Design process of novice fashion design students : an educator’s reflective analysis

This paper centres around a creative design project for first-year fashion design students. This project was informed by (1) the theoretical underpinnings of design thinking, (2) a human-­centred approach to design and (3) protocol studies of novice engineering and industrial design students’ approaches to the design process. The design project assumed a design process method that focused on human beings – and their needs – as the driver for fashion design. The aim of adopting such a human‐centred method for creative design was three‐fold. Firstly, the design project aimed to create a culture and awareness of human beings and their needs as a driver for fashion design. Secondly, the project aimed to explore the design process of first-year fashion design students with regard to how they framed a design problem and design needs of human beings within a community, in an attempt to find the best possible solution. Thirdly, the design project aimed to establish whether the design process of novice fashion design students yielded similar or different results to that of empirical findings of protocol studies. In this paper, guided by the research question, which pertained to how novice fashion design students approached a human-centred design process, I offer a reflective analysis, as a fashion design educator, concerning the design process employed in this particular design project. I then compare my reflective analysis to findings from protocol studies conducted with novice engineering and industrial design students. The paper begins with a theoretical discussion of design thinking and human-­centred design. The discussion then shifts to the findings of protocol studies of novice engineering and industrial design students and their approach to the design process. Subsequently, the paper briefly contextualizes the creative design project and then focuses on my reflective analysis concerning the design methodology employed by novice fashion students drawing comparisons with the protocol studies. This research adopts a qualitative paradigm, and makes use of my detailed notes to support my reflective analysis. Based on a comparative method of analysis, I draw comparisons or differences between my reflective analysis and the findings of protocol studies. The paper contributes to the discourse on the design process, human-­centred design and design education from the perspective of fashion design and fashion design educatio

Synergy between fashion design education and fashion districts

Cities, and their inner-cities, are in constant flux. One of the reasons for this is the need to address the social and economic conditions which have resulted from the decline in manufacturing and consequent increased levels of unemployment. Regeneration is a means of addressing this problem. It requires a creative and integrated approach and necessitates developing the cultural and economic foci and resources of the city. Furthermore, regeneration also requires collaboration with various stakeholders including higher education institutions (HEIs). Internationally, cities’ attempts to regenerate and restore their cultural and economic foci have resulted in the emergence of fashion districts, particularly in cities such as New York (NY) and Los Angeles (LA). Such fashion districts have generally emerged as a result of clustering. Clusters are networks of interconnected businesses relating to a particular discipline, such as fashion. Fashion districts incorporate numerous fashion-related activities and businesses, such as textile and trims suppliers, wholesalers, design incubators, manufacturers, designers, and fashion design educational institutions. International experience with fashion districts suggests that clustering may be beneficial to the sustainability of the fashion sector. In South Africa, a similar fashion district has emerged in the inner-city of Johannesburg. However, despite the benefits that such fashion districts may present with regard to the regeneration of the fashion sector, it is imperative that various stakeholders, including HEIs, work collaboratively with these fashion districts. This need for collaboration is addressed in systems theory, which underpins this paper. The paper is located within the theoretical interplay of systems such as fashion design education and fashion districts. Systems theory suggests that all structures and components are linked together. The paper, based on a PhD study, aims to contextualise three inner-city fashion districts, namely NY, LA, and Johannesburg. The paper, therefore, describes the synergy between fashion design education and fashion districts within the theoretical framework of systems theory

Sustaining Johannesburg’s fashion design incubators : the role of fashion design education

