Design: the Big Picture
OK, I know it's been a looong time since I was a student. Even my grad school years are fifteen years ago (yikes!). But way back in those dark ages we never talked about the first four items on this list, only the fifth.
I hope that things have changed, and that discussing these topics is commonplace in design classes at both the undergrad and graduate level. But I doubt it.
We're going to take a stab at it in Media Design class. I've assigned each topic to a student or pair of students. They will have ten minutes to teach the rest of us two or three key things about their topic. Not what you'd call an in-depth discussion, but as we near the end of the semester my goal is simply to get everyone thinking about the issues.
The five topics are discussed by Curt Cloninger near the end of his book Hot-Wiring Your Creative Process: Strategies for print and new media designers
I've used this as a textbook for the past two semesters—optional at first, now required—and am happy with how it combines big ideas with specific techniques for developing your design and creative skills.
