Mark Fuller’s Post

I visited my first art school recently! Rhode Island School of Design, better known as RISD (pronounced rizz' dee). It was such a fun experience to see what goes on at a selective art school. I was pretty blown away to learn about all of the cool things the students are doing, and all of the majors they can choose from. My favorite part of the tour was connecting with a student I know and getting a behind- the-scenes look at their major, industrial design. Some facts about RISD: -There are 16 art majors, and you spend 2/3 of your time on campus in studio. The most popular major is illustration, industrial design is growing in popularity. -There are studio spaces for students everywhere, including in the housing buildings. -Professors are professional artists. -You take the same foundational art curriculum as everyone else your first year. That means that your portfolio submissions should consist of a wide range of materials and techniques, as they want to see an artist who takes risks and has a broad skill set. -RISD students can take courses at Brown (right next door) via cross-registration. In fact, there is also a RISD-Brown dual degree program with a BA at Brown and a BFA at RISD. As you can imagine, this program is highly competitive. -They have a nature lab. This was the highlight of the tour for me! Students can check out all sorts of specimens to study - from bugs to plants to bones! -The culture is collaborative (students work on projects together), and students also spend a lot of time critiquing each others' work to prepare for being professionals. #RISD #artschools #collegesanduniversities #collegetours

Secondary school design education is in a bad place..... This recent post by Design Week is a call to action. I would argue that it's not only an under investment in monetary terms - but also, and possibly more damaging, an emotional under investment in the progression of design teaching (and 'contemporary' training for staff) at secondary level. Recent experience, both as a parent and as an agency doing their bit to support schools, I was horrified by the confused vocab' given to 'design' education at GCSE and the lack of current thinking, industry awareness and meaningful careers advice. Much of the learning activities haven't changed since I was in school (gulp!!). Thinking creatively, and analytically, is the central tenet of good design education - regardless of their ultimate career choices, young learners are fertile minds and identifying and supporting those that can (and haven't yet been encouraged) to think along both of these axis is vital for personal development regardless of design education. I'm sure that there are countless agencies, founders and design evangelists who are quietly, and actively pro-bono supporting local schools, colleges can I get a show of hands? Simon Harmer David Kester Mat Hunter Jarred Evans Jude Pullen Jonathan O Toole darren mullen Jamie Weaden Julia Cassim Jeremy Offer Matthew Cockerill Mark Fisher

Last week, before jet-lag hit me, I loved attending the InterDesigning Symposium. As usual, I was the only narrative/game designer, but was so good listening to and chatting with design educators and practitioners united by this intent: "[T]his symposium seeks to deconstruct and contest design education as a western-dominated field of representation. Across Australiasia, design courses remain entrenched within euro-centric narratives, while omitting place-specific contexts, cultural knowledge, and diverse ways of designing. Subsequently, the respectful inclusion of cultural and intersectional identities has often been overlooked. This symposium hopes to reposition the necessity and complexity of pluriversal and decolonial approaches to design education." One of the things that is important to me, and which was brought up by the panelist Nicole Crouch, is the importance of helping design students practice pushing back on briefs from clients. Clients who are asking you create something that has ethical problems, that starts with a problematic framing, and so on. And I don't mean being contrary for the sake of it (some people think that). I mean: in order for our social world to change we need to normalise giving and receiving critique (I'm on board with you and want to highlight some things that I feel need work). It was such a relief being around local design educators who care about this and are doing something about it. The first day ended by meeting around the map people have been writing on (photo below). The "Reflection Imprint" was drafted by Dion Tuckwell, and offered cartographic mountain ranges and prompts around colours. Use RED to discuss a tension, BLUE to share a possibility, BLACK to discuss present practice. Website: https://interdesigning.com #designeducation #pluriverse #decolonial #intersectional #narrativedesign

