Residential Camps

Residential DAAPcamps Students

Residential DAAPcamps students

  • The Week of June 23rd-June 29, 2024
  • Check-in Sunday afternoon, check-out Saturday at noon following Mini-DAAPworks’ exhibit of camper projects and graduation
  • For rising 10th, 11th and 12th grade students

In DAAPcamps High School Residential Camps you will spend the week living on campus while putting your ideas to work on immersive projects, exploring Cincinnati’s creative community and forging the unforgettable friendships you can only find in the studio. Classes are taught by DAAP faculty, professional guests, and visiting artists, and are also staffed with current DAAP students as studio assistants.

Campers arrive on Sunday and finish their week on Saturday after a morning showing of their work followed by a graduation. Studios are comprised of a combination of hands-on work, visits with professionals, fieldtrips, and more. Each evening following dinner, there are full-camp activities combining all disciplines - DAAPcamp Alumni Panel, Creative Career Night, Cincinnati Fieldtrip, Sketch Off and social activities. Campers stay in UC student housing chaperoned by House Leads and the Camp Director. 

This is an excellent Pre-College experience. See which camp you want to join!


Do you love buildings, inside and out? Are you interested in designing structures and interior spaces? Then the Architecture & Interior Design DAAPcamp is the perfect place for you to be this summer! This camp mixes hands-on design projects, discussions with working architects and interior designers, plus individual attention from UC faculty and current or recently graduated DAAP architecture students, all while giving you a taste of college life. So, join us, and create a unique experience exploring the worlds of Architecture and Interior Design. 

Camp Lead: Melanie Swick

Group photo of campers working on a project in City Transformers Studio

If you find yourself “noticing” fashion—sketching ideas, being inspired by color and fabric, always thinking “I have an exciting idea for a look that has never been created!”—then an education and career in Fashion Design is for you!  DAAPcamp is the place to explore the Fashion Design process through an immersive week-long experience that investigates fashion theory, conceptual development, and technical realization. Learn the tools required of contemporary fashion designers as you develop and craft creations that showcase your unique design voice as the Future of Fashion.

Camp Leads: Stephanie Wood and Calle Evans

Group photo of campers working on a project in City Transformers Studio

This is an intensive drawing, painting, and sculpture studio where campers will develop artistic skills and express their own individual creativity as they work from their imagination and copy works of great masters. Campers will go to diverse sites on campus to draw and paint and will have the opportunity of talking with working artists. Along with expanding their skills in tone, color, and proportion, they will learn about major art movements throughout history all the while gaining confidence in their own abilities and experimenting with new ideas.  

Camp Lead: Edward-Victor Sanchez

Group photo of campers working on a project in City Transformers Studio

Join the thrilling Games and Animation camp for a week packed with creativity and excitement! Buckle up for an immersive experience where you'll learn the ropes of game creation and craft your own basic yet playable game. Dive into the world of animation with lessons on character jumps, kicks, and runs from seasoned veterans in the field—imagine, one of our directors even worked on the legendary "Jimmy Neutron" series! This is your chance to unleash your creativity, learn from the best, and kickstart your journey into the dynamic realms of animation and game design. Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity—sign up now for a week of fun, learning, and hands-on creation!

Games and Animation Student

Learn the fundamentals of type, photography, color, imagery, and motion so that you can connect your ideas and messages to people. Meet award-winning graphic designers  and learn how to use the tools of design to make your own and collaborative 2D and digital media projects. Students will utilize DAAP’s facilities and studios to create unique graphic projects along with having an introduction to Adobe suites software, Illustrator, and Photoshop.

Camp Lead: Patti Bresler

Group photo of campers working on a project in City Transformers Studio

Every product around you—from the keyboard at your fingertips to the car in your driveway to the shoes on your feed—was designed by industrial designers to meet a given need of a given group of people at a given time. This camp is designed to afford discovery and/or enhancement of the student's understanding of the field of industrial design as well as the opportunities that the world-renowned Industrial Design program at DAAP has to offer

Campers will get a sampling of the full DAAP experience, including Live Q&A with DAAP faculty, staff and students; Tours of the DAAP library, studios, labs, shops, open spaces, and more; Tutorials and demos from UC ID alumni currently working in the field; Professional design office tours locally and from around the country; Lectures from a variety of design leaders and other industry; And social interaction and project/problem-solving with other like-minded participants.

Students will use these resources and more to complete a real-world design challenge that will culminate in the creation of a physical real-world product. This challenge will walk you through the steps of a design process, including, identifying, and defining problems, conducting design research, brainstorming ideas, creating 2D sketches and 3D models, evaluating ideas through testing, creating your physical product and presenting your solution.

Camp Lead: Josh Haldeman

DAAPcampers working on shoe designs

Are you the person who is always keeping up with the latest “Kicks?”  Do you plan your investment strategy on buying and selling on “Drop Days” ? You likely know what the relationship is between Bots and Boots!  You are a SNEAKERHEAD!  You find yourself sketching your dream footwear and would love to work for a major athletic company one day. DAAPcamps’ Footwear Design camp is run by a former DAAP Industrial Design grad who is now the head of a fashion and footwear design division working with a top-name international athlete.  Charley Hudak will bring other footwear design professionals with him to work side-by-side with our Footwear Design DAAPcampers.  You will learn the fundamentals of the craft and the strategy behind product development; true skills that will prepare you to study any discipline of design in the future. 

Camp Lead: Charley Hudak - Executive Creative Director/Footwear