The Adventures of a First-Year Design Educator
by Paul Berkbigler, (8 comments)
In the grand way of taking blog risks, here’s my stab at reaching out and letting the anonymous public openly critique the logic of my beginning attempts at learning to teach graphic design theory and practice. If I’m really, really lucky, some or several of the students I’m even teaching at the moment will happen on to this and have a chance to directly sound off for or against what they’re experiencing in my classroom right now.
Of course, I suppose that also means they’re opening themselves up the same doses of public scorn / praise that this medium enables… Let’s just see what happens.
So class, let’s start with storytime and then move into the question and answer period of the course, shall we?
Recently in my Advanced Layout & Design course I handed out the final assignment of the semester: concept an exhibition which would be held at one of three fictional galleries / museums which the class members had designed identities for earlier in the semester. Once that exhibition concept was / is approved, they are then to begin designing an exhibition catalog with a minimum of 16 pages, cover to cover.
Because I tend to perversely enjoy surprises and challenges myself, I added what I felt was a really crucial twist to the assignment:
No student would be working on an exhibition for the same gallery / museum they had earlier designed a logo for - they would have to work with a totally fresh set of parameters / identity aspects for this catalog.
No student would be using their own logo / identity mark and would in fact have to work with one another’s marks instead.
One of the major critiques I’ve heard about our grads once they hit the workplace is that they know how to create inventive / rich work but don’t have a clue how to set any of it up for the purposes of printing / professional usage. In order to start remedying this problem, I felt it was high time to force people to really work with the file set-ups that they had personally developed. I felt it was also high time to expose undergrads to the realization that you regularly have to work with material that may not be quite up to one’s personal design standards OR might get pretty blessed and end up with some really terrific source matter.
So, like any beginning teacher, I merrily patted myself on the back for the seeming ingenuity of the assignment and its solving several educational goals: a robust assignment for a student to have to tackle, a technical challenge drawn from working experience, and a chance to have to grapple with personal ego & aesthetics in reconciling the good, the bad, and the ugly elements that might arrive in tow with a project.
Now for the unforseen consequences of my assignment: just over 3-4 days after handing out the project and informing the class that they were going to need to prep their logos to pass on to other assigned members of the course, I had two of my strongest students come to my office accompanied by one of my design colleagues. They’d spoken with her initially because they know her better and felt more comfortable bringing up the question with her first, and she said, “Let’s talk to Prof. Berkbigler and let him know your concerns.”
In they walked and proceeded to express their major concern at having a project which could be really rich portfolio-fodder assigned with some less-than-ideal logos attached to it - they were completely disheartened at the prospect of having to take some lemons and see what manner of lemonade they could develop from them, but frankly more concerned by the knowledge that their work was suddenly going to be used to the advantage of students they felt were less capable designers.
My design colleague raised a principle concern that really left me a little speechless: What about the concern of any of the students including this work in their portfolio and meeting a possible employer who might really be impressed by the logo on the catalog? Normally, not generally an issue in a student book, but now suddenly introduced into the mix and raising some of the similar questions we’ve been discussing in terms of crediting collaborators and design participants in our own portfolios.
I thanked them for bringing up the issue, told them that I did not expect the logo designs to play a major role in the catalogs and reassured them that as the instructor / art director I was going to make every effort to shoot down anyone in the class who simply worked with the logo elements and did nothing to develop any of their own design elements for the catalog. They left fairly reassured, and I remained in my office still picking through the pieces of the puzzle.
I very much hope to continue some version of this practice in later classes (just the exercise of flipping through the student logo “final” files has been worth it - I’m seeing the construction / file setup issues that I very much expected and know I have the chance to clear some of this up for them before they meet an irate printer or art director who might slam them for not knowing what color mode their logo really needed to be in), but expecting in the future that I might actually provide the logos myself rather than having them work with IDs provided by the people sitting in the desks around them.
