Design Professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Kerry Polite (2004) published his thoughts on what are today’s [2004] ‘most important questions in design education’. He offers a personal observation to the nature of contemporary design education, in comparison to its historical origins:

‘In the past, students and educators dealt mainly with four or five principles: composition, typography, form, colour and drawing… Today, students are expected to be skilled technicians, be knowledgeable in a range of software programs and work with sound, motion, and interactivity’.

Polite explains how design students need to ‘slow down and think’, to be working for ‘content-driven, not style-driven’ design solutions. The problem, he pitches is how today, ‘Students want to rush in and make finished projects…’ and ‘…because they have been bombarded with very slick visual stimuli their entire lives, the work tends to look derivative.’

This observational discussion offers an interesting [if, concerning] perspective on how important it remains to embed and praise design thinking, research, experimentation and relevance. Thinking About Design Education was published by the AIGA in 2004.

Great news from Creative Review this month. A 3sprong creative collaboration have founded Three Trees Don’t Make a Forest, a not for profit enterprise set up to help everyone involved in design and advertising to rethink their working cultures and start to produce sustainable creative solutions that really work.

“When it comes to sustainable design, there are no excuses. Sooner or later our industry will have to rise to the challenge. As creativity is our business, we should be comfortable with the notion of making our design work that bit harder; creatively and for the environment.”

The Three Trees’ UK founders are Sophie Thomas of sustainability studio Thomas Matthews, Caroline Clark of Ecofriendly Printing Resource Lovely as a Tree and Nat Hunter of design studio Airside. The three green creatives intend to continue work with their respective award-winning design practices, while working within the industry to share their collective 25 years’ experience in creating effective sustainable design.

Seemingly a really positive initative from a list of iconic design leaders and organisations, The Designers Accord is “a coalition of design and innovation firms focused on working together to create positive environmental and social impact.”

Partnered with the AIGA and IDSA, The Design Accord was founded by Valerie Casey and hosts an advisory panel including: Paul Hawken – Natural Capital Institute, Tim Brown – IDEO, Allan Chochinov – Core77, Jen van der Meer – o2NYC and Marc Alt – Marc Alt + Partners. The movement they explain ’started as a call to arms for designers to engage in the environmental movement with optimism and creativity …It is our obligation to use our knowledge, experience, and reach to positively influence what we design and consume.’

Whilst undertaking some extensive research into The Future of Design Education, I came across a beautiful piece of creative writing, from Lap Le, a Graphic Design Student at Oregon State University.

“To me, there was once a time when designers were warriors—trained and battle-hardened. They honored their craft, and practiced their bodies and minds to perfect it. The weak died, the strong lived and everyone in between knew that line…

I read and research everything I can and will continue to do so, but I question whether this will be enough to survive against a rising force. Deep down I know that the core principals I learn will provide sustenance and sustainability, but for every one of them that fails, a hundred will replace them. Will they overwhelm us? And if so, how will design, and our roles, be affected when everyone becomes a ‘designer’?”

Ref:
Le, L. (2006). The New Battlefield. New York: AIGA.

The above is the title of the picture you see to the left – it is an artwork that participates in the »NanoArt 2007«. It is an exhibition that takes place online.

»This site was founded by the artist and scientist Cris Orfescu to promote worldwide the NanoArt as a reflection of the technological movement. NanoArt is a more appealing and effective way to communicate with the general public and to inform people about the new technologies of the 21st Century and should raise the public’s awareness of Nanotechnology and its impact on our lives.«

Using religious or romantic symbolics to communicate what impact nanotechnology will have in our future is probably the wrong approach. Or did those artworks make you think about the critical aspects of new technologies? Design offers better possibilities to experience future technologies or products. On the Interaction Design Department of the Royal College of Art (lead by Anthony Dunne) so called »What If« scenarios are used to display what could happen if certain technologies get applied to the objects that surround us.