I'm currently teaching a course titled "Modern Design Theory"
I am finding it impossible to introduce the concepts of 'modernism', 'design' and 'theory' and to students born after 1990, without some sort of mention of design's historical roots dating back to 1500 AD and the beginning of the Modern era. I've also had to differentiate modern social theory (macro) with that of practical theory (micro).
The first half of the semester is all about historical context (i.e art movements, world wars, mass production, corporate communication, consumerism et al). The second half will be about exposure to what is currently being used and experimented with today (i.e design thinking, online education, globalization, sustainability, experience design, 3D printing, renewable energy, environmental and resource limits et al).
I believe it is possible and necessary to compress the two subjects of history and its studies together into one course in order for students to understand where design has been and then be able to add value to the current design zeitgeist upon their graduation.
The continued compression of design's history, methods and its theories as they are increasingly spread wider and applied to more and more of today's issues, is tremendously facilitated by technology and its ability to add and edit information to design's ever growing online dialogue and database.
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