Hi:
Very nice and relevant discussion. Thanks!
In agreement with Don, it is the case that in many contemporary design practices, such as with digital media, the so-called 'content' that you are referring to Alison, is expressed in a mathematical format. And in order to participate in the discussions and negotiations, there is a need to be conversant in mathematics. Consider for example the creation of a series of special effects for a movie, such as rendering fire or water where the knowledge is based on physics.
Still, what I find it interesting that in our program, that is interdisciplinary, the engineers seek to enroll in drawing classes and the artists seek to enroll in courses where they learn about programming. So there is a need for reaching both ends of the spectrum, from the extremely formal to the embodied experiential knowledge. This is one of the challenges to becoming a designer. And this is also relevant to Jonas point regarding the importance of studio education: What is the design studio education about in the 21st century?
Best regards,
Lily Díaz
On 6.10.2011, at 12.41, ALISON BARNES wrote:
> Hi Rob
>
> Nice to hear from you, and always good to get another graphic design
> perspective.
>
> With regard to design educators who don't draw or make, I was chatting to an
> Australian colleague recently who expressed concern that if all new
> appointments in Australia (as seems to be the current thinking) demanded a
> PhD, then there was a danger that graphic design courses would find
> themselves short of educators who could actually 'do'. I would be no means
> subscribe to dishing up so much 'theory' that students' pencils remained
> unused, I think it's absolutely important to get the balance right and
> engage them in both theory and practice—preferably with the two inextricably
> linked via their studio projects.
>
> Also, I often think of graphic design as like a vaccuum - it is empty in
> itself, and that vaccuum is only filled when one has content to work with.
> Given that on most projects that content is not usually graphic design
> based, but could be anything from banking to bowling, it seems it is, in
> some ways, inherently interdisciplinary and therefore perhaps that is why we
> have an ability to understand and work in a broad range of settings and
> with a range of collaborators. Just ruminating, not a completely formed
> theory...
>
> Hope all good in Loughborough,
> Alison
>
> On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 5:21 PM, Robert Harland <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> I therefore don't identify with much of what Don is saying. If design
>> education needs to change, we may need to carefully manage the expectations
>> of those who assume designers can 'draw' what they, as surveyors, bankers,
>> etc, can't. Perhaps 'designers' or 'design educators' who don't draw, make,
>> call it what you will, should colonise a different space. Maybe that's a bit
>> contentious, even defensive.
>>
>>
>>
>> Regards, Rob.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Dr Robert Harland | Lecturer | School of the Arts | School of the Arts,
>> English and Drama | Loughborough University
>> http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/sota/staff/robert-harland.htm<
>> http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/sota/staff/robert-harland.html>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> * * *
>
> Dr. Alison Barnes
>
> School of Graphic Design, LCC
> University of the Arts, London
>
> www.alisonbarnesonlineportfolio.tumblr.com
> http://informationenvironments.academia.edu/AlisonBarnes/About
> http://geo-graphic.blogspot.com/
----------------------------------------------------
Dr. Lily Diaz
Professor of Systems of Representation
and Digital Cultural Heritage
Head of Research
Department of Media
Aalto University, School of Art & Design
Finland
+ 358 9 47030 338
+ 358 9 470 555 (FAX)
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