Social Studies Conference Speaker Booklet by Kristian Bjørnard

M I C A G D M FA Z I N E 0 0 2 This publication was created for the occasion of Social Studies: Educating Designers In A Connected World w w w.socialstudiesconference.org C R E AT E D BY Mark Alcasabas, Giselle Archibald, Helen Armstrong, Kristian Bjørnard, Ryan Clif ford, Danielle Davis, Joe Galbreath, Joo Ha, Molly Haw thorne, Justin Kropp, Lindsey Muir, Virginia Sasser, Andrew Shea, Tony Venne, Aaron Walser, Jennifer White-Torres, & Mike Perr y, Visiting Ar tist, Graphic Design MFA Program, MICA T H I S P U B L I C AT I O N I S A P R O J E C T O F M I C A’ s C E N T E R F O R D E S I G N T H I N K I N G G D M FA M I C A © 2 0 0 8 All images shown in this book are the proper t y of their respective creators and copyright holders, reproduced here with their permission. No par t of this book may be reproduced without writ ten permission from the authors. Stealing is bad. T ype Klavika was designed by Eric Olsen 2003 –200 4 from Process Type Foundr y: w w w.processt ypefoundr y.com. Univers was designed by Adrian Frutiger for Linot ype in 1957 and has since been drawn by many foundries. This book uses an opent ype version from Adobe. This book and others are available online at: micadesign.bigcar tel.com Mike Perr y’s presence online can be found at: w w w.midwestisbest.com

contents Introduction 4 Keynote Speakers

A B S T R AC T S Workshops 10 Typography 20 Basics 24 Collaboration 28 Time + Motion

Social Media

Community Service 1

Community Service 2

Activism 48 Sustainability 1

Sustainability 2

Crossing Cultures 1

Crossing Cultures 2

Young Audiences

Entering The Profession

New Careers

MFA Panel

Moderators 86 Definitions 87 Extended Contents + Index

introduc tion John Donne summed it up way back when, and as time has marched on we’ve been living it more and more each day: WE ARE SOCIAL.

We can’t escape our neighbors. They’re on the buses,

trains and elevators and they’re sitting in that car next to us when we’re stuck in traffic. They invite us to join their facebook club and we get their twitter updates every ten minutes. Being social is addictive.

As Graphic Design MFA students at MICA, we used the

social phenomena in our world to inform this book. Use it as a map. Use it as a sketchbook. Use it to be social.

keynote

Scott Stowell Scott Stowell is the proprietor of Open, an independent design studio that creates rewarding experiences for people that look, read, and think. Recent Open projects include identity systems for Bravo, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Planet Green, and WNYC Radio; the editorial design of Good magazine; short films for Jazz at Lincoln Center; and architectural signage for the Yale University Art Gallery.

Openâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work has received awards from and/or been

published by the American Institute of Architects, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the Art Directors Club, the Broadcast Designers Association, Communication Arts, Eye, Grafik, I.D., +81, Print, ReBrand, the Society of Environmental Graphic Designers, the Society of Publication Designers, Step Inside Design, and the Tokyo Typedirectors Club, among others.

Before starting Open, Scott was the art director of

Colors magazine in Rome and a senior designer at M&Co. New York. Before that, he received a BFA in graphic design from Rhode Island School of Design. A former vice president of AIGA/NY, Scott teaches at Yale and the School of Visual Arts. In 2008, the Smithsonianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum named Scott the winner of the National Design Award for Communication Design.

M ieke G erritzen Mieke Gerritzen is a designer, artist, author, filmmaker, and educator. Born in Amsterdam in 1962, she studied audio visual media at the Rietveld Academy, graduating in 1987. In the early nineties she became a leading pioneer of digital art and design. In 2001 she started the All Media Foundation for the organization and production of movies, publications, and events like “International Browserday” in New York, Berlin, and Amsterdam and, more recently, “The Biggest Visual Power Shows.” Gerritzen is head of the design department Sandberg Institute, the post-graduate course connected to Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Mieke Gerritzen has received many prizes and gives lectures and presentations worldwide. She has authored and coauthored numerous books, including Style First, Creativity for All, and Mobile Minded.

keynote

S tefan G . B ucher Stefan G. Bucher is a good egg. He is the man behind 344design.com. He is the author of the book All Access– The Making of Thirty Extraordinary Graphic Designers, and of the late illustrated column “ink & circumstance” for STEP Magazine. He has created gratuitously ambitious work for David Hockney, Tarsem, Sting, and a whole roster of brilliant artists. Along the way, he has gained a unique perspective on what it takes to be a happy and successful designer today.

Starting in November of 2006 he filmed himself

blowing ink on a piece of paper, making each random blot into a monster. He linked the result to his blog and, for the next 99 days, posted a new monster every night. He found himself the seed crystal for a community of monster obsessives that used his drawings as an excuse to tell stories. His book about the experience–100 Days of Monsters–is in stores now. All the while the monsters continue to proliferate at www.dailymonster.com

S te v en H eller Steven Heller is the author, co-author or editor of over 100 books on graphic design, illustration and political art. He was an art director at The New York Times for 33 years and is a columnist for The New York Times Book Review. Heller is also the co-founder and co-chair of the MFA Design Department and co-founder of the MFA Design Criticism Department at SVA. Heller is also the recipient of the AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement in 1999, the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame Special Educators Award in 1996, The Pratt Institute Herschel Levitt Award in 2000, and the Society of Illustrators Richard Gangel Award for Art Direction in 2006. He is the co-founder and co-chair (with Lita Talarico) of the MFA Designer as Author program at the School of Visual Arts, New York, where he lectures on the history of graphic design. Prior to this, he lectured for 14 years on the history of illustration in the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program at the School of Visual arts. He also was director for ten years of SVAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Modernism & Eclecticism: A History of American Graphic Design symposiums.

workshops

B AC K T O [ P R E ] S C H O O L : L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H P L AY David Wang, MFA Candidate, Adrienne Hooker, Assistant Professor, Louisiana Tech Universit y This workshop revisits the preschool experience with a variety of methods that help students realize how design fits into the world around them. Learn how to establish a routine of active lessons and frivolous play to break up the monotony of a studio class period. Hands-on understanding and applied knowledge are constant educational outcomes with by-products of increased enthusiasm and more productive creativity.

WEB DESIGN FOR PRINT DESIGNERS, A HANDS - ON WORKSHOP Katie Parker-Obrecht, Assistant Depar tment Chair for Graphic Design and Photographic Imaging,â&#x20AC;¨ The Ar t Institute of Atlanta This hands-on workshop focuses on the ever-growing popularity of combining print and interactive design platforms. Especially designed for the un-savvy web designer/educator, the demonstration would serve as an information session on designing for interactive platforms and integrating interactive materials into print classes without ever knowing how to code. Emphasis will be placed on design fundamentals for interactive media, appropriate interactive media for a graphic design portfolio, unity and variance over multiple collateral items in differentiated media, print output for an intangible world, how to display interactive components in a print portfolio, and case studies of successful projects. A printed folio and CD of materials will be given to presentation attendees.

workshops

T H E P O S T- A M E R I C A N D E S I G N W O R L D Joseph Coates, Depar tment of Visual Ar ts, Universit y of Mar yland, Baltimore Count y (UMBC) What changes are happening with design worldwide, what are expected, and how are Americans (and perhaps American design educators) a bit ignorant (or oblivious) of it all orâ&#x20AC;Ś scared orâ&#x20AC;Ś in denial?

For this lunch we will discuss not so much what is

happening over there but discuss ways to respond to the Post-American Design World coming fast upon us; How the U.S. designer can develop new ways of thinking about design and; How design education can play a role in nothing short of our survival as a democratic society in an ever crowded and complex modern planet.

LEARNING STYLES AND C R E AT I V E P R O B L E M - S O LV I N G Christopher Vice, Chairperson, Depar tment of Visual Communication Design, Herron School of Ar t, Indiana Universit y at IUPUI Workshop participants will self-evaluate their own learning styles using the Kolb Learning Style Inventory. Workshop participants will self-evaluate their own Creative Problem Solving Process Preferences using the Basadur Creative Problem Solving Profile (Simplex Applied Creativity). The workshop facilitator will help participants interpret their findings and make connections to ideas that they can use in the design education environment.

workshops

P R O B E S: A D E S I G N E R LY WAY O F R E S E A R C H I N G Yu-seung Kim and Mari Nakano, Media Design Program, MFA Candidate, Ar t Center College of Design In this workshop, participants will be given a short overview of actual cultural probes that have been used in the Media Design Program at Art Center College of Design. Participants will then be divided into small groups and presented with a brain-numbing, design-teasing activity centered around a â&#x20AC;&#x153;blank probe package.â&#x20AC;? Using the package provided to each group, participants will be asked to design several cultural probes that can help them in their research endeavors. At the end of the exercise, we will come together to critique and evaluate each groupsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; set of probes and sketches to help clarify as well as better understand the use of probes as beneficial tools for research designers.

