Realizations: Graphic Design Program design
As I was going through all this reflection and trying to dig really deep in what I did in my design I came to point where I realized that the actual program that I had put together was not built for the type of students enrolling at the school. Because of the variety in the students’ majors most of the students taking a graphic design course were not design majors. I was envisaging a program that could really push the boundaries in design education by not only promoting some sort of deep learning in the design process, but also to bring to private institutions a higher level of graphic design program which in my mind then, was to focus on building the course base and not necessarily the content, teaching and analysis of the courses.
If I were to design a curriculum that was scheduled as a one year program how and why would students coming from North American universities integrate into the program? My new program essentially would work much better for Italian/European students looking for a one-year intensive program to be introduced to the graphic design industry. Looking back now, I really don’t see how a student of a graphic design major would want to take a this type of a program when they probably would be offered the same thing back at their home uni. Perhaps, if the program was not geared towards a linear process schedule (i.e. 1 semester to 2 semester) and offered highly specialized courses in European graphic design, the industry, practice and research maybe their could have been more interest. Students could apply by portfolio and be selected to join a design research team for a one year study abroad program in Europe. An example of this is Benneton’s Fabrica.
Fabrica is a design research and communication centre based in Italy. Funded my Beneton, young design students compete every year to become a fully sponsored member for one year. During that year, designers of all mediums come together and work on a large range of highly visible projects in a research environment.
Another possibility could be taking into consideration the students majors and that most students enrolled for one semester and they were not design students, the design of a new curriculum could have been just a re-design of how I was teaching the ‘digital imaging’ course. A reevaluation and analysis of the current courses could have been all that what needed. There I could have focused my skills in building some research and reflection into the project-based course perhaps through some evaluation methods.