17 September 14:15 Room D109

Developing Students' Online Illustration Identities

Shelley Jackson Texas State University

As a communication design graduate of many years ago, I had a strong desire to become an illustrator, but absolutely no idea how to begin a freelance career. This was before every student was online and every illustrator had a website. Yet, as an illustration instructor, I have found that even today, my communication design students who long to become illustrators—with strong design backgrounds and usually three to four illustration courses—still enter the workforce identifying as students rather than aspiring illustrators.

Challenges that I have directly observed are a lack of connection to any illustration community and lack of confidence in their illustration voice. This occurs even though students are incredibly web savvy—or perhaps as a result of it. For example, students can readily explore their favorite illustrator’s web presence and feel overwhelmed by the self-imposed pressure to duplicate that presence. Although there are myriad ways to elevate a student’s illustration skills and confidence, this study focuses on tools and methodologies that will develop the student’s online identity, which will in turn develop the student’s illustration skills and confidence. This is not only relevant to students while pursuing their degree, but also teaches them how to continue advancing their portfolios and careers post-graduation.

This lecture will demonstrate that introducing students to an array of digital resources, incorporating web-based challenges into the illustration curriculum, and encouraging participation in the online illustration community will enable them to enter the workforce with the identity of novice—but professional—illustrators. Lecture topics will include issues such as the ideal illustration student’s online identity versus the ideal professional freelance illustrator’s online identity, and the evolution of the former to the latter; an artist’s personal versus professional online identity, where the two meet and advising students on best practices; and techniques to encourage independent student engagement. This lecture will also include project examples and recommended online resources. Research methodologies include case study, student and faculty interviews, and scholarly resources.

If we want our illustration (or other art or design) students to succeed, we need for them to identify as the artists that they aspire to become. They need to be able to navigate the freelance community and have a positive online identity that can lead to a successful career. There’s a global marketplace just waiting for our communication design students to find their niche among it. It’s up to us to show them how.

Multidisciplinary Design Online: Shaping an adaptable undergraduate curriculum

Gary Chinn Penn State University

Multidisciplinary curricula in the arts and design disciplines present formidable challenges to cohesive program development. Given the variety of teaching approaches and subject-specific terminology, designing truly integrated collections of courses that span disciplines takes a vigorous, coordinated effort and a collective will from the academic areas involved. Online learning as an instructional modality introduces yet another layer of complexity to any multidisciplinary academic effort, as technology becomes an additional consideration to meaningful integration.

The Pennsylvania State University is endeavoring to design and develop a multidisciplinary Bachelor of Design degree in Digital Multimedia Design (DMD). The proposed program involves academic leadership from the College of Arts & Architecture (A&A), the College of Communication (COMM), and the College of Information Sciences & Technology (IST). The DMD, planned for release in Spring of 2017, will begin as a fully online academic experience; all coursework, assignments, activities, and interactions will take place within the framework of eLearning.

Program Description

A central feature of the DMD is the blend of learning styles, thinking modalities and outcome measures that would reflect diverse, yet fully integrated multidisciplinary experiences. Combining the inherent logic of digital systems, the explanatory richness of communication theories, and the problem finding and problem solving attitude of arts-based inquiry, would ensure that students develop robust yet flexible habits of mind. When framed around project-based, purpose-driven inquiry the curriculum itself would be dynamic and responsive to individual interests in concert with content constraints.

Building on the “practice fields” pedagogical approach detailed by Barab & Duffy (2012), the program will focus heavily on activities & assignments that include essential dimensions like student ownership of inquiry, addressing ill-structured problems, and opportunities for student reflection. What is the Curriculum ‘Shape?’ Due to the DMD undergraduate degree being conceived as an alliance among A&A, COMM, and IST, this suggests that the curriculum will be adaptive rather than monolithic, and in keeping with the model of learning described above, it will be dynamic rather than static.

As such, at least three structural themes can be identified. These are ‘docking,’ ‘vertical lift,’ and ‘threading.’ Curriculum ‘docking’ indicates that there are core conceptions that characterize curriculum assumptions and agreements such as notions of student learning, content structures, learning sequences, essential skills, assessment strategies, and the like. The ‘vertical life’ of a curriculum refers to the overall scope and sequence of courses that subscribe to a generic introductory, intermediate and capstone structure. Introductory experiences orient students to the dimension of the program while meeting institutional breadth requirements.

Finally, the multidisciplinary scope of the content, and the multimedia modes of production that drives the program, is glued together by consistent threads of learning that weave throughout the program from the outset. So of these threads might be theoretical, historical or cultural content, thinking and making methodologies, special themes or topics of contemporary content, industry links (e.g. outreach, internships) and similar themes. What is Digital Media? Digital media refers to the storage and transmission of information in increasingly varied multimedia digital formats and devices, and a changing array of modes of communication. Being ‘literate’ in digital communication means to be able to translate content into a range of digital forms. Using digital media as means of creative production integrates design thinking and technology and transforms ideas and skills into forms of expression and communication.

Towards a more inclusive design education

Jeff Davis School of Art and Design, Texas State University

Design education programs continue to advance new ideas and technologies across the breadth of higher education in order to serve new demands and emerging media. At the same time, increasing demand and value for designers, and design, in professional pursuits elevates the profile of the discipline. In many ways, the field resembles what Randy Swearer, Provost of Philadelphia University, described in 2010 as the “liberal art for the 21st Century.” However, for design to truly emerge as a potent force for change and innovation, design education must also evolve. It must transcend the limited silo of professional practice and become inclusive across a diverse array of disciplines both within and beyond the scope of higher education. There are three converging factors that make this an ideal time to address design education in a more inclusive fashion:

The definition of design is evolving beyond simple aesthetics
Design’s relevance is expanding rapidly into business, technology, and social initiatives.
Traditional approaches to design education lack the agility to address the growing need for design education across broader contexts.

E-learning offers enhanced opportunity to integrate design-centered education experiences to meet this demand. Already, the private sector responds with its own initiatives to broaden access to design knowledge. These include:

IBM Design Camps—weeklong seminars for non-designers in the company
Public online design frameworks such as Google Materials Design and the IBM Design Language
“The Grid” an algorithm-based system utilizing artificial intelligence to automate design of websites

To meet these new challenges, the field must consider new proposals:

Redefine design knowledge as a core skill across multiple disciplines
Embrace e-learning not only to deliver content, but also build community
Integrate technology into experiential learning environments that drive cross-disciplinary collaboration

Roger Martin stated that to compete “CEOs shouldn’t just think like designers; they must be designers” as the trajectory of design and innovation converge. Design educators need to embrace the agility of the innovation age, and design a new and inclusive approach to broaden not just access to, but comfort with the language and practice of design. Designers must shed the tendency to create insular communities and aesthetic artifacts, and embrace an era in which a diverse array of individuals each contributes to the design of more complex and meaningful systems. It’s not only a more relevant future for design, but also a more human one.