An introduction

It is clear that any model for design education is constantly shifting, reflecting and responding to change.
We can look back at how design education has evolved, the reforming and transformative force of modernism (with all its ambiguities, ideologies and illusions) through the lens of many factors: the ‘corporate zombies’ of the 70s-80s (Jeff Keedy), the ‘juggernaut’ of technology’ (Lorraine Wild) which was a preoccupation through the late 80s and 90s, the influence of global economic and social trends. Technology is perhaps fading as a preoccupation, the heady possibilities of virtual reality, the paperless office, the end of print… fade into a more complex media landscape.

On the one hand, as Leslie Morris, head of education at Design Council said at a recent Eye forum, “industry wants to lead design education and government has a skills-led agenda”.
Alan Livingston, chair of the same event said: “design education should transform how you think about yourself…we’re trying to produce creative citizens. Education is about applied learning, not vocational training” and he worries about the Skills agenda pervading the sector. On the other hand, as Jamie Hobson (Head of Marketing and Admissions for School of Graphic Design LCC) said, “do students feel that design education is done to them, or perhaps that they see themselves as ‘consumers’ who are not getting what they are paying for?”

Are these all part of the accountability culture of government and HE, or can we find a better fit for the enterprise shown by so many of our students than the rather narrow employability agenda we hear so much about? We don’t want students to just find jobs. We want them to find a lifelong enthusiasm for putting their talent and vision to work in creative and productive ways. And central to our work as designers is how we respond and contribute to the bigger picture issues of climate and social change.

Let’s use this event to look up and outward at work and ideas that can inform our practice as designers and as design educators, looking back for understandings to help us move forward. We’re looking to start conversations with people who can bring us insights and collaborative possibilities so that in developing programmes and teaching, we can future-proof our students’ experience, and through them, and our subject and its role in our world. Do we need to change design in order that we can design change?

Julie Depledge