So, for the Q & A section of this lesson: What would you do in the situation? What’s the general consensus / critique of the notion of the assignment to begin with? Is this a keeper or a total turkey in terms of a project?
I’m sure I’m not alone in the sense that I feel like I’m building my teaching practice from scratch and moreover attempting to develop design curriculum that accomplishes consistent professional, practical, and theoretical goals in the process. I’m especially interested to hear responses “from the field” in terms of the validity of this experience…
I hope to post a follow-up to this entry to evaluate whether the final products have actually seemed to validate the project / process.
Does anyone have any comments, questions, or concerns they’d like to share with the class?
Comments (8)
adelie said:
Just for starters, this is someone speaking as a recent student and very new designer:
I personally think that this project is an excellent idea. First off, I applaud you for trying to teach students about dealing with printers. That’s the biggest thing I wish I had learned. Obviously, your colleagues and students have no problem with this aspect of the project.
Secondly, about having students work with a different student’s gallery/museum identity is a great way to stretch students design abilities. My senior year of high school, I only painted very realistically, and another student only did very cartoony/abstract work. My art teacher sat us down and said, “[Sarah], do a painting like [Bob]. [Bob], do a painting like [Sarah].” This assignment stretched me a lot and I ended up doing my best work of the year.
You said some of your top students were worried about being forced to work with bad logos. Personally, I think they’re wusses, not confident enough in their own skills. Working with a bad logo is probably the most challenging assignment they’ll have all year. Sure, it’s tough working with bad design, but they will have tremendous satisfaction when they are able to pull off a fabulous looking piece, despite the logo. They were also worried about having that bad logo in their portfolio. If they do a well designed piece, it will give them a lot to talk about during an interview, about how they overcame various challenges to a create a good piece anyway. I would be excited to show the piece to a potential employer.
They were also worried about fellow students using their well designed logos. I don’t think they need to worry. Sure, there’s the chance they will take great advantage of the logo. Sure, there’s the chance they will put the piece in their portfolio without giving credit. However, if the student isn’t that good, it will show up in the rest of their portfolio. I think most employers would notice the inconsistency.
Sure, this could cause tension between students, but these issues are real world. Better to deal with them while the other designer is just a fellow student that you see at class time (for only a few years), than a designer you may have to work with for years to come.
Sally forth good man, with your fabulous ideas. Tally ho.
Posted on November 29, 2005
Bennett said:
Of course, I’m not an educator, but I think what you are doing is valuable.
I think I’m steeling this suggestion from the Be A Design Cast’s Student Tip … Your students should take the lessons they learn and go from there. They might end up with an interesting piece to talk about in their portfolio, or they can always go back into it later. Like Nate said, your design on the piece need not stop at the end of the assignment. If it is two years later when the student is applying for a job, it is probably beneficial that they update the piece anyway. Wether that is using a more appropriate typeface, or replacing the other student’s logo, it is always valuable to keep your portfolio fresh.
Posted on November 29, 2005
Eric Heiman said:
The project is great. Don’t let this incident discourage you. You’re quickly discovering the numerous land mines that litter every collegiate landscape. There is some truth to Kenneth Fitzgerald’s comment in a recent Emigre article (No. 67, I believe) about academia being more cutthroat and political than any corporate boardroom. Students these days have a lot of clout because colleges are afraid of legal action. Add that many of these young people have been raised to be super competitive (and often—remarkably—to be ethics-free in their pursuit) and you have a teaching climate that can be as defensive as it is inspiring and educational. I don’t want to sound curmudgeonly and cynical, as I love teaching and have been doing it for over 6 years now, but it’s a very different climate than when I was a student so many years ago. You really have to work hard to be inspiring and accommodating, but at the same time disciplined and authoritative. It can be a difficult balance to sustain.
I find it rather insulting to you that undergrad students—who we can assume do not have the knowledge and experience you do—suddenly become the authority on this class issue in the eyes of the administration. I’m even more struck by the comments of your design colleague, who DOES (I assume) have the experience. Amazing that the teacher does not get the benefit of the doubt. No wonder we can’t find enough good teachers.
