Every year from April to June the city of Pforzheim togehter with Pforzheim University and Design Center Baden-Württemberg invites international young designers as part of the scholarship program “Designers in Residence” to Pforzheim. “Designers in Residence” addresses to young designers working in the fields of jewellery, fashion, accessory, industrial and communication design as well as other design disciplines. Interdisciplinary project proposals are welcome. Three scholarship holders will be invited to the EMMA – Creative Center Pforzheim for a three – month working phase.

Fully equipped workplaces in the workshops will be available for the scholarship holders use, as well as accommodation for the period of the scholarship. If required, the workshops of Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences can also be used. In addition, each scholarship holder receives a monthly support and a reimbursement of the travel expenses for arrival and departure. The results of the work fellowship will then be presented in an exhibition at the EMMA – Creative Center Pforzheim as well as in cooperation with the Design Center Baden – Württemberg in Stuttgart.

The scholarship includes use of fully equipped workshop workplaces in the EMMA Creative Center and free accommodation for the period from April 1 to June 30, 2025. In addition, each scholarship holder will receive a monthly support of 1,000 euros together with travel costs. A special allowance will be made available for material costs. The results of the scholarship will be presented in an exhibition at the EMMA Creative Center.

The deadline for applications is November 15, 2024, 23:59 CET. The application can be submitted only online.

Melitta Baumeister, Fashion Designer

Melitta Baumeister is a German fashion designer based in New York City. With a thorough foundation in tailoring she moved on earning a MFA in Fashion Design from Parsons School of Design before launching her own brand.
In 2014, Melitta’s debut collection was shown during New York Fashion Week. This led to her being prominently featured in among others Vogue Magazine, the New York Times, i.D., Numeró, Self Service, giving her career a major boost and allowing her to show her work at prestigious events in both London and Paris.
Interested in the sculptural quality of clothing, Melitta Baumeister exaggerates volumes and reshapes silhouettes, often using uncommon materials and experimental techniques. This distinct approach was met with much critical acclaim by international boutiques and museums alike.

Romin Heide, Product Designer

Romin Heide studied product design at the Coburg University of Applied Sciences with guest semesters at the Berlin Weißensee School of Art and the ENSCI|Les Aterliers in Paris. Together with Hanna Litwin, he has been running the design studio BÜRO FAMOS in Berlin since 2012. The studio’s work includes projects with a wide variety of materials in the areas of furniture, lighting and accessories and has been awarded the Apolline Prize of the Grassi Messe Leipzig and the Red Dot Award, among others.

Romin Heide’s long-standing involvement in the Association of German Industrial Designers – VDID e.V. included co-founding the VDIDlab, the association’s young designers’ organisation.

Since 2015, he has also held teaching positions at various universities – including Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle – and most recently a substitute professorship at Angewandte Kunst Schneeberg.

Jiro Kamata, Jewelry Artist

Jiro Kamata, born in Japan in 1978, lives and works in Munich. He studied at the Yamanashi Institute of Gemology and Jewelry Art in Kofu, Japan and at Pforzheim University. He then studied with Otto Künzli at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. His works have been exhibited internationally and are in several private and public collections, such as the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, the Grassi Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig, the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, USA or the Victoria & Albert Museum, UK.