PM2016 pasadena

From 24.08.2016 to 26.08.2016 Platform Meeting

ICoD Platform Meetings took place in Pasadena, California (United States) on 24–26 August 2016 along with the Annual General Meeting (AGM2016).

The Meeting which was hosted by ICoD Member ArtCenter College of Design and was held in its South Campus, provided an opportunity for exchange between Members from the educational, professional and promotional sectors. The format of the Meeting included forums, workshops, tours and cocktail reception featuring international and local edu/prof/promo and industry experts on the most pressing design issues.

The Pasadena programme was designed to permit overlap between Professional/ Promotional Members and Educational Members on the second day, a schedule that included the AGM2016. Members were invited to participate in all the components of the three-day event.

PROGRAMME AT A GLANCE

day 1
The first day of the ICoD Pasadena PM meting generated much discussion and strategies for next steps. The first Prof/Promo Platform topic: National Design Policy (NDP), outlined roadmaps, strategic plans, an identification of stakeholders, what has failed, as well as “new beginnings” were represented by speakers from all continents providing a vast perspective on the status of NDPs worldwide. In the afternoon, a discussion forum devoted to Membership issues outlined the modalities, challenges and successes experienced by Member-based organisations and universities now. The second Prof/Promo Platform topic: Communicating the value of Design, underlined that even though we all know that ‘Design has value’—the public, the business community, and governments need to have a clear, tangible picture as to why, even if that means grasping what is not tangible about the value of design.

day 2
'Raising Professional Standards' as part of the the third Prof Platform topic: Accreditation/Certification gathered participants to examine models of certification and accreditation worldwide. Presentations were given by: Peter Florentzos (Australia), Karen Bucher (Norway), Zinnia Nizar Sompie (Indonesia), Julie Hobbs (Australia), Johnathon Strebly (Canada), Stüssy Tschudin (Canada), David Grossman (Israel) and Zachary Haris Ong (Malaysia). The ICoD Annual General Meeting (AGM) marked the middle of the day, followed by the Design & Complexity educational panel held at the stunning Hillside campus, moderated by Heidrun Mumper-Drumm (United States) and with speakers: Michele Jaquis (Otis College of Art & Design), Jessie Kanata (NASA), Paul Soady (ArtCenter), Arden Stern (ArtCenter), Karen Zimmerman (University of Arizona School of Art). The day finished off with a tour of the design studios and grounds followed by a cocktail hosted by ArtCenter provost Fred Fehlau. Every speaker wowed its audience with their passion and critical thinking on day 2.

Above: participants during the breakout sessions
day 3
On day 3, the Edu Platform tackled challenges related to change, uncertain times and also shared aspirations for the development of robust, multicultural design innovation in schools in future. The Platform topic: Curriculum Development. The presenters: Karen Hoffman (United States), Zhao Chao (China), Ziyuan Wang (China), Rebecca Wright (United Kingdom), and Lawrence Zeegan (United Kingdom). In the afternoon, ICoD Vice President Heidrun Mumper-Drumm (United States) led Nuts to butter; a sustainable Design exercise—a ‘serious play workshop’ where we all learned that so often, too much information is missing from the process of design decision-making, and that, unless we do extensive research (i.e., carry out LAC = life cycle assessment) on the full life cycle of the object we are working with, we are operating (designing) blind. The hands-on, interactive experience illuminated sustainable designing to evaluate systems in a whole new way. Participants bonded over everyday materials and peanuts. Finally, the Bilateral Exchange discussion forum examined student exchange, mobility of faculty and research collaborations. The groups each discussed their experiences.

Download the full programme here.

Above: workshop Nuts to butter; a sustainable Design exercise

ABOUT THE TOPICS

1) Discussion forum: membership issues
Discussion Forums are an opportunity for Members to connect with their colleagues from around the world and discuss common challenges. The Professional discussion forum discussed Membership issues (recruitment, demonstrating and communicating value, fee structures, etc.)

2) Discussion forum: educational/professional bridge
Embedded within the AGM, Edu Members and Prof Members had a chance to network and discuss freely topics of their choice.

3) Panel: Design & complexity
The Hong Kong Educational Platform Meeting stressed the need to train resourceful designers, capable of working confidently across disciplines. Yes, designers have always been ‘inter-disciplinary,’ in that we regularly combine disciplines to achieve an outcome. But we are also ‘multi-disciplinary,’ in that the design process allows us to work across and bridge disciplines, even those outside our expertise.
Our Panel of emerging and distinguished designers and educators, shared their inter- and multi-disciplinary experiences, and discuss why this integration approach to creative practice is so powerful. See section below for more details on the Panel of speakers.

4) Serious play workshop: nuts to butter; a sustainable design exercise
The sustainability paradigm is changing how we design: new rules, new methods, new strategies. In this workshop, we conducted an overly simplified, but nonetheless completely serious exploration of a life cycle informed design method. Workshop participants were inspired to create innovative design solutions that meet sustainability goals.

Workshop facilitator Heidrun Mumper-Drumm ICoD Vice President 2013-2017, is a designer and Environmental Engineer, and teaches Design for Sustainability at ArtCenter College of Design and is Director of ArtCenter Sustainability Initiatives. She is actively engaged in research focused on integrating life cycle evaluation with design process.

