#rgde

Revista General de Derecho Europeo: núm. 41

Revista General de Derecho Europeo: núm. 41

Acaba de aparecer este nuevo número de la RGDE. Su sumario puede consultarse aquí.

[via Comunicaciones de la AEPDIRI – AEPDIRI – Asociación Española de Profesores de Derecho Internacional y Relaciones Internacionales]

I was asked to write up a review of my thoughts on the Redesigning [Graphic] Design Education conference that I went to and here it is:

Redesigning (Graphic) Design Education Conference, 14/03/12 University of Derby

I was selected by Joanne Greenhalgh to attend this conference along with Mike Holmes, a recent graphic design graduate of The University of Salford. I was intrigued by the concept of the conference and looked forward to hearing other people’s thoughts on the future of graphic design education.

Adrian Shaughnessy set the wheels in motion with a series of four provocations that spread across the day, his concept that we live in a post graphic design age was an interesting and thought provoking suggestion. His concept existed based on the idea that it is possible for anyone to be a graphic designer in our contemporary society. In our smaller discussion groups criticism of the idea was highlighted; coming to the conclusion that we are not in a post design age but a post format age. Design and ideas are still as important as ever but the method of delivery is so extensively varied that its format becomes only subsequential. These thoughts teamed nicely with those of provocateur Colin Davies, who talked about design being a craft. We spoke in our group about the break down of graphic design and the areas it can be separated into such as HTML5, research, idea generation, four colour process. All of these are ‘crafts’ in their own right and it is important that one embraces them as such.

He also spoke about how physical practice and the history of design should go together hand in hand to create a symbiotic relationship that will generate ideas and a ‘thinking practitioner’.

I took particular interest in Colin’s thoughts that, ‘Design if nothing else, makes the world knowable’. Design is a tool which enables a greater understanding of the world around us.

Throughout the day we had numerous tangential discussions that produced interesting thoughts and remarks, one of which was the reoccurring idea that collaboration between education and industry would be most beneficial to design education, as people from industry are at the forefront of design and shape its ever changing form. This led to a student based discussion of the methods of industry interaction, which furthered the group’s conversation onto The University of Salford’s DNA (Designer’s Northern Alliance). We also touched on how private colleges will alter design education’s future as the recent raise of tuition fees no longer makes them an expensive alternative to University education.

One of the suggested discussion questions ‘Academic critical thinking versus vocational learning’ was deconstructed during discussion and Mike Holmes developed an alternative approach ‘Critical vocation, thinking and doing’. I agree with this concept, both doing and thinking are equally as important within design but in education there should be more emphasis on following through on smaller ideas even if they don’t seem as strong. A phrase emphasised by tutors at Salford is “get it wrong now” when working in industry there’s little room for error, but while in education one is able to push concepts that may or may not work, therefore the opportunity and room for error should indeed be utilised.

Provocateur Rebecca Wright gave an enthusiastically optimistic presentation on ‘designing for happiness’, or more openly, deigning for purpose. Her speech engaged the room and looked towards the future of design education with optimism, suggesting that design education should prepare students for forthcoming changes in design promoting a positive embrace towards them.