I think it’s important to stress that the goal of this assignment is not simply to produce a polished portfolio piece, but demonstrate one’s ability to think, problem solve, and inspire an audience within the parameters of the commission. Design is also collaborative, and we are often given graphic programs designed by others to incorporate into our own work. How much more “real world” can you get? This project has so many great, rich possibilities for the students, I’m shocked that anyone would feel the logo issue is a deal breaker. The logos play such a small role in this assignment overall. What is the big deal? If the students are so concerned with potential employers misconstruing the specifics of who did what in their work, they should note these specifics in their portfolio, and in an interview explain to the potential employer. It’s their responsibility.
Ah, welcome to teaching. Hopefully the work the students produce will be your vindication.
Posted on November 29, 2005
marius said:
I’m also in the 1st semester of being a design educator and it has been alot harder than I anticipated and more demanding than teaching while in grad school. I think your idea of a design educator blog is great because I’m sure there are alot of us out there that have questions and situations that arise.
Thanks for sharing and I think your idea for a project was a good one. I can understand the student’s concern but the project has one foot firmly planted in the real world of design, and that is an invaluable experience.
Posted on November 29, 2005
Drew Davies said:
Paul, I was beaming with delight at your description of the assignment you concepted. I think it’s perfectly on track, and teaches (even in an interesting way) a range of skills that a lot of design students currently lack when they graduate. Kudos to you for developing it, and for sticking to your guns.
I must also admit that the comments from your students gave me some pause. In addition to the notes others have made regarding what it revealed about your students’ confidence levels, it brought to light an issue that troubles me. Obviously, students go to design school to get an education which will allow them to get a good job in the field. But is a design curriculum developed to educate students on how to make great design, or are they simply paying tuition money for a well-stocked portfolio? Naively, I have always assumed the former. I think of a student’s portfolio as a happy by-product of the design education, not its main goal. Consequently, I think design class projects should be structured around teaching them quality design skills; if they get a nice piece for their portfolio in the meantime, then bully for them. If they need more pieces for their portfolio, then they can sit down and design more pieces for their portfolio.
Again, Paul, my compliments to you for the terrific assignment, and for sharing it with all of us.
Posted on November 30, 2005
p.berkbigler said:
To everyone so far, thanks for the glowing support of the project - it’s nice to know I’m not totally developing projects within an isolated little thought bubble just yet!
As a starting point, I’ll just follow up with a few additional details about how the project has gone since it was assigned: smoothly, smoothly, smoothly! The students seem to have quickly shed their initial trepidations and concerns in favor of diving into the assignment head-first. I’m seeing some really good thinking and use of layout in the majority of the work, and I only had one or two students lean more heavily on the logo design at the beginning stages of their catalog development which was quickly nipped in the bud during opening critiques.
In fairness I should also reiterate the fact that only two students out of the 16 that I have within the class voiced concern to begin with and while I’ve often felt that if even one or two voices share something within a class it likely means more are thinking it, I’m starting to find out that this may not actually be the case - it’s really best to poll the whole class if something seems to have stuck in the craw of a couple members to see what’s personal and what’s more “global”.
The project is proving to be a solid one, primarily because it’s always been about catalog design rather than logo design - the logo was just a little knife-twist that I wanted to get in there so that they’d have a little guaranteed wrestling at the outset. Looks like it got them moving just enough to maintain some quality momentum…
Drew raises a great parallel question, though: what is a design education really about? Getting an education in design or developing a portfolio through concentrated design study and practice?
The rosey hope would be exactly what Drew assumed: if your design education is solid you should likely come out with a solid portfolio to boot. While I think this really does happen in the ranks of the good and great students, there’s also the other students to consider and the results that they generate which often test assumptions about what’s really been both taught and learned in the process of schooling.