BOOK ARTS FOR DESIGNERS Adrienne Hooker, Assistant Professor, Louisiana Tech Universit y A revival of the handmade is here. A desire for tactility is ever-present in contemporary design. Students effectively create this quality in the fully interactive digital realm of complex ornamentation and organic patterning. However, they forget the original interactive experienceâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;the narrative of a book. Students must be able to craft a unique physical experience as well as a digital environment. With knowledge of a few simple binding techniques, students can create quick, yet memorable, handmade forms for teasers, leavebehinds, and personalized portfolios in conjunction with already intricate web sites and online resumes. In this fastpace, hands-on workshop you will learn to use the basic terminology, techniques, and tools of traditional bookmaking. Highlighted techniques in the exploration of book forms will include folded structures, pamphlet stitches, and single sheet exposed binding. Each participant will make these forms to take with them, along with instructional handouts, as learning examples for classroom inclusion.

workshops

YO U R W O R D H E R E : P O L I T I C A L T O T E S Nancy Froehlich, Assistant Professor, Western Michigan State and Zvezdana Stojmirovic, Professor, Mar yland Institute College of Ar t; How would you summarize the election season?  We want your opinion! In a word. Drawn by you. Juxtaposed. On a tote bag.

Each participant will be challenged to sum up his or her

experience of the political season in a single word. Using the tote bag as a blank canvas, designers will play a modern version of the surrealist game Exquisite Corpse to create a collabortively authored tote bag.

T E AC H I N G D E S I G N T H E O RY: H OW A N D W H Y Helen Armstrong, GD MFA Candidate, MICA; Author of Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field What is the place of theory in the classroom? Is design theory a separate academic subject? What’s the relationship between theory and research? Theory and history? Should studio design educators be teaching theory, or should art history departments be doing a better job serving their (sizable) graphic design constituencies? Come share ideas and experiences with Denise Gonzales Crisp (NC State), Kristin Hughes (CMU), and other colleagues.

E D U C AT I N G E M O T I O N A L LY INTELLIGENT DESIGNERS Marcia Stone, Lecturer, Herron School of Ar t and Design Design often involves turning intangibles into tangiblesâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;in complex, constantly shifting, confusing situations. To thicken the plot, co-creators, clients, bosses, and collaborators also become involved as part of the process. The challenge is immense, even for the most seasoned design professional. As a visual communication educator at Herron School of Art and Design, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve observed that the biggest hurdles to success for even our best design students come when emotional intelligence, process understanding, open communication and clear team structures are lacking. So we started teaching these things, alongside traditional design topics. To my surprise, student designers say that these interpersonal skills are the most important lessons of their design education. This session will focus on practical ways for design educators and practitioners to think beyond WHAT they create to engage HOW they work. The design process, team development and assessment, conflict management and the signs of successful collaboration will be explored through discussion and interactive exercises.

workshops

GONZO BOOKBINDING Lisa Rosowsk y, Chairperson, Communication Design  Associate Professor of Graphic Design, Massachuset ts College of Ar t and Design As a design educator and sometime-bookbinder, I have developed over the years a technique for teaching a “bastardized” method of making a hardcase book with an accordion-bound interior, which has proven useful for our design students in making book prototypes for their portfolios. Using an accordion-bound bookblock is much easier for the students than making two-sided-printed, sewn signatures, and the results look professional and impressive. I’m happy to share this technique with colleagues in a fun, relaxing and very hands-on workshop that will make traditional book-binders blanch with horror!

H A P P Y AC C I D E N T S L E T T E R P R E S S L A B Joe Galbreath and Lindsey Muir, GD MFA Candidates Mar yland College Institute of Ar t Sometimes the best work happens when you least expect it. It is hard to expect much when you’re randomly selecting plates to add to prints you’ve never seen before. But that element of surprise and discovery is what keeps design interesting, and is one of the major reasons so many designers have returned to traditional methods of making and producing their work. Happy Accidents is a unique introduction to the art of letterpressing, that encourages its participants to let go, have fun, and give in to the elements of surprise. During each fifty minute workshop, taking place on Saturday and Sunday, twelve participants will be divided amongst four inked and ready presses, and given twenty 11 x 17 prints each pre-printed with themes from the conference. Using a random selection of polymer design elements, each participant will then be shown how to overprint their twenty sheets to create unique monoprints reinforcing the creativity that comes from collaboration and reflecting the nature of educating designers in a connected world.

THE LEGIBILIT Y MANIFESTO t ypogr aphy

panel moder ated by ellen lup ton

Thomas Phinney, Product Manager, Fonts and Global Typography, Adobe Systems It’s easy to focus on aesthetics, but a design can look great yet fail to be sufficiently legible under real world conditions. Taking just a couple of aspects of legibility, Adobe’s Thomas Phinney shows how in graphic design from web sites to children’s books, designers need to be educated on legibility issues in typography. The first problem is foreground/ background contrast. Does the text stand out enough from its background? The second problem is selection of typeface: is it legible enough for the intended usage? What about the so-called “infant” or “schoolbook” letterforms for children? In some cases the popular design wisdom may be dubious at best.

T Y P E A N D TAC T I C Jonathan P feif fer, de.MO - Designer Today’s typographic polemics ought not to limit investigations simply to how motion affects the readability and meaning of the typographic message in dynamic screen-based contexts. Rather, a generation of young designers must learn and explore how readers can affect the meaning and readability of the message. For far too long design students have been taught to evoke meaning and emotion, following typographic paradigms to create expression and understanding for the reader. Kinetic type positions the designer to not only create, but empower the reader. The ability to allow users control of type in motion will break the reader free from the page’s inert imposition on learning.

TYPOGRAPHIC LEARNING IN t ypogr aphy

T H E D I G I TA L S PAC E Michèle Wong Kung Fong,  Assistant Professor in Communication,

panel moder ated by

Design Universit y of Nor th Texas

ellen lup ton This presentation looks at the current and progressing state of typographic education and responds to the struggles revolving around teaching abstract typographic traditions and principles, systemic thinking, and software instruction to entry-level design students. It sees the potential for learning to extend outside of the classroom walls; it sees the possibilities for students to meaningfully apply design theories–principles and traditions–in practice, when using software, with the support of the software.

T E AC H I N G T H E R E L AT I O N A L N AT U R E O F T Y P O G R A P H Y Denise Gonzales Crisp, Associate Professor, Nor th Carolina State Universit y Human beings don’t acquire spoken language by identifying phonemes and reciting vocabulary. And design students don’t become versed in typographic nuance by studying the parts of characters, imitating font combinations or measuring out columns. Students who master this kind of knowledge can only be expected to produce competent, if not clumsy, typography. Why? Because they lack the fundamental understanding that formal convention is (but one) context driving their choices. I propose that the only rule in typography is not a rule at all, but an overarching principle: good typography is created and judged within contexts–circumstances prompted by discrete and elaborately interconnected systems. This “principle of typographic relativity” is rooted in the notion that all design choices are negotiated within formal, linguistic, technological and cultural systems, through which authors, readers and designers construct messages.

basics

panel moder ated by jennifer cole phillips

TELLING THE BASICS John Bowers, Chair, Visual Communication Program  School of the Ar t Institute of Chicago This presentation will examine the place of social issues in writing a narrative of basic design. The second edition of my book Introduction to Two-Dimensional Design: Understanding Form and Function (John Wiley and Sons, 2008) will be used as a case study. Questions of (content) relevance, (reader) participation, and (narrative/positioning) strategy will be addressed through examination of the pragmatic constraints and underlying ideology–rooted in social responsibility–that shaped the writing, image selection, and design.