⚠ Submission deadline approaching! ⚠ Toronto Metropolitan University students: The deadline to submit your Displaying Pride design is coming up fast, on Fri. Nov 10! https://lnkd.in/gxF3hfzd The Design Prompt: Students are invited to design an original graphic/poster that signals a 2SLGBTQ+ -inclusive and welcoming space on campus. The design will be used as a poster or sticker that can be displayed at TMU offices, student spaces and elsewhere on campus, to raise 2SLGBTQ+ visibility and ally support. Specifications include: - Submitter must be a TMU student. - The design must be original/created by the submitter, and not infringe on any copyright issues. - One submission per person. The design can include images and words. Use of colour is encouraged. - The design should be high resolution and fit within an 8.5" x 11" page (portrait orientation preferred). - The design must be submitted as a JPEG or PDF file. The submitter of the selected original design will win $200. The winning design will be selected by the Positive Space steering committee, and presented to the TMU community at the Trans Day of Remembrance event on Mon. Nov 20th. The winning design will appear on the Positive Space website, crediting the designer and including their design description. Questions? Contact Dan Cantiller (he/him) and Michael Turco (he/him), Positive Space co-chairs, at positivespace@torontomu.ca #PositiveSpace 🌈

I spent the weekend at Creative South for the first time. A few takeaways: 1. This conference works because it's focused on people and relationships. The staff at the core of this event are more focused on the attendees than themselves. Folks like diane gibbs exemplify this idea of "come as friends, leave as family." A dinner with her meant I met seven of her former students who clearly adore her. 2. The event is so much fun. Instead of someone awkwardly reading an introduction, they treat the event like it's a late-night talk show, down to having a live band. (That said, so much beautiful work to see and be inspired by.) 3. Even the best have failures; I appreciate their willingness to be vulnerable and talk about them. Being an independent artist can be rewarding but incredibly hard and brave. 4. Lots of higher education designers, so we spent some time evangelizing for UCDA. The UCDA conference is different, but they both offer a great experience. 5. If you get up in front of 500 people to show them your bendy elbows, no one will make eye contact with you for the rest of the day, and you'll be known as "the girl with the elbows." #creativesouth #columbusga #design #designconference #designer #inspiration

🌟📘 𝑳𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝑷𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆! Participate in Design has launched a research piece that's all about the impact of participatory design over the last 10 years. It's called "Does Participatory Design Make a Difference? Critical Reflections on 10 Years of Community-Based Participatory Design Practice." P!D has been doing amazing work in neighbourhood planning, public space design, arts, and lots more. Their new project, P!D 2.0, is about taking all they've learned to level up their game. This report is from their first phase and it's packed with insights. For anyone interested in how design can really involve and benefit the community, this is a must-read. Get the report here: https://buff.ly/4bbLCNS Artwork: P!D #CommunityDesign #CommunityImpact #LearningTogether

Do you remember Donald Norman's public call to change design education? Here is an answer to it. As part of the Future of Design Education initiative, Lesley Ann Noel, PhD got together a range of design scholars working in different universes to discuss which design education we wanted. We came up with a PLURIVERSAL STANDARD FOR DESIGN EDUCATION that is sensitive not just to cultural differences, but to world differences. The article that came out of the process is now published open-access by SheJi Journal. Follow my coauthors and their universes: Neeta Verma, Arvind Lodaya, Nii Commey Botchway, Victor Udoewa, Adolfo Ruiz, and Shalini Agrawal. Article link: https://lnkd.in/dTw2_fp7

Yet another exciting discussion around sketches, in designing services. In our course on contemporary models of value creation, in our MSc design and Design and Product Development programs. This time the sketches have been focusing on commons; such as water or parks as a commons. Rainwater collection, community engagement for usage of lakes, how we access and responsibly use resources that comes from water, etc. And the range of sketches to express values, imply management structures, knowledge sharing, relationships, etc. Just wonderful learning and expanding reflexivity. #servicedesign #sketching #valuecreation Linköpings universitet SVID, Swedish Industrial Design Foundation

Hans Tan, our Associate Professor, has just been featured in an article by the DesignSingapore Council. "From his early years as a DesignSingapore Scholar to his current roles as a practitioner, teacher, and curator of design, Hans Tan has spent his career deciphering, developing, and sharing an insightful perspective on what design can be and do. Now, as the Curatorial Director of the Design Education Summit 2023, he is sharing the message that creativity is in everyone – and design is one of the best ways to apply it." Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gXpGeTNU

Have you heard of the emerging field of "design justice?" We (designers) must acknowledge that the products we create distribute benefits and burdens among people. This is where design justice comes in, shedding light on the underlying power dynamics that can leave vulnerable populations behind. While the principles from the inclusive design field overlap with design justice, the latter places more emphasis on addressing these power structures. Nonetheless I found useful to compare both :-). #DesignJustice #InclusiveDesign