Resolved: re-evaluating design education
A good education is a valuable thing; it’s often a critical part of any successful life or career. For the design industry, a certain level of education is usually deemed necessary to even get a job. As designers, our employers expect that our education prepares us for the world in which we will be working, and maybe it used to, but it doesn’t anymore; not if it doesn’t prepare designers for a world that is undergoing climate change. And a good education is also a very valuable thing in that it costs a lot—we owe a lot to our education, and we owe a lot because of it too. When the industry standard is a Bachelor's degree, we necessarily ensure that people that enter our field fall into only a few categories, the biggest of which being those that are in debt because of college, and those that aren’t. Putting those two issues together results in a designers that are in trouble right out of the gate, both professionally, socially, and ecologically.
In the list of things that the Climate Designers community told the Field Guide that they wanted to see their industry set as a goal for 2022, re-evaluating design education is next on the list.
A curriculum conundrum
It’s almost impossible to think that we could change our ways without changing how we are taught to behave and interact with our jobs and professional industries. How we are educated as designers has a huge impact on our career trajectory and choices. Holly Robbins, an Instructor MCAD's Master of Arts in Sustainable Design said, “I’d like to see a summit or series of summits on working out how to teach design for sustainability to undergrads and to graduate students. If we band together, we could develop [a] curriculum that would form a baseline that educators could implement and put their own spin on.”
Tim Frick spelled it out like this: “There’s still a huge lack of awareness and education on these topics. Most people don’t understand digital sustainability, accessibility, data privacy, ethical AI, or other emerging issues that arise when creating digital products and services.” He went on to note that education isn’t just necessary for students or designers, but for clients as well. “Clients won’t likely understand what they’re paying for when it comes time to hiring an agency or external vendor to craft more sustainable/ethical/responsible solutions.” It’s a good reminder that we can’t do this alone, we need to partner with those that we design for to educate everyone involved in the production process.
I personally really like Holly’s idea about summits (or conferences or whatever you want to call them) that educate designers, marketers, advertisers, and more about sustainability, climate change, and earth-friendly business practices and celebrates those that do so. Agota Jonas, an instructor at the Academy of Art University in San Fransisco, wants to see more education on regenerative solutions as a part of their goals for design education this year, saying, “Because these students, although they are very aware and responsible young adults, [are] still looking at us, the older generation, to know better how to find our way out of the mess we are in. Education is key. ‘If the answer is not education, you are not asking the right question.’" Developing curriculums will absolutely have to be a part of the design process going forward, and it is people like Holly, Agota, and Tim, among others that will help shape the practice into the future, changing the culture of design.
For readers looking to learn more or get involved in making changes in design education, especially from a curriculum standpoint, I’d suggest checking out this page from the Climate Designers community site (you might need to be a member to view it). And also make sure to give Climify Deep Dives a listen—especially if you are a teacher or instructor of design—as the hosts, CD community members Rachel Cifarelli and Grace Turcich, are recent design graduates and offer perspectives on the student experience in design school.
Debts and democratization
The Field Guide would be remiss to not discuss the financial situation surrounding colleges and universities—especially in the US—while tacking curriculums and so we’ll touch on it even though it wasn’t a specific response from anyone who reached out for this series. Student debt is a huge issue affecting so many people in the United States right now, and it disproportionally affects people of color. Now, that is a civil rights issue all on its own and it wouldn’t necessarily even come into this conversation, except for the fact that overwhelmingly the people—especially in the US—that are facing climate change or having to live near its causes are also people of color.
We cannot effectively create design for something that we do not have an understanding of; the results of our effort will not be as compelling or as complete as if it was created by or with the help of someone who truly understands the problem or the audience. If most prominent designers are affluent White men in cities far away from the oil refineries or landfills that cause environmental problems, then those problems will not be a priority for them. The design community’s—and by extension, the world’s—loss is that those who are most touched by climate change are often those who cannot afford college or who are not favored in a design culture that in more ways than one is concerned about white space. One that is obsessed with fonts or clicks or engagement or money. A design education system that cannot adapt to find ways to democratize learning is one that cannot lift the voices of those that we most need to hear.
Student debt affects designers of all groups—especially traditionally marginalized groups—and student debt affects our willingness to speak out. Standing up against an oppression or mistreatment is more difficult when a badly needed job may hang in the balance. Designers that are starting out usually find that they have to take almost any client they can get to build a portfolio, or accept the first job that comes their way because those student loan bills aren’t going to pay themselves; this reality means that even the most eco-friendly design student cannot graduate and start their own “green” design company unless they have the capital. And too often that means that marginalized groups can’t start careers that are passion-based or ones that offer them the freedom to assert and design for the things that they believe in.
Discussing the future
Any serious discussion about changing design education to better equip designers for the future cannot omit either of these subjects. Students and teachers can bring issues of climate into the classroom, and teachers and administrators should be open to evolving their curriculums to better serve their students—and to do so with the sensitivity necessary for those students who may grieve for a future that will be tainted by the carbon pollution of today. And any serious conversation about design education should also involve discussing alternatives to college or university because the design industry badly needs the voices and perspectives of those who for whatever reason cannot continue on to further education. These are changes that need to be made and should have been addressed long before 2022, but we can only change the future, and we can start now.
So, call-to-action time
How do you think that design curriculums can change this year? Anyone have lesson plans they’d like to share? Students, is there anything you’d like to see? And what are the viable alternatives to design education as we know it right now? Head over to the Climate Designers community space on Mighty Networks and let us know what you think. I’ll leave you with this quote from Abigail Dillen on making change:
“In every successful effort to make change, there is some lucky convergence of circumstances. But in my experience, there is always one essential ingredient: scrappy people who are willing to work backward from goals that seem impossibly ambitious at the start.” (from her essay “Litigating in a Time of Crisis”, included in All We Can Save, by Johnson & Wilkerson, pg. 57)
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This entry was written by
Matt McGillvray
Matt is a designer and illustrator living near Portland, Maine, and has been working for more than a decade doing branding, illustration, web design, print design, social media posts, and even a little SEO.
When not designing he’s usually reading, writing, or running. His current big writing project is a book about design and climate change. He is a chronic teller of puns and will not apologize for that.