Graphic Design & Visual Art

The Betterness of Braamfontein

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

In this paper, we argue that the current environmental information system of Braamfontein is problematic as it is ethically unconsidered and overwhelmingly bias towards the interests of commercial  stakeholders  -  over  those  of  the  residents,  workers,  students  and  visitors.  While  a business is justified to act in a conceited manner, we believe that information provided to the public in a public space needs to be more utilitarian, servicing the needs of the majority over those of the few.

Towards human-centered design solutions: Stakeholder participation during brief development

AuthorInstitution
Carstens, LizetteVega School

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

"...the [designer's] task is to design for the individual placed in his or her immediate context." (Buchanan 1998, p. 20)

This  paper  about  a  graphic  design  case  study  discusses  the  positive  impact  of  stakeholder participation during the problem-setting phase of the design process on the designer's ability to reframe the design problem and to conceptualise human-centered design solutions that add value and enrich people's everyday lives.

Interactions: shaping the places we inhabit

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

A.W. Sprin’s definition of landscape as a process of the “mutual shaping of people and places” implies that the inhabitants of any space are implicated in, but also susceptible to, the shaping of their surroundings. This paper examines such interactions by theorising landscape as embodied, individuated experience of place in relation to representations of landscape. The Vaal Metropolitan area is reflected on in terms of the researcher’s experience of place, where experience of place refers to the consideration of direct (multi-­‐sensory) perception, memories and prior knowledge as well as imaginings of place. This understanding of experience of place is based on a combination of theories of place from the writings of Edward Casey, J.B.

The Problem with Plagiarism

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

This study examines the concept of visual plagiarism within a contemporary cultural context shaped by postmodern design theory and the digital information age, as a challenging concern for tertiary level graphic design education.

This paper does not condone plagiarism, however it asks design lecturers to reconsider taken-for-granted assumptions that students operate in an unambiguous environment of 'wrong' and 'right' when it comes to the concept of visual plagiarism. It seems that graphic design students find it increasingly difficult to navigating the grey areas between plagiarism, appropriation, homage, inspiration, 'referencing, coincidence and 'accident'.

Creating a Community of Assessment Practice for Graphic Design through the use of E-portfolios

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

An area that currently challenges and will continue to challenge design education in the future is that of assessment. Current research in design assessment has identified approaches such as a holistic assessment, designed to evaluate product, person and process (de le Harpe et al., 2009) and authentic assessment both of which move towards a more learner-centered and process concentrated approach. With these changes come new challenges for design educators to substantiate and validate what they do when it comes to the assessment of student work.

Considering "design with intent" within graphic design at a University of Technology

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

Although based in various design disciplines the concept of user centred design (UCD) and "design with intent" has been linked to the notion of "human-centred principles", "design for behavioural change", "persuasion technologies" and "interaction design" at international design institutions for some time.

Understanding how user behaviour can influence technological solutions is critical for designers wishing to effectively tackle social issues such as eco-solutions, effective wayfinding design as well as the design of information brochures/pamphlets. Designers influence behaviour from a distance through the creative products and services that are produced based on their understanding of user behaviour.

Are we there yet? Graphic design‘s next destinations

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

The diverse tautology applied to graphic design means different things depending on the perspective from which it is viewed and has become the topic for much debate in recent times. This is of particular relevance to the tertiary educational arena in South Africa, where universities (including Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) which provides the context for this paper) are faced with the dual spectres of programme re-curriculation and Higher Education Qualifications Framework (HEQF)1 level compliancy in the near future and graphic design programmes will have to reconsider their relevance in a changing/changed educational and business paradigm.

Using Educational Research Results To Improve Graphics For Instructional Material

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

Graphic designers and illustrators intuitively believe that their graphic embellishments such as pictures, photographs and graphics will aid a learner when they use instructional material. The results of empirical studies however indicate that graphic embellishments have a limited effect and only contribute to learning under very specific conditions.

Nurturing The Personal And The Intuitive In The Design Studio

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

The design process, like all creative activities, involves both rational aspects and other less easily-explicable non-rational aspects, such as the roles of intuition, imagination and personal insight. There are therefore different ways of knowing and learning involved in teaching design.