Internationally, design incubators have emerged as a result of clustering. These design incubators serve as artist studios, or as design centers providing opportunities for young emerging entrepreneurs to acquire studio workspaces located within a cluster of similar economic activities. In South Africa, design incubators, particularly fashion design incubators, have emerged in the Johannesburg Fashion District, situated within the central business district of Johannesburg. Research conducted in 2006 established that there were a number of emerging fashion designers located within the Johannesburg Fashion District design incubators. However, interviews conducted in 2012 revealed that the number of fashion designers positioned within these design incubators had declined. This paper contextualizes the fashion design incubators within the Johannesburg Fashion District and deliberates the reasons for this decline. The paper then moves on to discuss the fundamental role of fashion design education in sustaining these fashion design incubators. The paper pursues a qualitative research paradigm employing semi-­‐structured interviews with business stakeholder participants affiliated with the fashion design incubators. A content method of data analysis categorized the raw data into themes. Two major themes emerged, namely, the factors contributing to the decline mentioned above, and the role of fashion design education. Given that fashion design incubators may support economic development and the sustainability of the fashion industry, fashion design education could play a central role in sustaining these design incubators. As such, this paper contributes to the development of sustainability within the fashion sector and the discourse of fashion design education within a South African context

A human-centered design approach to fashion design education

Abstract: Historically, design has taken place within a technology-driven design paradigm, in which the designer, based on inward-looking practice, knowledge and values, shapes material products for mass-market consumption. However, national and international design discourse is shifting towards a human-centered design paradigm that foregrounds the needs of users and positions the user as an active, collaborative participant in the design process. Aligning with this shift, there is a need for general design education to transform from an inward-looking, lone-genius ethos to one that considers inclusive, collaborative design with users. However, when it comes to fashion design education, pedagogy continues to align predominantly with a technology-driven design paradigm that fosters an inward-looking, lone-genius ethos where students design for themselves or for imagined users. This study challenges such conventional pedagogy in fashion design education, by proposing a human-centered design approach in which students are educated to become agents of change in transforming the existing design situation to a preferred one upon entering the professional world. However, fashion design education, particularly from a human-centered design approach, is an underdeveloped researched area, and it lacks academic rigor and scientific investigation. Nonetheless, such research is important given the national and international shifts in design praxis and education. The extent to which such an approach might add value to pedagogical activity within fashion design education in the South African higher education context has not been scientifically explored as yet. As such, this study aimed to explore and establish underlying design principles for a human-centered design approach and its effects to fashion design education at an urban South African higher education institution. In this study, effects refer not to cause and effect relations, but to participant views and experiences regarding the design principles of human-centered design. This aim was guided by the overarching research question: what are the pedagogical strategies and underlying design principles of a human-centered design approach and its effects to fashion design education at a higher education level? This study employed design-based research, which was selected due to the need to establish theoretical design principles with which to design and implement human-centered teaching and learning interventions within fashion...Ph.D. (Fashion Design Education

The role of assessor training in promoting reflective practice in assessment

Dr. M. Gous Ms. N. Murdoc

Teaching Values in Technology Education through Co-Design: Teaching values through co-design

Co-design pedagogy appears to be gaining momentum in technology education to counteract the critique of design education for the lack of collaborative initiatives. Hence, co-design pedagogy aligns with technology education in socially constructed values that are inter-subjective and co-constructed. Socially co-constructed values imply that technology education should pave possibilities for students to learn about and practically apply value judgments to foster futuristic change agents. Like co-design, the rationale to include values, especially moral values, in technology education has grown. Incorporating values in technology education would prevent the discipline from becoming mere technical education. The exploration of the context for designing and making is one stage in the technological process to support students’ exploration of value judgements. However, replacing the current orthodox pedagogy by ones in which values relating to technology and technology education are co-constructed rather than imposed requires investigation. This conceptual paper draws on the empirical findings of three co-design principles used to guide co-design pedagogy, which are then superimposed on the theoretical framework of values in technology and technology education.  Hence a two-fold: Firstly, it draws on the findings of three co-design principles emanating from co-design interventions in fashion education, namely: 1) users as core and inspirational source, 2) design with users, and 3) identify user needs for integration. Subsequently, the second purpose draws linkages to technology education and proposes strategies for the teaching of moral values. Thus, the overarching research question is: How can co-design design principles be linked to and inform strategies for teaching moral values in technology education?  The three co-design principles emanated from qualitative design-based research embedded in an interpretive paradigm via social constructivist methods. Following that, the linkages were a result of a superposition of the co-design principles on the theoretical framework of values in technology education. The said superposition could be instrumental in reviving the stagnant framework as a contribution for technology education