Thirteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Several sessions of American Institute of Graphic Arts’s (AIGA) 2017 annual conference focused on “AIGA Designer 2025,” which examined the ways in which design educators can more effectively prepare students for a shifting professional landscape. Prompted by similar questions about the future of design and preparing students for the professional world, I initiated an applied research project, Woodward & Willis (W & W), in early 2017. W&W is a student-run, faculty-directed design firm that operates as a real-world studio outside of the classroom. Located in a city that is undergoing its own period of dramatic transformation, the studio provides socially-conscious businesses and organizations in the Detroit region with professional design services. This interdisciplinary team of students provides support for non-profits and local businesses in their infancy, presenting coalesced business and designed collateral. Building on Lawrence Technological University’s motto of “Theory and Practice,” students develop deeper conceptual understanding of providing real-world professional services while operating the studio and practicing their design skills. Questions of mentorship, human-centered design, team dynamics, entrepreneurship, technology, ethics, and social, cultural and economic impact underlie our project work. Ultimately, W&W generates a feedback loop about such competencies between the classroom and the professional world. Discussion includes findings, challenges, and inquiry about how such initiatives might continue to develop.