PRACTICAL TRAINING/PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Petrula Vrontikis

The room was over capacity for this breakout session. Attendees heard three different views from panelists Tanya Cummings, Tor Hovind, Tony Colombini and Terry Stone.

Tanya and Tor gave an enthusiastic presentation on the Cal State University, Long Beach Graphic Design Travel Program. Their solution to giving students a view of the real world was to take them there. They visit studios outside of the Southern California area (often overseas) to observe the similarities and differences in their offices and their relationships to city culture. In addition to exposing students to the varied approaches design offices take, personal contacts were made for subsequent internships. Also, they spoke briefly about programs which bring corporate clients into the classrooms for structured projects with students. Both activities were done in the context of design classes, and not a separate "Professional Practice" class. These innovative programs were well received by the session attendees, enabling them to broaden their ideas about how programs can provide a bridge to the profession at large.

The next presenter was Tony Colombini, who teaches at Platt College in Newport Beach, California. He crafted a proposal to the college outlining how to bring design professionals into the classroom where they share real world experiences with students. His ideas connected the college's graphic design program to the community. It illustrated how a part-time faculty member could effectively utilize the design community resources he has cultivated in his own professional practice. Colombini's proposal was a model for how present the idea to a graphic design department chair.

The last panelist was Terry Stone, design strategist for some of the top Los Angeles graphic design offices, currently with AdamsMorioka, and faculty member at CalArts. Stone outlined what she teaches in her professional practices course at CalArts. Some of what is covered are typical Professional Practice topics, but her syllabus went much deeper. She strives to understand and teach the central behaviors and attitudes which constitute professional practice. By drawing on her passion for professionalism in design, she presented a strong model for what would be covered in an ideal professional practices course, including introducing the subject early in the student's curriculum. Stone shared her syllabus for a class called "Design Issues: What is This Thing Called Graphic Design?" a course which introduces professionalism in the design field without covering the details of business issues per se.

The Q & A was lively. David Goodman, who has been consulting with design offices about business for over 20 years, was outspoken. He is a strong advocate for the importance of professional practice being valued in graphic design programs. Seasoned professionals, who are also passionate educators, including John Clark and Mary Scott, stressed their opinions about the edge graduates have when they are given a strong foundation of professional practice skills.

Overall, the session was informative and entertaining. It ended too soon. The large attendance represented educators' interest level this subject. Once believed to be a necessary evil of a design program, well-conceived courses in professional practice are now valued as crucial for recent graduates to fully realize their creative skills. Internship programs are still important, but are not informative enough anymore to fully prepare a graduate for today's competitive work environments.

Clearly the content of these courses is shifting from typical portfolio preparation and resume writing to issues of pricing, negotiation, communication, collaboration, integrity, ethics and social responsibility. Programs may be doing students a disservice if they are not helping graduates understand the broader context of graphic design within the working world, especially in a challenging economy.

As the need for richer content in the area of Professional Practice becomes clearer, questions arise as to who is really qualified to teach them. A person like Terry Stone, who is a business strategist to design offices, would be an ideal instructor. But what about a tenured professor? A graduate student? Historically, where has the profession learned these skills? (Usually on the job in the "school of hard knocks.") As we "raise the bar," and the business of graphic design becomes increasingly complex, who can we rely on to deliver the right messages? Further, what messages exactly do we want to send when the profession at large seems somewhat ambivalent about design as a business? Who determines professional behavior and standards? Where and how should academia meet the "real world?

The session helped educators access how well their own programs are addressing the subject and how innovative ideas may be implemented.

 

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