The Shape of Design by Frank Chimero

Book that will be out late 2011

I’ve been teaching for the past 5 years, and I’ve always been a bit frustrated that there isn’t a nice, concise book that overviews the mental state of a successful designer while they go through their creative process. For instance, many say that graphic design is visual communication. A cornerstone of communication is storytelling, and yet you’d be hard-pressed to find any discussion of how to tell stories with design in any design book. This should be remedied.

There are new challenges in the world that need to be discussed, and I think design is a prime lens to consider these topics. As our world moves faster and as things become less stable, it becomes more important for individuals to embrace ambiguity, understand paradox, and realize that two things can conflict and still somehow both be true. We must realize that logic doesn’t always work, and that sometimes nonsense is the best answer. These are the topics I intend to address in the book.

The Shape of Design isn’t going to be a text book. The project will be focused on Why instead of How. We have enough How; it’s time for a thoughtful analysis of our practice and its characteristics so we can better practice our craft. After reading the book, I want you to look at what you do in a whole new light. Design is more than working for clients.

Natacha Poggio: Design Global Change

designglobalchange.virb.com

Met her at the STIR symposium in Columbus, OH on October 8, 2011:
This studio-in-a-school does social design projects worldwide. Natacha Poggio teams up with engineers, scientists, and other experts to find the right way to lead GD students along the path of completion of social design projects. They’ve done a clean water education campaign in India, women’s safety in Kenya, and an MLK mural in Hartford, CO. These are cross-cultural and design-driven — we should interview her!

She spoke about the challenge of doing complex projects like this within a class structure at school. Projects can take up to 3 semesters to complete. Some students participate for one semester only, while others repeat the class just to see the project through to completion.

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WATER FOR INDIA 2009
http://designglobalchange.virb.com/waterforindia
Engineers WIthout Borders student chapter at University of Hartford:
http://www.ewb-hpc.org/india 

In January 2009, Hartford Art School Professor Natacha Poggio and a team of five Art & Design students traveled to Abheypur, India to implement the Water for India sanitation campaign.
Water for India aims to convey the importance of cleanliness, sharing, and respect for water resources. During the January 09 trip, the team painted a mural at the girls’ primary school and distributed coloring books with sanitation tips as well as t-shirts with the campaign logo.

This project stemmed from a collaboration with the Engineers without Borders student chapter at the University of Hartford. It is interdisciplinary in it’s foundation. The

 

 

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Evergreen

“Demonstrate integrative, independent, critical thinking.

“A successful Evergreen graduate will have the ability to appreciate and critically evaluate a range of topics, across academic disciplines. As you explore these disciplines, you will develop a greater curiosity toward the world around you, and its interconnections, that will enhance your skills as an independent, critical thinker.

Apply qualitative, quantitative and creative modes of inquiry appropriately to practical and theoretical problems across disciplines.

A successful Evergreen graduate will understand the importance of the relationship between analysis and synthesis. Through being exposed to the arts, sciences and humanities, and coming to your own critical understanding of their interconnectedness, you will learn to apply appropriate skills and creative ways of thinking to the major questions that confront you in your life.”

Excerpt from the Evergreen College page. An example of a College the works across disciplines in all courses, all classes are team taught.

d school at Stanford

“In a time when there is hunger for innovation everywhere, we think our primary responsibility is to help prepare a generation of students to rise with the challenges of our times. We define what it means to be a d.school student broadly, and we support “students” of design thinking who range from kindergarteners to senior executives. Our deliberate mash-up of industry, academia and the big world beyond campus is a key to our continuing evolution.”

dschool.stanford.edu

Would be interesting to look at how colleges and universities teach interdisciplinary courses.