This is my lecture from Week 7 of Design Workshop.

Course blog: workshop.ysdn.ca

Design Workshop presents students with the opportunity to conceive, develop and finalize their own work independently, under the supervision of a course director and with peer involvement. Students must take into account the practical, economic, cultural and aesthetic challenges of their project as if for a real-world audience.

Design Workshop is unique in the YSDN program. It requires students to research and investigate a given theme, developing an understanding of the many aspects of the theme. The ultimate design objectives are not predetermined. Only after thorough research and consideration of intended audiences do students define what forms their designs will take.

Students are encouraged to approach the thematic material both through conventional research resources, as well as to investigate it visually by documenting aspects of it in the environment, including human participants. Students are expected to go beyond desk research or literary references and venture out to explore other sources of information, as well as to witness and visually record manifestations of the theme in the real world.

During the Fall term students will produce (1) a visual essay, (2) a research report, and (3) a design proposal for design work related to the theme including content for a design project derived from the research and a planning timeline for the work to be accomplished in the Winter term.

During the Winter term, students will design their project using the content developed in the Fall and schedule their work according to the planning timeline. Class time is allocated for ongoing work on projects as well as personal and group critiques.

There are special lectures on topics related to selected themes. Workshop time thus consists of:

• Ongoing work on projects
• Presentation, by students, of work in progress
• Discussion of work challenges and related questions with faculty and peers
• Special lectures

Learning Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
• Conduct individual academic and visual research and prepare a research report
• Conceive an appropriate overall project and break it down into its component parts
• Negotiate a project proposal based on a research report
• Present ideas, challenges and questions to an audience of peers and instructors
• Critique the work of other students in an observant, constructive manner
• Set appropriate, realistic deadlines and meet them
• Manage all aspects of a project responsibly
• Work with others in a cooperative and collegial way
• Extended and refined knowledge of design theory and information technologies
• Increase awareness of strategic goals, client relationship and identifying issues surrounding the design process
• Develop a design intelligence and sensitivity that extends beyond the visual aesthetic

The Theme

The Design Workshop theme is a large, general and of worldwide interest with many facets, involving many disciplines such as science, ethics and cultural studies, about which many views are held. This approach is similar to some major international design competitions which state a general theme, and expect the design community to provide new insights into it and its ramifications. Through both academic research, and experience of the theme and visual research, students will establish an area within the theme to pursue further, ultimately determining the design deliverables that they complete for the course.