My biggest concern with design education has been, and remains to date, is that design schools primarily remain way too focussed on satisfying current market employment needs. Students as well as the colleges in general look at the short term and ignore the long term repercussions of this narrow approach.
I cannot say enough times how important it is for the design professional of the future to have a diverse broader world vision and an ability to manoeuvre an ever changing landscape of the future.
There are four broad categories of futures, the 4Ps as they are referred to: the possible, plausible, probable, and preferred futures.
We should, as design educators, be focussing on the kind of future we would prefer to see. Have a more long term vision. It’s difficult , I get it, as it’s the short term that gets the bucks in, for the institutions and the graduates. But there should be at least a 25-30% component where we are making sure our students are geared to be better world citizens with a desire to do ‘good’ through their professional practice and otherwise.
Design, and in turn designers, have power to change the world (or any aspect of it); by changing the way people think, or by influencing the way people act.
Graphic designers have always been aware that their designs could be used to manipulate people. Design history has many examples of propaganda design, which has been and continues to be a powerful tool, shaping public opinion and influencing societal norms. In the realm of graphic design, propaganda plays a critical role, utilising visual elements to convey strong messages. Propaganda’s roots can be traced back to early history, but it became especially prominent during the World Wars. Governments used posters to boost morale, recruit soldiers, and garner public support. Iconic images like Uncle Sam’s “I Want You” and the British “Keep Calm and Carry On” are prime examples of how graphic design was harnessed for these purposes. Ok sorry I am deviating here, but my point being that yes we designers have the power.
Imagine instead of recruiting soldiers at the time of say WW1, posters were created to not send in your men to fight. I know a Eutopian idea, but in the current stare of our world, it’s worth exploring.
Anyway coming back to my concern of the direction of design education today, as I feel it is at a critical juncture where it must evolve to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world. As we face global challenges such as climate change, social inequality, and technological disruption, the role of designers is becoming increasingly important. Design education today needs to take into account the preferred future and focus on how designers can make this world a better place.
In my next blog I will future elucidate on some key points on how we can do so and try to map it out in relation to the 4P’s
We always talk about bridging the gap between classrooms and careers, do we also, simultaneously if not increasingly, need to bridge the gap between the classroom and the world we reside in?