L E A R N I N G T O S E E : G E N E R AT I V E M E T H O D S F O R D I S C I P L I N I N G V I S UA L P E R C E P T I O N Sean Bolan, Doctoral Researcher, Educational Psychology; Lecturer, Division of Design, Universit y of Washington; Education Director, AIGA, Seat tle Learning to See is an insightful examination of a unique undergraduate course created to build critical perceptual skills in developing designers. The course attempts to bridge design with cultural anthropology, communication theory and perceptual psychology to foster a multidisciplinary look at visual language.

basics

panel moder ated by jennifer cole phillips

SOME RUINOUS HABITS AND RHETORICAL QUESTIONS Deborah Lit tlejohn, PhD student, Nor th Carolina State Universit y The “design project” is the motivation from which class activity and discussion emanates. A closer examination of studio assignments, however, begs the question whether coursework projects are as authentic to the breadth of circumstances in which design practice currently operates. Underlying the typical studio project is the tendency towards privileging the designer’s position over that of other people involved while elevating the artifact over the context for which it is designed–the “why” of the practice is seen as less important than the work itself. For example, students are often encouraged to invent personas for clients and audiences–or worse–do not engage any “real” people at all. The underlying message of such a framework is that relegating people to the periphery is a normative practice for graphic design. What other hidden habits of mind are we teaching students through the projects we assign?

This presentation will break down “the brief” as it

functions pedagogically in the studio classroom and propose alternate problem-setting approaches that engender a more authentic learning environment in which students are able to understand a more realistic graphic design practice.

coll abor ation

panel moder ated by Audr a Buck-Coleman

C R O S S - P O L L I N AT I O N : A N I N T E R D I S C I P L I N A RY R E D E S I G N O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y L I B R A RY Amy Papaelias, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design,  Universit y of Bridgepor t How do 30 undergraduate design students, five professors and a handful of librarians, staff and administrators turn the University of Bridgeport’s outdated library into a 21st century information hub? In August 2007, junior and senior students from three design majors–graphic, industrial and interior design–were divided into four interdisciplinary teams and given one semester to collaboratively research, brainstorm, and ultimately, create a holistic vision for the future of the University’s library.

This paper will examine the project’s progress over

the semester, focusing on the collaborative aspects of the research and development, as well as presenting some of the final results in an attempt to illustrate the importance of incorporating interdisciplinary design projects into an undergraduate curriculum.

C O L L A B O R AT I V E N AV I G AT I O N : A R E A L - W O R L D P R O J E C T I N S PAt I A L O R I E N TAT I O N David Shields, Assistant Professor, Universit y of Texas This presentation examines a studio assignment given to Junior design students at the University of Texas at Austin. This was the first collaborative project the students undertook as part of their studies in the program, and fostered a focused learning experience through collaborative working between the students. It provided for direct interaction with professional practitioners, as well as working closely with a client, and gave real-world experience in using visual and verbal communication skills to present the final proposals.

SITEWORK: BUILDING CITIZEN DESIGNERS Cher yl Becket t, Associate Professor, coll abor ation

Universit y of Houston How do we encourage our students to be socially responsible

panel moder ated by Audr a Buck-Coleman

designers? To develop critical minds and social awareness requires students to conduct research, understand context, consider community, place value in their own culture and the culture of others, and ultimately gain awareness that design helps shape society. The model of site-based investigations, along with interdisciplinary collaboration, offers a particularly strong methodology for this type of learning. Interdisciplinary projects instill awareness that design is not an independent activity but an integral part of a larger system that is linked to a web of social production. Graphic design students engaged in site-specific work are faced with a unique set of challenges. A focus on public space is an experience in environmental context with a directly felt public presence in neighborhoods and the community. Students that work on site-specific projects to improve public space gain an awareness of their role as citizen/designers.

CARTOGR APHERS OF A C O L L A B O R AT I V E W O R L D Audra Buck-Coleman, Assistant Professor, Universit y of Mar yland, College Park The rewards are many from collaborative projects, but negotiating the often-rocky terrain and uncharted waters of a cooperative curriculum can be difficult.

What are the benefits from collaborating cross-univer-

sity, cross-country and globally? What are the challenges of these kinds of projects? Where do you begin? What can design students from different regions offer each other? This presentation will include lessons learned from a multiuniversity project as well as grounded advice for those considering their own collaborations.

time + motion

panel moder ated by lili maya

TRANSFORMING PROGRAMMING I N T O “F U N G R A M M I N G ” De Angela L. Duf f, Assistant Professor, Multimedia Depar tment, The Universit y of the Ar ts This case study describes the creation and evolution of a required introductory, programming course within our multimedia curriculum. With responsive interfaces, such as the iPod and iPhone, and rich internet applications, such as google maps and flickr, being pervasive in our daily lives, it is not enough for art / design students to be able to design for the “front-end” anymore. At the very least, they should also be cognizant of “back-end” solutions as well. In addition, students benefit from programming, as yet another tool in their arsenal, for sketching and creating traditional art and design.

U N D E R S TA N D I N G I N T E R AC T I O N T H R O U G H PEOPLE, SET TINGS, AND SCENARIOS Alber to Rigau, MGD Candidate, College of Design, NC State Universit y At NC State, the Professional Bachelors of Graphic Design prepares students to understand design from a systems perspective. Among courses that address the issue, three are dedicated to imaging. Last Spring, when co-teaching a three-credit sophomore class–Imaging II: Settings and People (Leading to Activity Scenarios)–with Santiago Piedrafita (faculty member), students were introduced to interaction and time-based media through three key ideas: settings, people and scenarios. Each was addressed through a particular investigation: a “site survey (settings);” a “subject study (people);” and an “activity map (scenarios).”

time + motion T H E L A N G UAG E O F M O T I O N panel moder ated by lili maya

Jan Kubasiewicz, Professorâ&#x20AC;¨Dynamic Media Institute, Massachuset ts College of Ar t and Design in Boston Motion is integral to communication design, and motion literacyâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;the act of understanding how motion can be used to communicate more effectivelyâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;is essential for both designers and educators. Communicating effectively through motion involves familiarity with the grammar of kinetic form, and its spatial and temporal parameters. Instead of reinventing the wheel communication designers should explore the grammar of kinetic form that has already been explored within various disciplines such as music, choreography, and cinema.

This paper will attempt to codify the language of motion

in the context of communication design and its education. The paper will present the results of experimental and multidisciplinary approaches to investigating time, motion and sound as a meaningful gesture that communicates.

B U I L D I N G T H E B E T T E R M O U S E -T R A P : A P P L I E D L E A R N I N G P E DAG O GY I N N E W M E D I A E D U C AT I O N M O D E L S Triesta Hall,â&#x20AC;¨Depar tment Chair, Full Sail Universit y

social media

With the introduction of the Apple 1-to-1 Launchbox to our student population, we jumped at the opportunity to return to the drawing board and reorder our lectures to encourage

panel moder ated by c allie neyl an

a newly â&#x20AC;&#x153;wiredâ&#x20AC;? classroom. We abandoned the ancient model of design education and felt we were offered an opportunity to finally reach the students in a language they were most comfortable. The new lectures became more interactive and introduced applied learning: gone was the traditional method of the professor being the talking head at the front of the class, and what emerged was the teacher that not only delivered instruction but also encouraged immediate synthesis of the theories and ideas presented through well-planned class exercises and out-of-theclassroom activities.

social media

panel moder ated by c allie neyl an

W I K I F I E D : PA R T I C PAT O RY LEARNING IN THE DESIGN STUDIO David Gelb, Sessional Assistant Professor,â&#x20AC;¨ Depar tment of Design, York Universit y, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Internet driven social networking makes the use of wikis among students an intuitive and natural extension for learning with and from their peers. Familiarity and comfort level with social media technologies is well suited for the co-creation of learning artefacts in the design studio environment. The openness of the wiki platform affords multiple opportunities for collaboration in and amongst students and teachers for design learning.

This presentation will focus on design educators

employing wiki technologies to leverage this sociotechnological fluency and by initiating classroom activities that translate into meaningful learning experiences in the design studio.

