In this issue:
Today, there are around 20 million college students in the United States. Of that, only a small fraction is studying industrial design. As of this writing, IDSA’s current (admittedly unscientific) estimate has that number to be anywhere between 10,000 and 15,000 (based on anecdotal sources and extrapolations of existing student membership data). Regardless of size, it is this small group of creative and increasingly diverse minds who will eventually become professional designers and will be responsible for creating some of the great innovations of our future.
What is being taught? How is it being taught? Who is teaching it? The answer to those questions might be as varied and nuanced as the interpretations and debate about design thinking. Yet, as it relates to the teaching of industrial design, one of IDSA’s central purposes is to help facilitate the conversation around those questions and thusly understand the answers. Our articles of incorporation, established at the time of our founding in 1965, state that, among other pursuits, IDSA is to “cooperate with educational institutions where the principles of industrial design are taught with the aim of improving the methods of instruction of their application to the practical work of the practitioner of industrial design.”
A recurring concern, voiced by both design educators and students currently enrolled in college-level studies, is that a gap exists between what is being taught in school and the skills that are expected in professional settings upon graduation. Setting the subject matter of study aside, the challenges of remote learning in recent years because of COVID-19 have only put further strain on the quality of coursework being taught by educators and the value of the learning students receive. Further complications reveal themselves when considering that the speed of change in the tools and methods used by professional industrial designers sometimes outpaces the curriculum’s ability to adapt, which is compounded by the continued overlapping and blurring of the once broad borders between different design disciplines. It might sometimes seem as if young designers must know everything about everything upon graduation if they hope to have a fighting chance to land a job. If that is the case, how can we support academic institutions and our dedicated community of design educators in their work to teach the foundations of our profession to future generations?
In pursuit to fulfill one of IDSA’s core missions, set forth by our founding members, we’ve collected a group of articles in this issue written by educators who are pioneering new models of industrial design higher education. More specifically, we sought out academic professionals who are endeavoring to create new learning opportunities to engage with students across three spectrums: (1) expanding how industrial design is taught, (2) introducing new pedagogies or learning experiences, and (3) best preparing students for their life as a practicing designer. We hope this issue provides a valuable resource for our academic community in establishing new levels of excellence in design classrooms around the world.
Guest contributors:
- Studio Adjacent: Why Studio Education Is Still Part of the Future by Mitzi Vernon, IDSA
- iPads in Prague: An Architectural Review and Industry Collaboration by Michael Rall, IDSA
- Making a Case for a Design- Focused Foundation Year by Kimberlee Wilkens, IDSA, and Michael Seskauskas
- Creating Business-Ready Designers by Grant Delgatty, IDSA
- Let Play Arise: Bringing Joy, Cheer, and Spontaneity to the Classroom by Nipuni Siyambalapitiya, I/IDSA
- Toward Equitable Education: Building an Accessible Design Studio by Xue Dong, I/IDSA
- Lights, Camera, Action: Inspiring Students to Be Big Thinkers by James Howard
Featured content:
- Commentary by Marshall Johnson, L/IDSA, Tucker Viemeister, FIDSA, and Quentin “Q” Williams
- 2022 Scholarship Recipients
- 2022 IDSA Education Symposium Recap
- Navigating With and Without Direction by Meghan Day, S/IDSA
- Unfolding New Ways of Interacting by Yoojin Hong
- Education Paper – Critical Writing Supporting Critical Making: The Design Essay Assignment by Fernando Carvalho, IDSA, PhD, MFA, Tom Hurford, I/IDSA, MST, and Ian Campbell Cole, MA
- Education Paper – Creative Burnout: Suffocating the Future of Design by Kayla Roles and Byungsoo Kim, IDSA, PhD
- Education Paper – The Nuance of Need: Mapping User Needs Throughout the Design Process by James Rudolph, IDSA
- 2022 SMA & GSMA Winners
- 2022 SMA & GSMA Finalists
- 2022 Academic Jury
- Finding Logic: Industrial Facility’s Approach to Design Language by Brian Paschke and Kim Colin
In every issue:
- IDSA HQ by Chris Livaudais, IDSA
- Beautility by Tucker Viemeister, FIDSA
- Design DNA by Scott Henderson, IDSA
- ID Essay by Mark S. Kimbrough, IDSA