Negating the Serif: Postcolonial Approaches toTypeface Design

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

The practice and the teaching of Typography in South Africa has yet to undergo radical or substantive changes in light of the multiple shifts and developments in critical thinking that has taken place in Academia and contemporary visual practice in recent years. While contemporaneous thinking has “ forced a change “ in many disciplines in light of the Postmodern, Post Colonial and other “Post” posturing that challenge the dominance of Europe and the West as the centre, very little of the core imperatives of these schools of thought has found its way into the development and thinking around Typography in South Africa save a few seminal books and teachers.

Making Space For Identity, Diversity And Voice In A Transcultural Visual Arts Community Of Practice

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

There is national and institutional pressure to transform education, to revisit curriculums and approaches to teaching and learning and to address issues around dominant worldviews, inclusiveness and diversity. Visual arts lecturer practitioners, like other academics, are being challenged to respond.

We know that the students entering our programmes, in all their growing diversity, provide new challenges, bringing with them as they do different and often complex social, cultural and familial identities, some of which they leave, wittingly or unwittingly, willingly or unwillingly, at the door, as they look to conform to the expectations of the disciplinary communities.

The Use of Technical Drawing Methods to Generate 3-D Form

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

Generally speaking technical drawing methods e.g. isometric and orthographic views are used for presentation of form and design idea. Systematically used these methods can yield fantastic results serving as a tool in the form and design generation / development process. In various product domains, especially where sheer aesthetic appeal or plurality of form is more important than functionality or utility; development of form family, variations on theme, etc. are the main design activity. This way of working will serve as an effective tool in cases where the design development process is confined mostly to the paperwork only but the product demands or has a scope for 3-Dimensional thinking e.g. industrial jewelry design.

Towards a new Master’s Degree in Graphic Design for the Durban University of Technology.

Author
Carey, Piers

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

This presentation will report on progress made in the development of a new Master’s degree structure in Graphic Design at the Durban University of Technology.

The Future of Written Text in Art & Design Education

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

The predominant focus of contemporary Art and Design education is visual, rather than written, communication. This paper explores recent shifts in Art and Design curricula, which have brought students’ engagement with the written word to a bare minimum. Drawing on my recent experience teaching at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (CSM), Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton (WSA) and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), I will discuss how the written word may begin to take up a more productive place in Art and Design teaching.

 

Lebanese Graphic Design, a Homogeneous Hybrid

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

We hear of “Swiss Graphic Design”, “American Graphic Design”, “Dutch Graphic Design”, “Tokyo Graphics”, … but no such thing as a Lebanese school of Design. Lebanese graphic design today is an amalgam of various influences, carried along in the educational baggage of academia and faculty teaching this discipline in the various universities across the country.

Ideas for Integrating Sustainability into Graphic Design Pedagogy: American Case Studies

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

This Article provides an initial overview of the professional graphic designers’ negative environmental impact and why their method of design for planned obsolescence must change. It argues thereafter that the American university graphic design curriculum should evolve to include an initial discussion of sustainability through a required studio design course on the topic.

Other Wise: Towards a Meeting of Graphic Design and Indigenous Knowledge

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

This paper will discuss selected issues of transformation and Graphic Design education at the Department of Graphic Design, Durban University of Technology (DUT), and draw preliminary conclusions from recent research. It will begin by discussing the context in which both transformation and Graphic Design education take place at this institution, particularly with regard to the pressures of Globalisation.

It will then discuss certain problems of the relationship between Graphic Design and Indigenous Knowledge, and suggest some methodologies derived from recent projects in our department, as possible ways forward. The Indigenous Knowledge of the amaZulu people is the source consulted in this case.

Terra Incognita: Mapping a Regional Design History in South Africa

Keywords: 

Discipline: 

Graphic Design & Visual Art

The paper will start by discussing some aspects of the state of History of Graphic Design. These will include approaches to teaching the subject, the place of research at Technikons, and then, particularly, the question of African content in the discipline. This will refer to historical rather than contemporary material.

Pages

DEFSA conferences

DEFSA promotes relevant research with the focus on design + education through its biennial conferences, to promote professionalism, accountability and ethics in the education of young designers. Our next conference is a hybrid event. See above for details.

Critical skills endorsement

Professional Members in good standing can receive a certificate of membership, but DEFSA cannot provide confirmation or endorsement of skills whatsoever. DEFSA only confirm membership of DEFSA which is a NPO for Design Education in South Africa (https://www.defsa.org.za/imagine).