by victoria | Sep 26, 2012 | design methodologies
AIGA is playing a major role exploring the changing face of design education. In one article written by Jon Kolko, which highlights points made by Shelly Evenson at the New Context/New Practices educators conferences, Jon puts forth several changing dynamics of design education. Among the listed changing criteria, is specializing in one area. In the case of a designer it may be that we specialize on typography. This is in response to the pace that design is changing today. Rapidly. The idea is to focus on the traditional yet specialized. The article discusses the use of foundation courses as early entries into the design field. In contrast to this, the article offers that perhaps the early years should focus on typography, color and composition. This is a consideration that would free up the students to get into the core of design, sooner. However many schools which perhaps are finding their foundation arts programs dwindling, might lose even further ground. In the example given they layout the industrial designer with a greater understanding of anatomy, anthropometric and human factors. This may be at the expense of CAD training yet it also seems that the designer would be more effective having this grasp on human physicality. Similarly the designer who spent a year studying typography would find themselves using 2D concepts to work out a design. As time progressed in the program the student would have a working ability to create as well as communicate on a variety of typographic levels. Animators would do better with anatomy as well as life drawing. Yet does the multi media designer need the same courses?...
by victoria | Sep 24, 2012 | design methodologies
Much to be considered when it comes to design education. There seems to be a divide in what is important in early design education, perhaps that found in a one or two-year program. Industry wants people who have skills. Government agencies want students to graduate with the ability to pay back student loans. Jobs posted have a myriad of demands and qualifications. Clearly the learning never ends and the skills add as time goes by. Because of the economies down turn designers do a multitude of tasks that may have been done by several. As a lead instructor of a design department at community college level the task of revising curriculum is not easy. How do we prepare the student who is heading off to a four-year college and at the same time prepare a student for a job in the industry. Some community colleges get the students right onto the computer and therefore more software experience in two years. Others have a foundation in the arts which promotes an understanding of form and function, yet may not be heavy enough on time to learn complex software programs. The tip of the iceberg we always say, while trying to pack perhaps too much into 15 weeks. The next few months in class and beyond these are issues I will be researching. Looking for holes in programs and expanding my knowledge of the field, with a focus on education. The questions are bouncing around interrupting sleep. The next few days we begin organizing research and mapping out ideas. This promises to rein in thoughts which scatter like horses when the field gate opens....
by victoria | Sep 24, 2012 | design methodologies
First came across Jessica Helfand in an earlier design class which focused on design thinking and theory. Her essay, Dematerialization of Screen Space really got me thinking about in the internet and media. Helfand states in reference to the amazing capabilities of the internet, “But we are also prisoners: trapped in a medium in which visual expression must filter through a protocol of uncompromising programming scripts…” [1] As someone who always professed to not understand anything related to math (misguided self thinking), and pre-computer-in-every-classroom designer, the web terrified me. In the essay from 2007 Helfand speaks to the dichotomy of instant authorship that goes out to an infinite number of people. She is curious about the quality of information and design on the web. Does the experience leave us with lasting impressions. Are we using the web to its fullest capabilities. Helfand is convinced that now is the time for a new Avant-Garde in New Media. Yet we are help back by a two-dimensional approach to the web. She states, “…the illusion that Internet space is made up of pages, of words, of flat screens. Why is it that design thinking remains so brainwashed by this notion.” She continues by adding that internet space is its own galaxy, emphatically that this galaxy is “by no means flat.” [1] This particular essay found in Graphic Design Theory, Reading from the Field, was my introduction to Helfand, a pioneer in the field of design for the internet. Excited about the possibilities Helfand is encouraging in the design world, I began reading up about her work. Her studio Winterhouse, is home base...
by victoria | Sep 15, 2012 | design methodologies
Hugh Dubberly talks about the shift in design that is occurring at this time in history. In a similar fashion to the entry of the industrial age we have now shifted into the information age. What does this mean to the designer? Dubberly begins the article by discussing the shift from mechanical ethos to that of an organic ethos. In the technical mechanical ethos age – we become reliant on machinery and technology. Perhaps too much so. Technology keeps changing the way we live, communicate, how we perform our work and how we design. We have placed a great deal of emphasis on the tools of design. Trying to place graduates has led to the act of beefing up tangible workplace skills – predominantly software that gives voice to the design. Couple the emphasis on software as design with the availability of anyone to have and use software the field has found itself in need of rejuvenation. An infusion of purpose beyond the artifact. Technology remains necessary. Dubberly states this, “But computer-as-production-tool is only half the story; the other half is computer-plus-network-as-media.” [1] He goes on to say that the output of design is changing the way that we view the practice of design. Dubberly’s description of networking, process flow and information processing brings to mind the blood system of humans. Dubberly draws this contrast, “The eras are framed as stark dichotomies to characterize the nature of changes. But experience is typically more fluid, lying along a continuum somewhere between extremes.” [1] He even talks about how we refer to instances of computer malfunctions as bugs, attacks as viruses, and so forth. Notice a trend in the language? What is this...
by victoria | Sep 13, 2012 | design methodologies
Once upon a time I wrote an essay on my interpretation of graphic design. Who knew at the time that the essay would take me down some pretty dark paths in the weeks that followed, learning much about myself and facing some hard truths along the way. One thing gleaned was that if there is a less complex route, you won’t find me taking it. In the months that follow I will aim for clarity and less complication in my thinking and methodology. This is a simplified version of my thoughts on graphic design. Graphic design is a term for a much larger field of jobs and skill sets. These jobs and skill sets depend on the outcome desired or the talent of the individual. This leads me to the statement that graphic design is a field in which a variety of creative types visually communicate a message. Designers provide a service. Many factors plague and bless the field today which is causing great change. We are emerging and colliding through technology and a shared global voice. The field of graphic design is evolving in exciting new ways which include a return to traditional methods, embracing new technologies, clear communication and design ethos. As an educator, this conversation has great meaning and depth. As someone also learning and growing in the field I am in the thick of design. It is more than a job, it is a passion that most of us share. We get off on creating. Graphic designers might build web pages, create and animate characters, speed paint scenery for a movie, render a 3D walk through, edit and create videos, write...
