In the design and architecture professions, the major focus in the creation of new visual solutions is no longer on the purity and structure of form as it was in the past. A comprehensive approach to the creation of visual communication must be based on the needs and involvement of the user, budget concerns and affordability, resources, environmental conservation and the ability to use the available technology effectively and efficiently. Given the changes in the communication environment caused by new technologies, new ideas about the interactive nature of communications, globalization, and cultural consciousness of diversity, it is time, once again to redefine the content and the context of “graphic design education”.

Education should not simply focus on a career, but rather provide an opportunity to participate in a community of the mind, to broaden one’s perspective and understanding through a variety of studious experiences, and to become acquainted with the problem-solving strategies and visual language associated with with communicating visually. If we attempt to look toward the future of the profession, then it is necessary to move ourselves, as “design educators” away from merely teaching traditional hand skills and producing technicians, but address three complementary areas of concern in our courses and curricula: professional skills (specialized training in hand skills and technological tools), design methodology (competence in issues related to design process and design theory) and general knowledge (general education in the liberal arts and sciences). Design curricula should incorporate theory, methodology, history and liberal studies intended to provide students with intellectual skills for a lifetime of learning and adaptation.

The key is to provide learning experiences that will guide the discovery of the participants in their discovery that graphic design is essential:

• for assisting in the organization of massive amounts of information,
• for packaging information into marketable products,
• as the key element in making information entertaining [and therefore more apt to be absorbed and remembered],
• as it is increasingly necessary to distinguish otherwise like products and services, and
• for reducing visual complexity to simple communications using type and/or images in a variety of formats and media

With the simultaneous broadening and specialization of practice in the profession, it is essential to provide both the opportunity to learn and understand the context of the information in a strong foundation program as well as allow for flexibility in content application as the student matures and finds his or her own way.

It is in the process of observing the student finding her or his own way, that the success of the teacher can be seen.