C R E AT I N G A N E - L E A R N I N G C O M M U N I T Y Vanessa Cruz, Professor of Digital Media, Universit y of Nor th Florida This paper looks at the experience of the creation and development of a virtual society for students participating in distance learning and hybrid courses in Art and Design at the University of North Florida. Students today are familiar and well versed in the technology such as wikis, blogs, discussion boards, video conferencing, and podcasts as a means for keeping in constant contact with one another. They are accustomed to using this technology not only in their classroom experiences but also as a recreational tool. So why not use this knowledge base in an e-learning educational setting to reinforce the sense of community usually experienced through a traditional classroom setting?

communit y service 1

panel moder ated by mike weikert

W H AT C O U L D YO U D O W I T H 2 4 H O U R S? Pey ton Rowe, Associate Professor, Virginia Commonwealth Universit y My presentation will show one possibility plus much more. CreateAthon onCampus, a year-long academic program developed during the 07–08 academic year, is a unique service-learning opportunity. This pioneering program allows students to experience project management and development, a new class structured to expand students’ knowledge about nonprofit communication projects, and a culminating 24-hour creative event. During this year’s event, 43 student volunteers and 18 professional mentors worked around the clock to serve 12 Richmond, Virginia nonprofits, generating 75 projects and 35 printed deliverables worth an estimated value in excess of $130,000. I will give an overview of this year-long pilot program, detailing its development and implementation, outlining future plans to expand the program to other schools, and describing what it’s like to create and present 75 projects in 24 hours.

TA K E R O O T: C O L L A B O R AT I O N A N D C O M M U N I T Y PA R T N E R S H I P S Leslie Jensen-Inman, Assistant Professor, Universit y of Tennessee at Chat tanooga Collaborate, that is what we do as designers. We work with artists, copywriters, vendors, clients, and strategic partners towards accomplishing a shared goal. Solely assigning individual classroom projects to university students is a disservice to the students and to the design community. Through practical application we can provide students the tools and skills needed to effectively work together, instead of producing students who are not prepared for the demands of the professional world. At the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, I successfully integrated an intensive, 10-week project focused on collaboration between students and the local creative, business, and governmental communities in my Juniorlevel design courseâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Professional Practices in Graphic Design. As a group of thirteen students and a professor, we ventured on a project for a real client (with two approving boards) who had real deadlines, deliverables, and expectations.

communit y service 1

panel moder ated by mike weikert

INDIANA UNIVERSITY GRAPHIC DESIGN PROGR AM AND BLOOMINGTON VO L U N T E E R N E T W O R K James Reidhaar, Associate Professor, Indiana Universit y With strong support from several local organizations, the Indiana University Graphic Design Program has been able to introduce students to the value of service, provide opportunities for students to experience professional activity through course work, and assist faculty in measuring the value each partnership provides the community and students in achieving core goals. A Community Partnership for this academic unit found its greatest manifestation when a year long partnership was formed with the Bloomington Volunteer Network. Samples of work produced by students in Professional Practice and BFA Studio, help indicate the breadth and effectiveness of these designs. The design program was able to affect the quality of life in our town in many areas due to the unique opportunity to design materials encouraging volunteering and community involvement. Through students interning with the city following the course and providing a digital record of designs this project has had a lasting effect.

communit y service 2

panel moder ated by mike weikert

E N G AG I N G C L I E N T S I N A N E W WAY– REDIRECTING THE REQUEST Paula Dif ferding, Associate Professor Herron School of Ar t and Design Indiana Universit y at IUPUI Case studies: students strategize and collaborate with nonprofit organizations to find meaningful solutions. In a world of heavy branding and slick packaging the request for that all so familiar logo, brochure or website design is an organization’s answer to any problem...or is it? What do they really need? Redirecting the request changes the designer from an “order taker” to an effective strategist and solution finder. Case studies illustrate how students collaborating with non-profits, strategize and facilitate meaningful solutions that change perspectives for both the organization and the student.

T H E P U B L I C S PAC E O F D E S I G N E D U C AT I O N Bonnie Sadler Takach, Associate Professor and Aidan Rowe, Assistant Professor ( Visual Communication Design), Universit y of Alber ta. We will present our experiences of developing, funding and conducting a pilot study to explore: a) the relevance communit y service 2

and effectiveness of an alternative teaching and learning approach in design education; and b) the methods by which this can be evaluated. We moved a design class

panel moder ated by mike weikert

to a studio setting in a public space to provide an arena for collaborative discovery learning, while creating design solutions for community clients (social, cultural, and institutional). Students created PushYourDesign using design technologies and social software as tools for collaboration, communication, documentation and production, and activated the public space with their ongoing design processes and concepts.

E N G AG I N G D E S I G N – I M PAC T I N G S T U D E N T S A N D S O C I E T Y Mike Weiker t, Director, Center for Design Practice, Mar yland Institute College of Ar t The Center for Design Practice is a multi-disciplinary studio dedicated to preparing the next generation of design leaders. We bring students together with educators, professionals, organizations, businesses, and free thinkers who are com mitted to education, collaboration, and pursuing ideas with solutions not yet defined. Our goal is to engage students in the process of problem solving, ultimately using the power of design to make a positive impact on society. We’ve developed a process that engages our students and partners through research, experimentation, collaboration, and solutions.

This talk will discuss the process and structure utilized

by the Center for Design Practice and share past case studies and current collaborations.

ac tivism

panel moder ated by bernard c anniffe

AWA K E N I N G E N G AG E M E N T T H R O U G H I N F O R M AT I O N D E S I G N E D U C AT I O N Angela Nor wood, Assistant Professor Depar tment of Design, York Universit y, Toronto, Canada This paper will present selected projects from an introductory course in information design in which students engaged in research projects inspired by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The eight MDGs represent broad categories of challenges facing the developing world. Each student identified a topic from the list of Goals and explored it through experimentation with explanatory/ instructional diagrams, statistical charts and mapping. The project culminated in the design of a poster presenting various facets of the research topic. The students were guided by the question, “What are the roles for graphic designers in addressing the MDGs?” They came to under stand that the presentation of information was not neutral, that every visual decision had connotations associated with it. This discovery forced students to examine their value systems and consider the roles in society that they envisioned for themselves as designers.

SERVING THE UNDERSERVED: T H E E Q UAT I O N B E T W E E N D E S I G N E D U C AT I O N A N D Q UA L I T Y O F L I F E Lisa M. Abendroth, Associate Professor and Communication Design Coordinator, Metropolitan State College of Denver â&#x20AC;&#x153;Design that does goodâ&#x20AC;? continues to be a hard sell in a global context challenged by cultural conflict, environmental tragedy, social inequity, economic burden and access to the most basic of human rights. The question I pose is why? With so many significant issues to engage designers, why do we not see a more universal commitment to serving those who need it most through the design discipline and design education outreach initiatives? In what ways are new generations of designers addressing human ecology and how are design educators globally creating opportunities for appropriate student response? In this paper presentation I will share student work featured in a recent student exhibition on the subject of social design, which I curated and organized. These interdisciplinary design projects bring critical attention to the needs of underserved people, places and problems from around the world.

ac tivism

panel moder ated by bernard c anniffe

W H O A R E W E N OW A N D W H AT D O W E B E L I E V E I N ? Elizabeth Resnick, Associate Professor, Communication Design, Massachuset ts College of Ar t and Design, Boston. What if the notion of a ‘citizen designer’–a person who endeavors to focus on societal issues as a part of or in addition to their professional practice–could fit into the existing framework that defines contemporary practice? Could such a designer truly affect social or political change while carrying on with business as usual? And if so, how do we, design educators, inspire and train these young designers?

It is this notion that inspires my desire to both develop

and collect socially responsible pedagogical material and assignment briefs currently taught within contemporary design curriculum globally. My goal is to produce a book publication providing assignment briefs, tools and resources for students, educators and professionals.

sustainabilit y 1 A N E W L I T E R ACY: S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y panel moder ated by kristian bjĂ¸rnard

Barbara Sudick, Nierenberg Chair, Carnegie Mellon Universit y I will present sustainability as a new literacy. This work is based on the idea that literacy (the ability to master and use the skills needed to communicate and contribute to society) is ideological and exists in a fluctuating context with associated values.

I will venture to discuss how sustainability fits within

the cultural, political, and historical contexts of local comÂ munities and how we might use indigenous knowledge (the local knowledge that is unique to a culture or society) to teach this new literacy.

