Building history and theory into your studio courses for better results
Many design programs have a tendency to separate design history and theory from studio classes, when the two really work hand and hand together to build a framework for our design students and their learning. Taking a cookie cutter approach and separating your research and writing activities from your hands-on studio work can put them at a dis-advantage for their future where their profession requires such critical thinking.
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As Raein describes, history and theory was historically inserted into graphic design programs to seemingly legitimize studio practice as a true academic endeavor. Building this historical context by separating design students into lecture halls and having them write essays on the history and theory of design creates an atmosphere where the two do not have any relationship to one another. Great your students can talk and write about Gestalt Principles but once in the studio they are not employed in their work. The distance between the two becomes too great and the connections between design history, theory and critical thinking becomes just another class that designers have to take.
On the other hand, studio teaching is all about doing, where students can play and explore, interacting with learning in an experiential way. They complain about the memorization, writing and the linear methods employed in their history classes, not realizing the connections that can be made. Then when they come to their thesis work, we ask them to do 20-30% in theoretical research that they must tie back to their topic. To solve this disconnection, educators need to begin integrating practice and research as one, giving students the tools to solve problems through active learning.
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In the first years of design education, we can look at how research and critical thinking can help students develop the ability to build a dialog around and through their work. When they embark on the development of their first identity, or exploring the structure and visual communication of type, there is history and research employed to support the studio exploration. We can help students build these skills and connect it to their studio work by making sure it is a part of their exploratory process. Students start with a visual problem and must employ multiple strategies to come to a solution. In the case of brand development, company histories, market developments, historical approaches by designers to similar brands or products, the study of cultural meaning can all interplay with the creation of the artifact.
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The part that is missing is recording this research and critical thinking outside of the students’ final work. We spend so much time on the visual development that the initial exploratory work gets left as an aside, lost in “doing” of the thumbnails and mood boards. Instituting writing as a criteria within studio projects that supports critical thinking and the students narrative of research will begin to bridge the divide.
Integration of studio and theory in the teaching of graphic design
RAEIN, MAZLAR; , 2004
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Teaching Graphic Design: Course Offerings and Class Projects from the leading Undergraduate and Graduate Programs
EDITED BY STEVEN HELLER, 2003
Syllabi examples from leading design schools for inspiration
Steven Heller is a veteran educator with decades of experience to bring to the table. He has worked on multiple publications on the topic of graphic design education and during this time he has gathered submissions of syllabi to support his writings. He became fascinated by the different approaches to the fundamental coursework that exists at the foundations of most graphic design programs. As he states, some contained just small variations but there were some that presented innovative and new techniques that were supported by the thought process of the instructor.
Note that the syllabus as described by Heller is the fundamental building block to design education and much thought, blood, sweat and tears is involved in their creation. If you are relatively new to education you may have experienced extreme stress over creating this roadmap to your course, its outcomes and its effect on the program as a whole. Reading between the lines of Heller’s book, I do not think that this ever changes.
Heller wrote this book to inspire educators just like us who are looking for new ways to present material and help your students’ progress through their learning. We start out most of the time mimicking things we have learned form, whether that be classes we had in college or opportunities and learning we experienced in our design careers. With little exposure to anything else, this book allows the opportunity to peer into the workings of other successful design educators, doing their thing and inspiring students.
Heller divides the work in to undergraduate and graduate classes, but the most extensive is the undergraduate section. This is further divided into years running chronologically from 1st - 4th year. Foundation courses in graphic design, visual communications, and typography at multiple are presented. The detail of each syllabus varies, but it always includes the introduction or purpose, readings, weekly breakdowns and projects or activities. The one downfall is there was not enough room to include visuals to project outcomes and since we work in a visual field, this would help support the project descriptions.
There are also some more unique course syllabus presented such as design for music, game design, web design for e-commerce, flash, exhibition design and other non-traditional course. Even though the book was published in 2003 and much has changed in the web /new media since then, the basic foundation of the courses are very useful.
If you are not interested yet in picking up a copy of Heller’s book, I will leave you with a partial example of what you will find:
Course Title: Typography I
Instructor: Kali Nikitas
School: Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Purpose: This class will examine basic typography as a compositional tool; the architecture of type from the single letterform to the entire page layout.
Objective: Upon completion of this class, students will have a clear understanding of hierarchy and typographic form. Development of functional and visually engaging compositions using any volume of type in a given space.
Nikitas goes on to supply the methodology and the assignments and projects that occur throughout this one semester course. She also includes reading and research assignments and well as the different styles of critiques she uses throughout the semester as well as student expectations.
The syllabuses presented are not necessarily the answer to all you problems or a magical tool to make your program better. It does offer inspiration and pieces of a puzzle that you still have to put together. Using these as a framework can build confidence in your own curriculum development.