Design School Confidential

(RAY)

Job:05-11998/12412 Title:RP-Design School Con dential

#175 Dtp:160(P) Page:18

010-025_12412.indd 18010-025_12412.indd 18 5/28/09 11:45:46 AM5/28/09 11:45:46 AM

(RAY) Text

Job:05-11998/12412 Title:RP-Design School Con dential

#175 Dtp:160(P) Page:18

The Student’s Perspective

Students crave class projects that allow

them to express their personalities while learning

invaluable lessons about design. If the exercise is

too easy, they cannot grow. Exemplary projects

must vigorously challenge the students as they

open their skill sets to brand new experiences. If,

in the process, what they conceive adds luster to

their portfolio, well, that is icing on the cake.

benefi ting from a great class

project

A project should test students’ techni-

cal and creative aptitudes, force them to think

rapidly and strategically, and prepare them for

future design challenges. So what else is new?

What students want (and need) from an assign-

ment may be subject to debate, but a survey of

students from the School of Visual Arts revealed

that they do agree when it comes to the principle

attributes and goals of an exceptional project.

The fi rst attribute of a great design proj-

ect is that it promotes critical thinking. In be-

ing asked to grapple with the current culture’s

ideological, sociological, political, and historical

contexts, students learn to come up with solu-

tions to problems that most people believe are

too big to tackle. Or they learn how to create and

tell a compelling story visually without emotion

or judgment. First and foremost, students value

projects that demonstrate how to be a design

problem solver; they also rank high assignments

that address social issues. Some of the best briefs

are conceptual—and demand acute thinking—

such as designing a poster about a fi rst creative

memory, or repackaging something with no value

into something of value. As one satisfi ed student

put it, “A seemingly simple and overwhelmingly

stupid assignment turned out to be one of under-

lying complexity and seriousness.”

The second attribute of a successful

project lies in the faculty critiques. A teacher’s

c

s

e

p

b

g

o

T

o

w

e

w

v

c

“

m

s

t

t

o

e

m

s

e

a

o

p

l

c

f

c

y

d

e

a

b

g

getting results from a great class

project

It is one thing to design a great project,

another altogether to elicit meaningful results.

One might assume that anything a teacher as-

signs to a student is going to be tackled with

vigor and intelligence. Think again! Often a

project will not be approached the way the teach-

er wants to see it done. After all, most students

with full class loads are given so many projects

they sometimes have to exercise triage—focus-

ing on one or two at the expense of the others.

So, another challenge for the teacher is to make

certain that the student commits to the project.

How this is accomplished may be as diffi cult as

the riddle of the Sphinx or as easy as throwing a

dog a bone. It comes down to presentation.

Of course, getting good grades—or the

consequence of not getting them—is the single

most compelling motivation for any student. But

it is the teacher’s job to promote the project with

fervency and passion. As much as students will

pick up on any hint that the project is just a rou-

tine assignment, they will also rise to the occa-

sion of a special event. The trick is to make the

class assignment into something so special that

the students will have missed out on a unique

experience by failing to perform at their most

energetic level. If the presentation of the proj-

ect is vigorous, it doesn’t matter how routine (or

even mundane) the problem is.

The result of any class project is to elicit

class critiques that will stimulate and educate. If

the project is presented in a convincing manner,

the hoped-for end product—a valuable experi-

ence for student and teacher—will emerge.

what teachers want

Students want knowledge, wisdom, experi-

ence, and ultimately jobs. Teachers want serious

students who, in addition to absorbing all of the

above and getting good jobs, will push design

to its next level. How students respond to class

projects often indicates exactly how successful

they will be.

■

18 design school confi dential

010-025_12412.indd 18010-025_12412.indd 18 5/28/09 11:45:46 AM5/28/09 11:45:46 AM