While I don’t know that most students would go so far as to assume they are paying to get a good portfolio out of the deal, I guess I would also hope that students are committed enough to want to learn what it’s going to take to construct good work and follow through with its development - if the money they’re spending to get the education helps to motivate that, so be it. I’ve learned on countless occasions how much financial investment really can mean personal investment as well - free things are rarely treated with much conviction or true value.
One of my many goals as a design educator is to hopefully ensure that even the projects that would be considered more or less design “exercises” and are good from the standpoint of teaching basic design sensitivities, skills, and experience also reflect at least some small quotient of the professional experience. Even beginning exercises tend to have some sort of conceptual goal attached to general design goals in my book, and the bigger hope / goal is to get students to really recognize that the skills they’ve needed to develop to design a logo, for example, were already at play in the beginning letterform designs that they did in a freshmen or sophomore design course. If they’re really exceptional, they could easily dust off that earlier assignment and actually develop it as a full-fledged identity design (I talked a sophomore into doing exactly this and entering it in a recent design competition - it wasn’t the most amazing ID design I’d ever seen, but at least she really followed through with it!).
I don’t think we can totally deny our students’ desire to end up with at least a competent portfolio, however - having seen firsthand the difference between a design program where the educators / administration have essentially said “We’re just here to provide a good, solid design education and to critique work - if they end up with a good portfolio, so much the better” and one where everyone from the department head through the adjuncts stated up front “We’re going to work hard to kill projects in the beginning phases that don’t stand at least some chance of being worthy portfolio fodder” I’ll promise you that even the “worst” portfolios from the second school will often trump some of the “best” portfolios from the former.
I don’t think it’s fair or realistic to lead students to believe anything besides the fact that their portfolio is going to sincerely make or break their chances of ENTERING the field, though it may or may not be enough to actually sustain them once their in the door (I also tend to hear accounts of a lot of entry level designers that more or less hang up their work clothes for a while once they get a job - amazing how quickly people forget that the reason you do a ton of good work and develop a solid work ethic is so you can WORK once you’re on the job!).
It’s still a rare, rare student who also figures out that they’ve likely developed the design skills and thinking skills to hopefully generate some of their own projects which may be more interesting, enable them to work harder and push further, plus fill out experience areas that their studies may not have explicitly provided - out of the 40-50 students that I’m more or less involved with at the moment I have 2 that have actually carried through with this idea!
Great to connect with other educators and practitioners - glad to see that it takes a village to do this and it’s simply waiting on the other side of this blog.
Posted on November 30, 2005
Kyle said:
Paul,
I realized this comment is waaaay late, and you might already be on Christmas break, but …
I agree with the others, this is a good assignement. In my experience, it is entirely common to be required to use logos you don’t necessarily like or even want to use. When I first read your thought about giving the students logos you had designed (to avoid them using each others work), I thought this might be a good backup scenario. However, asking your students to use each other’s logos does teach the “real-world” lesson and would be better than the expected “pick a similar company’s logo you don’t like and improve upon it”. As Adelie said, the logo perceived as being poor design could be a launchpad for the student to compare/contrast why his/her own work is better, and how he/she overcame the obstacles of that project.
Being able to learn from another designer’s work is important, as in your example. Today, 6 years out of design school, it is one of the main ways I learn new things: I watch other designers create, and I explore their final files while updating/modifying them. It adds to the collaborative atmosphere among my coworkers, and goes both ways.
So … the did the final assignment end well? Did the students end up seeing your line of reasoning for laying out the assignment the way you did?
Posted on December 14, 2005
p.berkbigler said:
The final update on this particular exercise in real-world experience brought into the classroom is a great one: I’m literally in the midst of trucking through the final catalogs produced for this assignment and not one of them shows any signs of major logo abuse or of letting a less-than-great identity design hold back the rest of the piece.
I’m looking at a group of predominantly “A”-level projects and have heard no further complaints about the initial concerns. In a few hours when I can finally put these babies to rest, I’ll close the grade book and go about the business of gearing up for Christmas…
Looks like it’s time to simply dismiss the class…
Posted on December 14, 2005