5) Discussion forum: bilateral exchange
Discussion Forums are an opportunity for Members to connect with their colleagues from around the world and discuss common challenges. The Educational discussion forum was on bilateral exchange (student and faculty mobility, sharing of resources, joint programs and workshops, etc.). The value of common experience is leveraged for the benefit of the Members.

6) National design policy: presentations
As a means of increasing global competitiveness and addressing sustainability challenges (both environmental and social), nations are increasingly turning to the design sector for solutions. Conversely, designers look to governments to support their industry, and promote design locally, within the business and industrial sectors, and internationally. National design policies are an effective tool countries can use to develop a cohesive strategy.

What constitutes a design policy, and how can design associations advocate for a national design policy?

The National Design Policy Work Group (NDP WG) reviewed the many forms national design policies have taken, from fully developed strategic plans, to ongoing programs executed by design centres, to precursor strategies, such as design awards programs, exhibitions, and manifestos. Participants from different countries attended the session and were encouraged to present on their own countries’ attempts at developing a policy or promoting design and/or the special challenges they face.

Lively discussions took place to solicit ideas on what sorts of resources design associations need when advocating at home for a national design policy or promotion program. Lastly, looking to the future, the group engaged in a brainstorming session on what stance we would like ICoD to take on encouraging governments to engage the design sector in developing effective solutions to global issues.

7) communicating the value of Design: presentations
Design is Valuable. Communicating the value of Design to different target audiences is challenging. Clients, end-users, media, government, etc. - have very different perspectives, requiring different approaches and designers themselves often are not effective conveyors of the "value of design" message. It is also difficult to define, as design function can vary from all types of sectors of industry and target markets. We, as designers ourselves, do we know how valuable design is? If so, how do we communicate this value?

The Communicating the value of Design Workgroup (CVD WG) examined the different approaches and knowledge that is needed to effectively address various stakeholders in the public and private spheres regarding the design profession. It aimed to help design communities articulate their message in the most effective way possible using relevant data and evidence.

PANEL: DESIGN & COMPLEXITY

Jessie Kawata is a Creative Strategist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Her passion for art, science, and sustainability led her to NASA where she helped to pioneer their very first in-house design studio. With a background in both product design and illustration from ArtCenter College of Design, Jessie has been able to spearhead the integration of design-thinking, creative methodologies, and storytelling strategy into early space mission concepts as Lead Designer in NASA JPL’s Innovation Foundry. In addition, Jessie is a Co-Investigator for a NASA drought indicator proposal in support of the National Climate Assessment.

Arden Stern is a design historian whose scholarship focuses on graphic design and visual culture. Her research interests include the history of typography and vernacular design practices, and she has contributed to scholarly and journalistic publications including Design & Culture, Design Issues, and Print magazine. Dr. Stern teaches in the Department of Humanities & Sciences and the graduate program in Media Design Practices at ArtCenter College of Design.

Paul Soady is an Australian art/type director & letterpress printer from Australia where he surfed, got job in an advertising agency, at night Attended East Sydney Art School and gravitated to type and design. In England, after an interesting journey to London by road, he ended up at Ogilvy Benson & Mather as a “ Typographer,” later freelancing in a small Covent Garden design studio. After another interesting journey, this time through Africa, he returned to Australia and freelanced as a type director, won awards, taught part time at East Sydney Art School, co-founded The Australian Type Directors Club, and was a judge many times for the Art Directors Club. In America Soady worked as an Art Director, won one or two One Show Awards, and was a teacher at ArtCenter College of Design (26 years). He worked in the advertising department & Transportation. Co-chaired Faculty Council. Soady just finished a book on Eric Gill.

Above: participants at the Design & Complexity educational panel

Karen Zimmermann is a Professor in the Graphic Design and Illustration Division at the University of Arizona School of Art and acting Chair in Design and Illustration. Previously Karen taught at the University of Hawaii. Karen has received numerous grants and awards including an Arizona Project Grant by the Arizona Commission of the Arts, UA Deans fund for Excellence, and UA Faculty Fellowship. She has been a member of the AIGA Design Educators Steering Committee and is on the College Book Art Association Board. She teaches courses in typography, information graphics, and design.

Her writing has been published in “The Education of a Graphic Designer,” “The Education of an E Designer,” “The Education of a Motion Designer”, JAB (Journal of Artists’ Books), “Design Education in Progress: Methodology and Process”, American Institute of Graphic Arts, Zed and Inform. Karen Zimmermann’s creative work examines the relationship between art, design, culture, and technology. Her work is tied with her practice in graphic design and letterpress printing. Recently, she has produced visual works that examine, compare, and contrast visual and typographic signs in public and private spaces in the southwest in the book form (Corridor, Here now, and 52).

Karen received her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University.

Michele Jaquis is a socially engaged, interdisciplinary artist who examines the complexities within personal relationships, identity, language and communication. Her experimental and documentary videos, multichannel projections for theater, photographic and digitally manipulated imagery, facilitated workshops and interactions, installations, sculptural objects, and performances have been exhibited in alternative spaces, galleries and museums and film/video festivals across the US and in Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. Jaquis is also Associate Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Studies and the Artist, Community Teaching Program at Otis College of Art and Design where she oversees all undergraduate minor curricula while engaging students in collaborating with each other and various community partners.

CONTACT

Send any ICoD Event related inquiries to Event Manager Elizabeth Carbonell events@theicod.org