CONSUMPTION-FREE DESIGN: M AT E R I A L D I S C OV E RY A N D P E R S O N A L I N T E R AC T I O N James Pannafino, Assistant Professor, Millersville Universit y Materialism and consumption are out of control. Students often think that they need to buy, have and consume everything. What happens when you give students a design brief and tell them that they are not allowed to use any materials and may only reuse materials? This concept can be applied to any design project, anywhere and at any level. To accomplish this task students are not permitted to buy, use or consume any new materials at any step of the design process.

sustainabilit y 1

panel moder ated by kristian bjĂ¸rnard

PAC K AG E D E S I G N A N D S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y Scot t Boylston, Professor of Graphic Design, Savannah College of Ar t and Design Graphic designers who work in the package design industry are confronted with an undeniable dilemma; very few disciplines are engaged in the process of material consumption as a means of encouraging further material consumption. Plainly put, package designers compound material usage in ways that are not sustainable. Thankfully, there are exciting and quickly emerging alternatives. Pedagogical initiatives often influence the priorities of future industry practice, and major shifts in industry behavior can only occur when an argument for change is clearly justified, concisely articulated and creatively demonstrated. This talk will argue that fundamental shifts in package design practice are already underway in niche sectors, and graphic design pedagogy must keep pace with these dramatic changes in order to, not only promote a broader diffusion of these ideas but, indeed, to remain relevant to the industry it aspires to serve.

sustainabilit y 2

panel moder ated by joseph coates

P L AC E , S PAC E , A N D O P P O R T U N I T Y: DESIGNERS CONFRONT S U S TA I N A B L E C H A L L E N G E S Aaris Sherin, Assistant Professor, St. Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Universit y â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Queens, New York. Agitating for change and leading the way towards a sustainÂ able future are not values that are always associated with graphic designers. However, in places where political leaders have ignored the reality of global warming and large companies have resisted greening their businesses, designers are creating new services and innovative sustainable solutions. This presentation uses case studies from the book, SustainAble: A handbook of materials and applications for graphic designers and their clients, to provide examples of how design thinking rather than a preoccupation with materials has allowed designers to solve problems that are particular to their place and context while working to evolve the contemporary environment. By examining the work of early adopters, it is possible to build a framework for design educators, practitioners, and students to make leaps in sustainable thinking and practice.

RE-FORM AND RE-DESIGN: D E S I G N E D U C AT I O N A N D E T H I C S Peter Fine, New Mexico State Universit y and Eric Benson, Universit y of Illinois Based on investigations conducted in the design classroom and through our own individual research, this presentation argues that an increased appreciation of the design process, materials and its history are central to how future design problems are understood and how sustainable solutions will be executed. Through a quick analysis of how rapid consumerism has drastically altered the historical relevance of the designer, it becomes clear that the issue of ethics and sustainability must be addressed in our pedagogy in order to maintain our profession. As frightening energy and natural resource issues have grown increasingly in focus internationally, design pedagogy questions are shifting to ask, â&#x20AC;&#x153;How can design programs respond to present or possible future problems related to environmental concerns and design practice?â&#x20AC;?

sustainabilit y 2

panel moder ated by joseph coates

A DESIGN SEMINAR COURSE ADDRESSING I S S U E S O F E T H I C S + S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y Paul J. Nini, Professor, Visual Communication Design, The Ohio State Universit y I have offered a seminar course in recent years titled “Design + Society = Roles and Responsibilities” that’s available to graduate students and senior-level industrial design, interior design, and visual communication design undergraduate students. Within the course we look generally at ethical issues related to design practice (consumerism, gender-balance, design for under-served populations, ecology, etc.). The main goal of the course is to increase awareness of the large scope of issues that occur in a consumer society, and to explore ethical and sustainable paths for future design practice. My presen tation covers the structure of the course, its results, and comments from students concerning their experiences with content that’s often beyond their initial conception of their chosen career paths.

crossing cultures 1

panel moder ated by L aur a Chessin

S C R AT C H , T E A R , B U I L D, A N D G E T D I R T Y Patricia CuĂŠ, Assistant Professorâ&#x20AC;¨School of Ar t, Design, and Ar t Histor y / San Diego State Universit y MySpace and Flickr. This is the generation that experiences culture, their own and others, through the Internet. The world for these students has become an abstract and very accelerated blur, an entity made up more of information than realities.

In my teaching I have used an array of cross-cultural

experiences that have given design students the possibility to get in touch with life, with their audiences, and to immerse themselves in new realities that have prompted them to rebuild their personal aesthetic and to develop a renewed sense of responsibility as designers.

S T O C K E XC H A N G E Karen Lewis, Assistant Professor of Architecture  Universit y of Kentuck y Beautiful buildings cannot solve public problems, especially ones that involve hundreds of trucks, thousands of cows, and tons of manure.

The visual design research architects produce – diagrams,

maps, and drawings – has significance beyond the final form of a building. Architecture can do more than just design buildings, it can also visualize the physical, social, and crossing cultures 1

economic impacts of an institution.

panel moder ated by L aur a Chessin

W O R D S & I M AG E S : P U B L I C AT I O N D E S I G N F O R W R I T E R S A N D DESIGNERS Stephanie Gibson, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Director, M.A. in Publications Design program School of Communications Design, Universit y of Baltimore Amy Pointer, M.F.A., Lecturer, School of Communications Design, Universit y of Baltimore Words & Images, the anchor course of the Publications Design program at the University of Baltimore, offers a unique opportunity to mesh professional writing and graphic design in the classroom. Students, usually far more competent in one or the other, are responsible for composing all content for every project and they learn to approach problems in a variety of media, using a variety of strategies, for a variety of audiences. They extrapolate composition skills from their area of expertise to another area – one they often find intimidating and alien. Writers compose in professional formats that demand breaking free of academic jargon. Designers develop a sophisticated relationship with typography as copy by uniting concept, content and design. Students cultivate a complex conceptual approach to design (and writing) because they aren’t rearranging someone else’s ideas; they must produce their own. Here we explore the construction and presentation of this unique course.

PA R T I C I PAT O RY D E S I G N F O R P U B L I C H E A LT H E D U C AT I O N M E S S AG E S I N U G A N DA Leslie Robinson, MDes Candidate ( Visual Communication Design), Universit y of Alber ta This presentation explores the potential role of design as a vehicle for social change by focusing on participatory design, a methodology that places the end-user at the core of the design process, privileging local points of view. Benefits of this approach include an increased sense of cultural ownership among the community, increased awareness among the participants of the social issue being addressed and the transfer of design knowledge to the participants.

crossing cultures 2

This methodology will be showcased through a case study

panel moder ated by

which she is collaborating with the Department of Public

from Uganda, Robinsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ongoing thesis project through john jennings

Health Sciences, University of Alberta, and the Institute of Public Health, Makerere University (Uganda) as well as local partners in Uganda.

The aim of this presentation is to showcase design as a

potential agent for social change, one that through dialogue rather than discourse, places peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs at the core of design, empowering them by enhancing their own capacities.

T H I N K I N T E R N AT I O N A L LY, AC T L O C A L LY: I N T E R N AT I O N A L I Z I N G D E S I G N C U R R I C U L A Carole Goodman, Assistant Professor, Graphic Design, Queens College, the Cit y Universit y of New York Wikipedia defines internationalization as recognizing “that different peoples, cultures, languages, nations, borders, economies, and ecosystems exist”. This differs from globalization in which the goal is to bring together all nations as a singular entity, negating individuality. With technology making travel more accessible, students are increasingly choosing to study at a college outside of their home countries. After founding the Graphic Design major at Queens College five years ago, I have discovered that in order to communicate effectively to a wide multi-cultural student body, it has been necessary to incorporate aspects of local and international life into the curricula. This has helped students understand how graphic design operates within a variety of cultures and has created an atmosphere of understanding and tolerance. It has also aided in idea incubation. I have strived to incorporate internationalization in the following ways by:

· Allowing students to work in their mother language and creating projects that allow students to express their cultural backgrounds and beliefs

· Participating in cross-cultural projects with other universities · Organizing community internships where students can explore the intersection of their cultural beliefs and classroom education with real-world projects.

crossing cultures 2

panel moder ated by john jennings

A D D I N G M O R E B L AC K S PAC E : I N T E G R AT I N G A F R I C A N A M E R I C A N V I S UA L C U LT U R E A N D H I S T O RY I N T O D E S I G N P E DAG O GY John Jennings, Assitant Professor, Universit y of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign It would be an ideal situation if there were only one totally inclusive documentation of the history of our society and its relationship to design. However, there Â are many stories, histories and perspectives. Unfortunately, some perspectives have traditionally been considered more valid than others and often aggressively enforced and propagated as absolute truth. I personally feel that this overt academic chauvinism should not be countenanced. It is also my profound belief that it is part of our duty as design educators to provide the most complete and holistic representation of design history and practice in all of its nuanced cultural contexts. To support a homogeneous stance on this matter is a disservice to our students and to the study and practice of design itself.

