Hasta La Ideas

Steven Heller, Lita Talario and the gang at SVA’s Designer As Author program have launched a program abroad this spring–a week in Venice and another week in Rome–in the form of a “Masters Workshop: Design History, Theory, and Practice.” With an all-star faculty of local talent and a great combination of lectures, research and field trips, this program promises to provide a great immersion in cities that you’ll definitely wanna be, um, immersed in.

Spend two weeks studying visual communication–especially typography–in Venice and Rome, the birthplace of Western typographic tradition. Visit the Trajan Column, the Pantheon and the Arch of Titus. Examine inscriptions on Roman buildings and monuments that have long been a typographic ideal. This workshop in design history, theory and practice will be an intensive period of study that enables students to research and analyze the roots of typography, while practicing contemporary design with Italian and American designers and design historians.

The workshop will foster multidisciplinary activities–through immersion–in architecture, fashion, literature, theater, and even cuisine. Collaborations with Italian design organizations and businesses will result in projects and products for publication and production.

Check out the site for the application form, schedule, and line-up.

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The final report of the US National Design Policy Summit is now available for download.

It covers the rationale and outcomes of the Summit, the process and criteria for ranking of the final 62 policy proposals, the list of design policy related current activities by invited organizations (not just participants), and the raw list of policy proposals.

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Twenty years ago a seminal article appeared in ID magazine that contrasted two approaches to design and design education: the methods-driven and scientific approach described by Chuck Owen of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and the experimental and semantic approach advocated by Mike McCoy of Cranbrook.

These two separate methods evolved into what are today simply known as “innovation” (or “design thinking”) and “design,” and each has built its own culture within the design profession. Yet some confusion surrounds these concepts, especially about how these two methods interact to deliver products.

By examining the two approaches, we can highlight some of the most critical issues shaping American design. In a debate format, two new voices are revisiting and updating the argument; Scott Klinker from Cranbrook and Jeremy Alexis from IIT.

A snippet to tempt you:

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