Communication Design: Insights from the Creative Industries (Book Review)

Review of "Communication Design: Insights from the Creative Industries", Derek Yates and Jessie Price (2015) London: Bloomsbury, 208 pp., ISBN: 9781472531674

Here be dragons: students’ accounts of mapping graphic design and the expanded field

Graphic design is an increasingly heterogeneous and expanding field that extends from professional practice into areas of cultural production, social change and critical design. However, many graphic design students view professional practice as the edges of the subject. A previous study of graphic design students’ conceptions of the discipline (Corazzo 2015) identified a range of hierarchally situated conceptions from the: acquisition of design skills to the transformative potential of graphic design as a means to change. The study argued that only the more sophisticated view of the discipline would enable students to integrate ideas of graphic design and the expanded field. To address this challenge a project was introduced that asked a cohort of 103 second year undergraduate graphic design students to individually map graphic design practice as a means to develop a relational and situated understanding of its increasing heterogeneity. Drawing on interviews and observations, actor-network theory was used to trace how the intervention ‘performed’ by paying close attention to how the materiality of learning ‘translated’ students conceptions’ of graphic design. Despite some resistance at first, mapping became a means to understand graphic design as multiple overlapping fields of intentions rather than a single entity (governed by commerciality). An actor-network approach offers some useful descriptions on the role of materiality in design pedagogy and the ways this mobilized graphic design knowledge

Materialising the Studio. A systematic review of the role of the material space of the studio in Art, Design and Architecture Education

In art, design and architecture education, the ideal of learning together is intimately bound up with the notion of the studio as a space where students learn alongside (or under the guidance of) an ‘expert’ tutor (Schon 1987). This is a cherished and central tenet of art, design and architecture education, and a large body of research literature has developed exploring the various dimensions of students and tutors learning together in the studio. However, in an era of managerialism and the massification of higher education, the status of the art, design and architecture studio is increasingly precarious. And although the literature on studio-based pedagogy continues to grow, little directly addresses the role of material space and its contribution to learning. There is, then, a need to articulate the role of the material space of the studio in art, design and architecture education. To address this, a systematic review of the literature was undertaken to identify the major discussions of material space in studio-based education. The process identified 38 peer-reviewed empirical studies of the art, design or architecture educational studio where at least some attention to the material space formed part of the study. A grounded theory analysis of the 38 studies identified six major themes on the role of the material space of the studio in education. The goal of this study is to enrich our understanding of learning in art, design and architecture by examining the contribution of the material space of the studio to educational processes. In particular, by looking at the how the material space of the studio is discussed and conceptualised in the literature on art, design and architecture education. This study extends the idea of ‘learning together’. Moving beyond the ‘heroics’ and flesh and blood of ‘expert’ tutors and students. It considers how the studio itself is part of the process of learning together

In the midst of things: a spatial account of teaching in the design studio

The role of the material space of the studio is underarticulated in design pedagogy, despite the studio being distinctive and central to design education. This underarticulation represents challenges when defending space and its occupation, designing new studio spaces and for those interested in ways in which the material space of the studio can enhance learning experiences. In this paper, I argue that spatial accounts of learning and teaching can begin to address this underarticulated and under-researched area of design education. Specifically, this paper develops spatial accounts by focusing on design tutors’ experiences and practices of teaching in the studio. Using ethnographic mapping and interviews with design tutors to show embodied and spatial accounts of teaching in the design studio offer new lenses with which to understand design education teaching practices

Studio through studio: A diffractive reading of the educational design studio

This article aims to unsettle familiar notions of the educational design studio by examining how it is different from the professional studio. Both settings share similar routines, practices, and physical features, however, I argue their operations differ in critical ways. By bringing attention to these differences, I hope to open up new perspectives on how learning happens in educational studios and make a case for further material and spatial accounts of learning. I will draw on empirical accounts of professional studios from the book Studio Studies. Wilkie and Farias identify the studio as a sociologically significant yet overlooked setting for understanding how creativity happens. They implore researchers to take materials, spaces, and routines seriously to enrich our understanding of what takes place in studios. Through a close reading of Studio Studies, I identify five critical aspects of the professional studio: 1) the outside; 2) gathering; 3) material intimacy; 4) boundary-making practices and; 5) making. Taking each aspect in turn, I examine how they do or do not appear in accounts of contemporary educational studios. The intention is to provide new frames for studying the educational studio and develop enriched accounts of how learning happens in the studio

The Photobook Multiple

The Photobook Multiple In this talk I want to explore the idea that making a photobook is not the making of one book, but many books. It is the artist’s photobook, the publisher’s photobook, the designer’s photobook, perhaps even the editor’s photobook and the printer’s photobook. Creating a photobook is not the making of one photobook, but the making of many photobooks – the photobook multiple. Such an approach raises a number of questions: if we accept such multiplicity how does the photobook(s) emerge as a stable thing? How do multiple photobook ‘worlds’ find common ground or connect in ways that gets the photobook making done? Does such an approach open up different possibilities for thinking about making photobooks? Can it offer ways to frame pedagogical approaches to the making of photobooks

Graphic design students’ conceptions of the discipline in an era of expanded design

In this paper I will argue undergraduate graphic design curricula are becoming increasingly contested spaces. One site of contestation is between the calls to reconsider curricula in response to the changing context in which graphic design operates (an era of expanded design) and the emphasis on graphic design education leading to professional practice. Whilst there is a plethora of literature that examines the changing context and the implications for education, it tends to underplay the powerful and often assumed focus of graphic design education leading to professional practice. However, the reality for many courses is that both dimensions co-exist but are rarely made explicit to students. This paper draws on empirical data in an attempt to explore the implications of this contestation on graphic design students’ conceptions of the discipline. Phenomenographic analysis of interviews conducted with graphic design students on a UK undergraduate programme revealed five qualitatively different conceptions of graphic design ranging from; the application of skills; to a means to create change. These conceptions are then considered in light of the changing context in which graphic design operates. In conclusion, I argue the findings have implications for how we frame the possible and differing intentions of graphic design to students. In particular, if the framing is implicit it may limit some students’ access to the full possibilities of the curriculum. I will finish by sharing current research that uses mapping to make the range of intentions graphic design can inhabit explicit to students