Below is some quotes I’ve pulled from “the education of an illustrator” and the “education of a graphic designer”. Some act as a reference for myself and others I’ve responded to.
What is professional about professional education – Meredith Davis
“We are in the future business: we make informed assumptions that or curriculum and instruction today will serve our students and thier constituents well for the next fifty years and that, in doing so, we play some role in defining the future of the field.”
“The contract between the institution and the profession is that this knowledge base results from an informed guess about what will serve the profession well into the future.” – does the institution (UAL) know what is happening in the “professional” world? How does an institution have a relationship with the “professional” world? During a meeting between Foundation and BA GCD the discussion of live briefs was brought up. We were informed that BA GCD now take the policy that live briefs are not ethically appropriate. There was however a subtext to the conversation that the businesses coming to the course and the live projects are not innovative, the example given being a duvet company looking for illustrations for their products. In my opinion although not an exciting job it is a real job all the same that many practicing illustrators would covet. What message might that communicate to the students?
Emptying the spoon, enlarging the plate: some thoughts on graphic design education – Warren Lethrer
“Do I teach design? Or do I teaching human beings?”
“Am I a teacher of individuals aspiring to excel in design… Am I a teacher who should help students discover a path to a life’s work filled with meaning…”
“Am I a teacher in the service of training designers to create a better world?”
“Am I a teacher in the service of training a highly competent and employable workforce?”
No Art director ever asked to see my portfolio – Daniel Pelavin
“ The education of many a successful illustrator takes place quite handily outside the bounds of any certified program… The most important, perhaps only credential of any significance in this field is the portfolio” – my argument to this is how is someone aspiring to be an illustrator to form a portfolio without the practice or developed skill to form and communicate ideas?
“While it seems obvious that working illustrators would be the obvious choice as illustration teachers, the axiom, “those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach” may have originated in the illustration field… All too frequently, what you find are semi-illustrators with too much time between jobs and underfed egos.” – the illustration field in the UK specifically, is small particularly in comparison to graphic design. Applied illustration in the world is often I feel, quite limited, this is because it is considered a superfluous expensive decorative element. Illustration has fought hard to be intellectually relevant and places itself one foot in art and another in design but illustration will never have the “importance” as art or the business astuteness as graphic design. In short, there is an over abundance of gifted and skilled illustrators but not enough jobs and perhaps this is why many illustrators turn to teaching.
“If you don’t recognise illustration as a business and don’t concentrate on the required skills, you are shortchanging those foolhardy enough to believe in you. After all, they don’t need that degree more than Dumbo needed that lucky feather.” – I dont think my BA or MA in communication design addressed the ideas of business sufficiently. I have reflected a lot on the economic value of my art/ illustration practice and under the scrutiny of that lens it is unrealistic. If something doesn’t make money does it still have value?