If “Design is shaped by the community and community shapes design” (DEFSA 2013 brief author), then how do we teach design to a culture that is engrossed within the ever-­changing information age, what is the impact of this ethos on the current day designer and design?

This paper reflects on aspects that impact on an interdisciplinary shift motivated by technology‐transfer within a University of Technology (UoT). Discussion focuses on the integrated use of Additive Manufacturing (AM) as automated layer by layer 3D printing product design and development technology within a 3D Art and Design studio-practice environment. As emerging technology, AM’s impact has redefined the procedural framework and required knowledge coherence for the development of 3D objects.

The design options in the contemporary computerised era, lead to the digitised manipulation of proposed reality. Green screen is a technique used within film/television and permits compositing and manipulation of the proposed reality. This allows the filmmaker and the virtual designers to substitute the green screen area with whatever designed ‘environment’ the filmmaker desires.

There is wide acceptance that the studio stands central to architectural design education (Bakarman, 2003, 2005; Kuhn 2001; Forsyth., Zehner and McDermott 2007). It is a social environment (Gross, 1997; Chen and You 2010:152) which is characterised by communication, critique and collaboration. The studio is a physical place that facilitates pedagogy that supports community-centred instruction. It utilizes the theories of apprenticeship, social constructivism, socio-cultural theory of learning, collaborative learning, situated learning in communities of practice and enculturation.

Design education has traditionally taught techniques and approaches to practice, which students can use to create impact in their work, and be effective in communicating ideas. Those techniques and approaches have been developed over centuries of practice, much of it intuitive in nature, involving experience, experimentation and a blend of skills that do not rely on detailed scientific knowledge about vision in order to produce stunning results.

Industries from developed countries tend to overlook the fact that people in new emerging economies are different in terms of context, ergonomics, social and cultural dimensions. Evidence from the literature shows technical design problems involved in adapting technology and that it may require the development of new ergonomics principles because of the diverse nature of people. Users around the world are no longer willing to settle for one-size-fits-all products with standardised technology.

This paper attempts to look at digital media and design education at a university level exploring the question of teaching software and medium specific technical skills over broader theoretical and conceptual ideas of contemporary technologies. In the past, the focus of digital media programs has been conceptual experimentation and innovation, it seems pedagogy is now being driven purely by technical concern. The university system demands the technical aspect of "digital media" to be taught, but the field demands the creative and conceptual.