F I E L D R E P O R T: S O C I A L M A R K E T I N G D E S I G N F O R AT- R I S K T E E N S Nancy Stock-Allen, Professor, Moore College of Ar t and Design Paige Davis, MA Candidate, New England School of Ar t and Design As graphic designers we hold the potential to communi足 cate important social messages and initiate constructive dialogues within troubled communities. However, in order create effective messages we often have to overcome, understand and address potential obstacles such as race, language, age, cultural norms, and social values. How can we create valid design solutions that will be understood young audiences

and accepted by our intended audience to make a difference in these communities? This presentation reviews the conclusions of two graphic designers, one a design anthro-

panel moder ated by martin r ayal a

pologist in Boston and the other a teacher of social marketing in Philadelphia, who spent a year exploring these questions as they independently addressed the problem of teen violence in their cities.

D E S I G N I N G F R O N T- E N D PA R T I C I PAT O RY TOOLS WITH AND FOR CHILDREN Kristin Hughes, Associate Professor School of Design, Carnegie Mellon Universit y The growing concern over childhood obesity places us at a critical time. Educators, and public health professionals need to come together to rethink the ways we design, communicate and teach health literacy and awareness to children. In many public schools there is access to free health services, but often times confusing language and mixed messages create communication barriers and issues of mistrust and disengagement on the part of the students, parents and teachers.

Fitwits is a collaborative research project charged

with raising health and nutrition awareness for children and families. We developed several methods that helped us to understand how kids talk and understand issues surrounding health and physical activity. The design team spent six months collaborating with children ages 9–12, planning and inventing hands-on games and activities. The process of designing customized participatory tools for kids was time consuming, but essential. For many designers the idea of making artifacts for the purpose of “discovery” not “delivery” can be met with much resistance on both the part of the client and designer. This presentation will highlight a wonderful, fun, front-end process that resulted in the design of tools to help kids think, share and engage in conversations about health and health awareness in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

young audiences

panel moder ated by martin r ayal a

T E AC H I N G D E S I G N A N D V I S UA L L I T E R ACY AT T H E K-12 L E V E L Mar tin Rayala, Ph.D.,â&#x20AC;¨Assistant Professor of Ar t and Design Education,â&#x20AC;¨Kutztown Universit y of Pennsylvania Were you taught design in high school? How would schools look and feel if design was a bigger part of the curriculum in K-12 schools? Would students be more motivated to learn? Would schools start to look less like prisons and start looking more like interactive learning centers, movie sets, and theme parks?

Can we transform education through design? In this

presentation, design education is suggested as a starting point for transforming learning in art, social studies, science, and technology education. Join the discussion about how design professionals can help teachers lay the foundations for design awareness, knowledge and skills in K-12 schools.

DESIGN IN THE BUSINESS SCHOOL: T E AC H I N G O U T S I D E T H E AC A D E M I C B OX Ruth Lozner, Associate Professor of Design and Marketing, Universit y of Mar yland, College Park, MD For the last eight years, I have taught a hybrid course called “Design in Marketing”. Housed in the RH Smith School of Business, it is comprised of both art and business majors. Its original purpose was three-fold:

· to teach our design students the basics and reality of business and the increasingly important role that design plays in business strategy

· to teach the business students the basics and reality of design and show them how marketing theory is interpreted entering the profession

visually to achieve business goals

· to simply introduce these two affiliated yet artificially segregated majors to each other and have them learn to work creatively and productively together as they must

panel moder ated by

in the professional world.

ruth lozner

A S S O C I AT E S T O B AC H E L O R S: C R E AT I N G O P P O R T U N I T Y I N F L I N T, M I C H I G A N Mara Jevera Fulmer, Associate Professor, Mot t Communit y College Janet Lorch, Lecturer, Universit y of Michigan/ Flint While the Graphic Design industry and education community generally agree that the four-year degree program is the gold-standard, for many students, a university program is not an option. In Flint, Michigan, a cooperative relationship has grown between graphic design faculty at Mott Community College and the University of Michigan/Flint.

The Flint area has faced a 20-year economic downturn

and, as a result, the term “traditional” rarely applies to students at either institution. Students seek a career that combines creative outlets and strong job prospects in a community that continues to see factory jobs fading away. In 1998, when Mott launched the AAS in Graphic Design, it was envisioned that this occupational program would serve students who wished to enter the job market with both creative and technical skills. But it was also meant to serve those who wanted to transfer to a four-year program. The relationship between Mott and UMF has most recently afforded students the opportunity to continue to advance their studies beyond a rigorous program at Mott and onto a professional Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communic ations at UMF.

V I S UA L I Z I N G D E S I G N C O M P E T E N C I E S , E N G AG I N G T H E D I S C I P L I N E Lee VanderKooi, Assistant Professor, Herron School of Ar t and Design Design practice continually struggles to respond to social, technological, and economic factors. By addressing new challenges and engaging new questions design continues to mutate, thus students poised to enter professional practice will encounter a context in flux.

Problem framing, understanding contexts, and collabÂ

orative process skills are all key competencies students must engage when solving complex â&#x20AC;&#x153;fuzzyâ&#x20AC;? problems. However, the skills students use to supplement their visual entering the profession

acuity often receive less emphasis.

Within a senior level capstone portfolio class students

considered the wide range of skills and competencies that panel moder ated by ruth lozner

their work demonstrated. They received university wide competency statements (broad), disciplinary competency statements (narrow), and other evaluative criteria. By creating a visualization that wove design work, skills, and competencies together, each student developed a narrative embedded within her portfolio that connected to her unique professional goals.

CRAFTING A CAREER Jen Bennet t Gubicza, Sweetest Pea For a long time, I worked as a graphic designer at Big Blue Dot, the design studio that branded Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. 11 years later, my business card no longer reads “Creative Director” but “Stuffed Animal Designer.” I’m currently working with a group of people in Brooklyn to develop independent businesses that make a living making things. There are so many materials that are discarded that can be upcycled into something amazing. I have made animals out of vintage kimono remnants and from discarded fabric sample books. One of my other studio mates makes bags and pillows out of old sails. Together, 15 of us are looking to build on the following ideas: Upcycling, Shop new c areers

panel moder ated by brocket t horne

Local and Co-Production.

N O C L I E N T: F I V E WAYS D E S I G N E R S A R E C H A N G I N G T H E I R P R AC T I C E A N D T H E W O R L D Brocket t Horne, Co-Chair of Undergraduate Graphic Design, Mar yland Institute College of Ar t If the 1990s marked the advent of the designer as an author, then the new century empowers designers to consider their abilities to self-initiate projects. The designer has taken on the role of producer with aplomb. Designers possess the skills to identify and tackle projects directly, without the commissioned point of view of a client. The graphic designerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role has shifted from creating artifacts to creating systems, from translating messages to crafting them, and from visual problem solving to defining complex solutions for savvy audiences.

T H E D E S I G N E R L E S S O F F I C E™ N Silas Munro, Visiting Assistant Professor, Designer-in-Residence, Nor th Carolina State Universit y The Designerless™ Office is a new model for contemp orary design practice. Thanks to a plentitude of publishing opportunities in our media-agnostic world, self-initiated projects are now the norm in contemporary graphic design practice. The affordances of individual portfolio websites and inexpensive printing-on-demand services allow the graphic designer of today to forgo clients altogether. In a sliding scale from creative freedom to full design autonomy the evolution of graphic design practice leading up to the conditions that lend themselves to the Designerless office will be discussed. If the autonomous, client-less office new c areers

becomes de regur then how does the avant garde designer position themselves uniquely in such a crowded landscape? The next logical step is a Designerless™ Office. What at first

panel moder ated by

glance seems like an absurd postulation could very well be

brocket t horne

a fruitful model for design practice. Case studies in terrains from Automated Graphic Design Service to Artificial Design Intelligence will depict an array of models and strategies for robust practice in a Designerless™ Office.

