually wanted to be a car designer after watching his channel more than 3-4 years ago

I am the guy who graduated in SPD last year. And I am working as car designer now. Just want to write something because I really appreciate what I gained and lenrt from SPD.
Overall, my master course in transport and car design at SPD experience was excellent. I've genuinely had an amazing time and made excellent friends. I would definitely recommend SPD master course to anyone who especially want to study transport and car design.
The campus is small but this offered a more family community feel. And talking about the university's facilities are fantastic and have been useful in my time. I always enjoyed my time in fourth floor at sambonet where there are many cintiq :)
IT guy Andre, he always trying to help students who even have in personal issues. And Didactic office tried to help and communicate students all the time. Academy office also was always kind and nice. For example, I had a issue with my university certificate to prove that I studied Coventry uni in England. academy office took more than 10 months to sort it out. They are just too nice! And there is bar which is call smart bar. you must try! they have awesome espresso and brioche! :)
The tutors are amazing and supportive in everything we do. They helped throughout the whole year, with academic and personal issues.. And Michele Leonello my tutor who teaches transport and car design has been fantastic, very open mind and encouraging me all the way till I was outstanding. Tutor Michele is very open to students just dropping in or sending a email if you want any additional feedback or are struggling with the course works. He always dedicates to support any students. I have learnt so many useful skills which you can use in future companies. I just want say that I've been taught from many different tutors before in Korea, England and Italy. I believe that Michele will be your real tutor!
Puls, I enjoyed so much every single projects with Lamborghini, Audi and Volkswagen.
And speaking about city life.....milan is awesome place in terms of Design! You will definitely enjoy milanese lifestyle :)
If you need any question, feel free to ask me. Ciao!

As an actual automotive designer and ex-student (coordinated by Prof. Leonello) I d definitely recommend SPD as a strong school with very intensive way of teaching. It's really a hard challenging work and a lot of it expected from your side, but that is the part that makes it great.

The course has helped to strengthen skills of design in general (sketching, car design culture, as well as clay and CAS modelling), communication and time management - vital stuff for a future job at any studio. SPD professors and academic office are always ready to support you in case of any trouble as well as with finding job/internship after your graduation.

Great place and great opportunities in one of the best cities ever!

I studied there for one year and I had a wonderful experience. I worked with great professors and mentors. Very cool speeches with famous designer and also I liked all the projects that I developed with my friends. I m missing Milan and the SPD school.

As a former student, I feel completely satisfied with the experience. I was able to work on real projects with companies and brands developing innovative projects from concept to prototyping. The cosmopolitan environment allowed me to make friends with people from different parts of the world and I was able to expand my work network.

Not a school, more of a concentration camp in which you pay tuition to attend.

Driven by the dream of designing cars, I attended the One Year Course and subsequently the Master in Transportation and Car Design. An exceptional experience. During the Master the school allows you to develop various projects by working under the constant supervision of professional masters and designers in the sector. During my experience I had the pleasure of collaborating with Lamborghini, Italdesign and Ducati, with the addition of various Workshops. In SPD I have seen my skills grow day by day and thanks to the school I can now finally say to work doing what I love most.

place to be. i wish we has this in the saudi arabia. beautivul

A genuine nightmare of the greatest proportions. Never have I seen a more disorganized mess of "Didactic office" Teaching and students.

Unfortunately all the shortcomings that this school has, falls on the students.