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. ^
It is then, based on that premise, within the realm of responsibility for each course structure and problem presentation to spark an interest in culture and society—to help students see the role of communication in personal, social and political situations.Too often the use of the computer in the classroom has become the beginning and ending of the commonly practiced curricula, promoting such software applications such as Adobe® Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, or InDesign, Microsoft® Office with Word, Excel, Access, Power Point, and Outlook, or Macromedia® Director, Dreamweaver, or Flash and the like, as the subject matter to be taught in college-level courses while the true body of knowledge (composition, color, structure, communication theory, needs and involvement of the user, budget concerns and affordability, resources, environmental conservation, typography, problem-solving methodology, professional practices, etc.) has been pushed aside. ^
As facilitators in the learning process is time to once again analyze and outline the content and structure of visual education, and look for ways to integrate the use of technology as just that, with the process of creating or generating new figures and forms. Despite efforts to establish the roots of design thinking in the fine arts, the natural sciences, or most recently the social sciences, the practice of design eludes reduction and remains a surprisingly flexible set of activities. Although a simple concept in the minds of those who purchase the services of professional graphic designers, the diversity of the profession and education has expanded to include symbol and Identity systems, Information Design, Publication and Print Design, Book Design, Computer Graphics and Interactive Media Design, Film and Video Graphics, Package Design, Environmental Signage and Graphics, Exhibition and Display Design, Advertising and Type Design. ^
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 and services 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.