D E S I G N I N G T H E N E X T PA R A D I G M Alysha Naples; Adjunct Professor, California College of the Ar ts; Design Director, Blurb In the last twenty years, designers have witnessed multiple paradigm shifts – in the ‘80s, we produced tangible products (posters, packaging, books); in the ‘90s, user experiences (web sites, motion graphics, interfaces). Today, we’re designing the tools that allow people to create their own products and experiences. People-powered companies like Etsy, Threadless, and Blurb allow designers to create products that go directly to the consumer… without a client. Not only will our students be designing these new tools, they will be using them. How can we prepare our students to create the next generation of tools? What are the skills needed to be successful in this new field? How will these tools impact the evolution of design? And how can we leverage them to enrich the classroom experience?

INDIANA UNIVERSITY HERRON SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN Pamela Napier In the Graduate Design program at Indiana University Herron School of Art and Design, we apply interdisciplinary collaboration, process knowledge and process skills for creative and innovative problem solving. These processes and skills are implemented to not only frame problems in unframed “fuzzy” environments, but also to help to shape and influence society.

Through observation, collaboration and participation

with “make-tools,” analysis of research findings and experience prototyping, we engage and enable people to have fundamental value awareness in the systems and processes around them. Doing this work requires designers mfa panels

to develop an intentional understanding of human factors and context as well as specialized interpersonal skills for working collaboratively. Using a creative process and

panel moder ated by ryan clifford

design research, we are able to gain insights into people’s life patterns and behaviors, and the contexts in which they operate. We can then apply those insights to create meaningful experiences that help shape and influence life patterns and behaviors of both organizations and individuals in the community.

I will present case study detail of an innovative

generative design research project that I discovered and defined as a first year graduate student. The project focuses on 120 West Market Fresh Grill, a restaurant in Indianapolis that has a philosophy of obtaining their resources from a local agricultural community. The intent is to identify problems and create solutions that address a system of challenges and opportunities. The design challenge is to establish 120 as a value-driven food service by creating experiences that provide education, value awareness and solutions to the system of challenges that restaurant owners and customers face.

T H E O N - L I N E M FA : CONTINUING ED IN THE REAL WORLD Vida Kluko, MFA candidate, Miami International Universit y MIUO Most of my MFA classmates are graphic design instructors at Universities who need an MFA to continue teaching.

An on-line degree enables a working designer to live

their regular life, live anywhere, with kids, and a job. I, unfortunately, had to eliminate sleep to fit it all in, but luckily I have that option. I have never met my classmates, I do not know what they sound like. Does Casey have a Texas twang? Does Gustavo have a deep melodic voice? It doesn’t matter. Every night for the past 3 years we read each other’s design essays and design history essays. We are required to comment and post alternative views. Every night we review PDF files of our classmates design projects and write critiques and notes. We write and write and design. In the beginning this process was very hard. I felt like I was scuba diving–exploring an amazing environment–but not able to use all my full senses and communication abilities. Clearly, you develop the communication avenues you are afforded or you drown [pun].

I understand traditional Graphic Design education

institutions are very dismissive of the on-line degree programs. But, I believe the future of design education lives somewhere between a brick institution and my own underwater experience.

“AU D I E N C E , C O N T E X T, A N D F O R M … O H M Y!” Mar t y Lane and Rebecca Tegtmeyer, Masters of Graphic Design, Nor th Carolina State Universit y The graduate program at NC State is a two-year program, with a three-year track available for those students who do not have an accredited degree in Graphic Design. The two-years, or four semesters, are categorized by umbrella topics: Design as a Cultural Artifact, New Information Environments, Design as a Cognitive Artifact, and the Final Project.

We recently finished our first year in the semesters Design

as a Cultural Artifact and New Information Environments (NEI). During the NEI semester we focused on specific self-chosen learning communities. NC State supports projects that are not “self-serving”, in that they facilitate some change or shift greater than the artifact itself. This is not to say that we don’t mfa panels

love form and value the artifacts themselves. We do. We just believe that all form should be reflective of specific situations. This can only occur when we understand the conditions in

panel moder ated by ryan clifford

which the artifacts will be used.

Working respectively with the learning communities of

Parents of Autistic Children and the Slow Food Movement, we spent a semester researching the community members and their context. We constructed the conditions for an interactive experience, utilizing three sub-projects: community identification, exchange, and collective task. All of the projects were to support the community.

Our class of six all came from backgrounds in print design.

This has set the stage for a great opportunity to explore and push what we view as interactive and not fall into the tropes of anything we have done before. All of our studio work is supported by a seminar class. In seminar, we are encouraged to make conceptual and theoretical connections to our selfdriven studio projects. Each semester there is a great deal of writing done, with one major research paper of our choosing. For many of us, improving our critical writing skills is one of our major goals.

D E PA R T M E N T O F D E S I G N , T H E O H I O S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y Erik Evenson, MFA, The Ohio State Universit y Under the direction of noted design researcher Elizabeth B. N. Sanders, Ph.D, a group of MFA students and one under graduate student conducted a user-centered research process for development of a prototype board game to teach diseasemanagement skills to children with diabetes.

Collaborating with employees of the Central Ohio Diabe

tes Association (CODA), students were able to conduct an exploratory workshop to develop game concepts with members of the user group. After analysis of relevant findings, an initial prototype was further-developed and tested with the same users.

Erik Evensen has since advanced this project as his

personal thesis direction, which he will continue to pursue over the next academic year. He has recently made refinements to the game, and conducted further usability testing. His final thesis project will include development of a finished prototype and documentation of all user-centered research findings.

This project initiated in the Design Research + Inquiry

course required for all first-year MFA students in The Ohio State University, Department of Design’s interdisciplinary Design Development track. Students in this graduate program come from a variety of backgrounds in the traditional design disciplines–such as industrial design, interior design, and graphic + visual communication design.

Students also come from other design-related fields such

as architecture, engineering, fine-arts, communications, etc. While some students pursue thesis research that is specific to a single design discipline, others pursue topics that crossover two or more design and/or design-related disciplines.

M E D I A D E S I G N P R O G R A M (M D P), ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN Luke Johnson, MFA Candidate Media Design Program, Ar t Center I am not a “traditional” design student. I received my undergraduate degree in both pre-med and political science. And before attending the Media Design Program (MDP) at Art Center, I spent the past two years teaching art to inner city students in Washington DC.

What makes the MDP unique is that embraces students

who are relatively new to design but have other training and life experience. This wide range of interests complements a curriculum that challenges its students to consistently work across a range of media platforms. As a result, thesis projects are as diverse as geodesic dome that reveals poetry mfa panels

with the passing daylight to a human-centered case study aimed to improve medication safety.

panel moder ated by ryan clifford

In the fall, the MDP will be undergoing a massive

curriculum change to promote its role as a leader in humancentered research. Summer sessions will now be devoted exclusively to internships, individual study or design research.

In my first year, I have had the opportunity to work on

three design research projects. These projects include The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and their work with teenagers with chronic illness, my work as an official selection for Mieke Gerritzen and Koerte van Meenswort’s “Biggest Visual Power Show,” and the completion of the MDP’s signature Super Studio course, a three-term exploration into design research.

What binds all three projects together is a greater

sense of collaboration. Before coming to graduate school, I realized that alone my craft had become stagnant. At its best, a graduate school education provides an immersive environment for learning between like-minded individuals, the contacts to move you forward, and the curiosity for a self-sustaining practice.

G raphic design M FA program , M I C A Joseph Galbreath The Graphic Design MFA program at MICA focuses on developing students through exploration, experimentation and investigation. Graphic design is viewed as an art of engagementâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;a visual, intellectual and communal experience. Led by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips, the GD MFA program publishes books, works with visiting designers, critics and educators, engages in various forms of manufacturing and encourages all forms of design exploration. Students focus on personal interests while informing their own point-of-view through discussion, reflection and group projects. The studio creates both popular and academic materials that educate and engage a broad range of audiences.

We read, we write and we make stuff.

Themes investigated in the studio include: design

cultureâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;past and present, societal concerns, creative methodology, the social aspect of design and publishing. Books published include D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself, Graphic Design: The New Basics and most recently Indie Publishing.

Approximately 1,800 students attend Maryland Institute

College of Art, located in Baltimore. Founded in 1826, MICA is the oldest fully accredited, degree-granting college of art in the country.

