TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

I worked as a designer for five years in Denver, Colorado before returning to school to pursue my master’s degree. I completely enjoyed being a designer, but felt called to teaching and reaching students at this stage in their education. Teaching design at the college level is more than interacting in the classroom and teaching design rules and trends; it is being available for my students and alumni outside of class for questions about freelancing, interviewing, and client interactions on the job.

Inside the classroom, I work to facilitate an atmosphere where creativity is abundant. My strengths in the classroom are evident in my ability to create a real-world classroom environment, which mimics a design firm with realistic deadlines, goals, brainstorming, revisions, and production techniques. This environment allows students to feel comfortable receiving criticism and critiquing others while at the same time, pushing them to conceptualize solutions beyond the typical ones. I push students to solve design problems by exploring many conceptual options, not just the first one that works. The students then have to explain verbally and in writing how and why they are solving it in this way. This develops their critical thinking skills but also their ability to do more than decorate and make something pretty. Instead students have solutions that are rooted in reasons that support their objective and their concept for the project, linking the two in an memorable way.

I have taught ten of the regular classes offered in the graphic design curriculum at the University of South Alabama and taught five special topics courses on a variety of different topics from advertising to social media to illustration. All of the classes I teach at South Alabama are required for all Graphic Design majors except the special topics courses, which are electives. For students in entry level (200-level) design courses, my goal is to instill the basic rules of design while pushing their conceptualization skills. At the conclusion of each project, each student should be comfortable with the principles discussed and have the ability to apply the knowledge gained to the next project. From the 200-level to the 400-level, classes build on each other and sharpen students’ design skills, conceptualization skills, and communication skills, both written and verbal. In most advanced (400 level) courses, students show a mastery of skills in the computer applications, explore alternative concepts, and continue to clarify their visual and verbal communication skills.

It is critical to keep up with industry trends and advancements in new technology and programs used in the design industry so that our students can be prepared for their roles as designers upon graduation. As design professors, it is important to teach design fundamentals like grids, typographic rules, and clarity of message and messaging. It is just as crucial to teach students how to break rules in order to create thought-provoking and memorable designs.

My role as their design professor is to teach students the design process: lead them through brainstorming and conceptualization, guide them through design decisions, and emphasize the importance of their visual, verbal, and written communication skills, all while preparing them for a realistic design experience. The design process is extremely important in my classroom, because it is important in the real-world design environment. I stress the importance of doing extensive research on the client and the end user, staying up-to-date with design trends, and keeping up with the assignments.

Students must understand the client, the product, and/or the issue to be able to successfully solve the design problem. The students learn skills to address professional design problems such as workloads, presentation experience, and client interaction. The students are not only learning graphic design skills and knowledge, but they are also learning techniques for brainstorming and overcoming creative blocks. In my classes, they become strong presenters of their ideas and designs.

In upper-level classes, I create new versions of projects each semester or create an entirely new project based on what I see changing in the industry to ensure that students going out into the work force have a varied portfolio. For example, for the past two years in Senior Graphic Design (472), I created a UI (User-Interface) project for the students because currently there is a big push for designers to have this skill. For each lower-level class, I prepare two or three new assignments every semester and adjust the other five to six assignments. My students at all levels are given projects and exercises. These are weighted differently and the exercises help them to: better understand the problem they are solving, inform their decisions, and build skills they will need in the larger project. In student assessments, students comment that workloads are challenging in my classes. In order to keep workloads reasonable, I have built in mini-deadlines and work days for the students. My goal is to prepare the students for the pace of a real design firm, advertising agency, or in-house design team.

One way for students to build their professional skills is to work with real clients on actual projects in the safety of the classroom. I have done this several times over the 14 -years I have been teaching at South Alabama. In the past year, I have collaborated with the Chairperson of Theatre and Dance as well as two professors from the Melton Center for Entrepreneurship in the Mitchell College of Business at the University of South Alabama to introduce our design students to situations and students/people needing their expertise in design. My students learn marketable skills and gain experience interacting with clients. When we do this inside the classroom, we interact with the clients as a group and work within budgets, set deadlines and milestones, create and give professional presentations, and receive feedback from the client. Another benefit of working with other areas on campus is that the students have been able to work with students from the Mitchell College of Business, forming relationships and better understanding how marketing plays a significant role in the job of a designer. Internship, job, and other design opportunities have begun as a direct result from these interdisciplinary interactions.

Overall, I strive to be an effective teacher inside and outside of the classroom. My organizational and leadership skills help me to plan and organize the design curriculum, assessment, and create a schedule for multiple design professors that maximizes each professor’s expert skills.

 

 

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