A group of students in Digital Art and Commercial Graphics and Multimedia programs, offered at SWPS University in Kraków, had a wonderful opportunity to broaden their knowledge and gain practical experience during the traveling seminar “Visual Noise as a Problem of Contemporary Urbanization”. The seminar took place at the New Bulgarian University (NBU) in Sofia, from November 7-14, 2025, and was organized as part of the ERUA Innovative Learning Pathways project.
Visual noise in urban spaces
Visual noise, chaos, and the excess of graphic information in the urban fabric constitute a real problem. They negatively affect not only the appearance of the urban landscape, but also the well-being of residents. This results in an opposite effect to what was intended – the visual messaging becomes blurred, creating an incomprehensible collage of images that residents try to ignore. Therefore, the layer of visual information in the city, including the formal signage and pure advertising, blends in the background, is omitted by residents and does not fulfill its purpose. The visual noise becomes an invasive disease, a parasite that negatively impacts the recipient’s psyche, while destroying the architectural landscape.
How to improve the appearance of our cities?
The goal of the course was to conduct fieldwork and exchange experiences concerning the effects of introducing the so-called “Landscape Act” in Kraków, in 2020. This Act regulates the presence of advertisements in urban space. A similar act was introduced in Sofia in 2024.
The course included lectures and workshops led by lecturers from the New Bulgarian University and the supervisor of the Polish students – Simeon Genew, MSc Eng. Arch., from the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies at SWPS University in Kraków.
The students from Poland, under the experienced eye of Dr. Rosslan Lozev from the Department of Design at NBU, walked the streets of Sofia for several hours to collect photo and video materials recording the quantity and quality of advertisements and other visual communication present in Sofia’s public spaces. The gathered materials provide bases for the final project – developing a ten-second film or designing a poster on a given topic.
The lectures and workshops covered the following topics:
- Editing of materials collected during fieldwork, preparation of written project proposals, and polishing the copy – Simeon Genew, M.Eng. Arch., SWPS University
- Creating and telling stories using micro-scripts and storyboards – Weronika Yakimova, Ph.D., New Bulgarian University
- Video editing workshops – Petko Yakimov, Ph.D., New Bulgarian University.
The students from Poland also had the opportunity to tour the campus, particularly the production studio, audio and video recording rooms, and the animation lab. The technical facilities of NBU and the possibilities offered by such professional studios are very impressive.
The essence of the project was to immerse students in the city and the architecture of the old center of Sofia, which allowed them, in a very short time, to feel the atmosphere of the Bulgarian capital.
Developing the final projects
The creative work on the final outcomes of the project began after returning to Kraków. The results of students’ efforts will be ready at the end of the 2026 summer semester. Until then, Dr. Petko Yakimov (NBU), along with Simeon Genew and Miłosz Kozioł (SWPS University in Kraków), will support the students in working on their final projects.
What’s next?
In 2026, a group of students from the New Bulgarian University will visit Kraków. The guests from Bulgaria will take on the same challenge — they will investigate the level of visual noise in the city and develop their own creative solutions.
The culmination of the entire project will be the comparison of two student visions concerning two different cities. This will be the most interesting effect of this exchange, which we await with great interest.
Coordinator of the Traveling Seminar
- Simeon Genew, M.Eng.Arch., Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies in Kraków, SWPS University.
He is a graphic designer, book designer, painter and an academic teacher. Read more