T ypography Ellen Lupton, Director, Graphic Design MFA Program, MICA B asics Jennifer Cole Phillips, Associate Director, Graphic Design MFA Program, MICA C ollaboration Audra Buck-Coleman, Assistant Professor, Universit y of Mar yland, College Park T ime + M otion Lilli Maya, Facult y, MICA S ocial M edia Callie Neylan, Adjunct Facult y, MICA C ommunity S er v ice 1 and 2 Mike Weiker t, Director, Center for Design Practice, MICA S ustainability 1 Kristian BjĂ¸rnard, GD MFA Candidate, MICA MODERATORS

S ustainability 2 Joseph Coates, Facult y, Universit y of Mar yland, Baltimore Count y Acti v ism Bernard Cannif fe, Co-Chair, Graphic Design Depar tment, MICA C rossing C ultures 1 Laura Chessin, Associate Professor, Depar tment of Graphic Design/ School of the Ar ts, Virginia Commonwealth Universit y C rossing C ultures 2 John Jennings, Assistant Professor, Universit y of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Young Audiences Mar tin Rayala, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Ar t and Design Education, Kutztown Universit y of Pennsylvania E ntering the P rofession Ruth Lozner, Associate Professor of Design and Marketing, Universit y of Mar yland, College Park, MD N e w C areers Brocket t Horne, Co-Chair, Graphic Design Depar tment, MICA M FA Panel Ryan Clif ford, GD MFA Candidate, MICA

Workshops (pp. 14 –23) Realize your creative visions through tactile design approaches. T ypography (pp. 24 –27) Explore the evolution of typography, both static and dynamic.  B asics (pp. 28 – 31) Learn to teach the obvious and discrete of design.  C ollaboration (pp. 32– 35) Redesign the way we work together. It has never been so important. T ime + M otion (pp. 36 – 39) Communicate content effectively through interactive design. S ocial M edia (pp. 4 0 – 4 3) Traverse social classrooms. Use social networking tools to guide learning in and out of classical learning environments. C ommunity S er v ice 1 (pp. 4 4 – 47) Find new ways to volunteer in the community to effect positive changes. synopses

C ommunity S er v ice 2 (pp. 4 8 – 52) Revisualize goals for clients by designing out in the community and with non–designers.

these descriptions do not thoroughly capture the zeitgeist of e ach seminar /

Acti v ism (pp. 52– 55) Design with a cause. Discover new approaches that lead to positive changes to the world.

workshop. ple ase consult the abstr acts and the web - site for more details .

S ustainability 1 (pp. 56 – 59) Understand the issues of material and design. Consider the lifespan of your creations. S ustainability 2 (pp. 60 – 63) Seize the opportunity to redefine the values and ethics of design. C rossing C ultures 1 (pp. 6 4 – 67) Harness technology across design spectrums. C rossing C ultures 2 (pp. 68 –71) Think international. Design local Young Audiences (pp. 72–75) Design with kids. Design for kids. E ntering the P rofession (pp. 76 –79) Prepare for a design world that is in flux. N e w C areers (pp. 80 – 8 3) Craft a new paradigm for the design world. M FA Panel (pp. 8 4 – 87) Explore innovative MFA programs that are influencing the culture and direction of design education.

extended contents + I N D E X Keynote Speakers Scot t Stowell_pg. 6 Mieke Gerritzen_pg. 7 Stefan Bucher_pg. 8 Steven Heller_pg. 9 Workshops Back To [Pre]School: Learning Through Play_pg. 10 Web Design For Print Designers, A Hands-On Workshop_pg. 11 The Post-American Design World_pg. 12 Learning St yles And Creative Problem-Solving_pg. 13 Probes: A Designerly Way Of Researching_pg. 14 Book Ar ts For Designers_pg. 15 Your Word Here: Political Totes_pg. 16 Teaching Design Theor y: How and Why_pg. 16 Educating Emotionally Intelligent Designers_pg. 17 Gonzo Bookbinding_pg. 18 Happy Accidents Let terpress Lab_pg. 19 Typography The Legibilit y Manifesto_pg. 20 Type And Tactic_pg. 21 Typographic Learning In The Digital Space_pg. 22 Teaching The Relational Nature Of Typography_pg. 23 Basics Telling The Basics_pg. 24 Learning To See: Generative Methods For Disciplining Visual Perception (pg. 25 Some Ruinous Habits & Rhetorical Questions_pg. 27 Collaboration Cross-Pollination: An Interdisciplinar y Redesign Of The Universit y Librar y_pg. 28 Collaborative Navigation: A Real-World Project In Spacial Orientation_pg. 29 Sitework: Building Citizen Designers_pg. 30 Car tographers Of A Collaborative World_pg. 31 Time + Motion

Transforming Programming Into “Fungramming”_pg. 32 Understanding Interaction Through People, Set tings, And Scenarios_pg. 33 The Language Of Motion_pg. 34

Social Media Building The Bet ter Mouse-Trap: Applied Learning Pedagogy In New Media Education Models_pg. 36 Wikified: Par ticpator y Learning In The Design Studio_pg. 38 Creating An E-Learning Communit y_pg. 39 Communit y Ser vice 1 What Could You Do With 24 Hours?_pg. 4 0 Take Root: Collaboration And Communit y Par tnerships_pg. 41 Indiana Universit y Graphic Design Program And Bloomington Volunteer Net work _pg. 4 3 Community Service 2

Engaging Clients In A New Way – Redirecting The Request _pg. 4 4 The Public Space Of Design Education_pg. 45 Engaging Design – Impacting Students And Societ y_pg. 4 6

Activism Awakening Engagement Through Information Design Education_pg. 4 8 Ser ving The Underser ved: The Equation Bet ween Design Education And Qualit y Of Life_pg. 49 Who Are We Now And What Do We Believe In?_pg. 50

Sustainability 1

A New Literacy: Sustainabilit y_pg. 52 Consumption-Free Design: Material Discover y And Personal Interaction_pg. 5 3 Package Design And Sustainabilit y_pg. 5 4

Sustainability 2

Place, Space, And Oppor tunit y: Designers Confront Sustainable Challenges_pg. 56 Re-Form And Re-Design: Design Education And Ethics_pg. 57 A Design Seminar Course Addressing Issues Of Ethics + Sustainabilit y_pg. 5 8

Crossing Cultures 1

Scratch, Tear, Build, And Get Dir t y_pg. 60 Stock E xchange_pg. 62 Words & Images: Publication Design For Writers And Designers_pg. 63

Crossing Cultures 2 Par ticipator y Design For Public Health Education Messages In Uganda_pg. 6 4 Think Internationally, Act Locally: Internationalizing Design Curricula_pg. 65 Adding More Black Space: Integrating African American Visual Culture And Histor y Into Design Pedagogy_pg. 67 Young Audiences

Field Repor t: Social Marketing Design For At-Risk Teens_pg. 68 Designing Front-End Par ticipator y Tools With And For Children_pg. 69 Teaching Design And Visual Literacy At The K–12 Level_pg. 71

Entering The Profession Design In The Business School: Teaching Outside The Academic Box _pg. 72 Associates To Bachelors: Creating Oppor tunit y In Flint, Michigan_pg. 73 Visualizing Design Competencies, Engaging The Discipline_pg. 74 New Careers Craf ting A Career_pg. 76 No Client: Five Ways Designers Are Changing Their Practice And The World_pg. 77 The Designerless Of fice™_pg. 78 Designing The Nex t Paradigm_pg. 79 MFA Panel

Indiana Universit y Herron School Of Ar t And Design_pg. 80 The On-Line Mfa: Continuing Ed In The Real World_pg. 81 “Audience, Contex t, And Form… Oh My!”_pg. 82 Depar tment Of Design, The Ohio State Universit y_pg. 8 3 Media Design Program (MDP), Ar t Center College Of Design_pg. 8 4 GD MFA, Mar yland Institute College of Ar t _pg. 85

Moderators pg. 86 Synopses pg. 87 Process pg. 88 – 89 Collaborators [ lef t to right] Mike Perr y, Helen Armstrong, Joo Ha, Virginia Sasser, Lindsey Muir,

Danielle Davis, Giselle Archibald, Jennifer White-Torres, Molly Haw thorne_ pg. 90

[lef t to right] Joe Galbreath, Tony Venne, Kristian Bjørnard, Justin Kropp, Aaron

Walser, Andrew Shea, Mark Alcasabas, Ryan Clif ford, Mike Perr y_pg. 91

The conference “Social Studies: Educating Designers in a Connected World” is a project of AIGA in partnership with Adobe Systems. The conference is hosted by Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Baltimore, October 17–19, 2008.