DEFSA Newsletter 1 2019 1The DEFSA-team organised two workshops this year. Both were well attended and provided design lecturers a space to connect between conference years. Practice-based research The first workshop on 8 June 2018 looked at Practice-based research. Over 60 design educators packed into the NRF, Albert Luthuli Auditorium in Pretoria, while lecturers from NMU and CPUT participated via simulcast. “The workshop had achieved the objectives of providing a platform for participants to discuss and exchange ideas,” explains DEFSA President Dr Sue Giloi. “It gives design educators a sense of how each institution is approaching practice-based research and the evaluation of creative outputs.”Dr Andrew Kaniki, Executive Director: Knowledge Advancement and Support of the NRF was the opening speaker. He provided participants with the context of practice-based research in South Africa.In the second part of the workshop, three speakers from the University of Johannesburg took the stage. They discussed practice-based research in the field of Industrial Design. Angus Donald Campbell, Head of Department and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Industrial Design provided an overview of this type of research. He went on to describe some of the work that students in the Industrial Design department had created such as hardhats for construction workers, prosthetics, vibration free tattoo machines and food storage units for small scale farmers.Ashton Bullock provided an entertaining background to how she had become fascinated with medical devices and identified that they are seldom designed with children patients in mind. This became the impetus for her MTech project in which she analysed a number of existing medical devices in order to establish a model for designing pediatric medical devices in South Africa. José Antonio Marín Pacheco took the audience through a fascinating project in which solar energy was harnessed for use by small and micro businesses. Planning and writing an abstractA successful abstract writing workshop was held on the 14th of September, aimed at encouraging members to write abstracts for the DEFSA 2019 conference. The workshop was hosted by Inscape Cape Town while simulcasts were run at Tshwane University of Technology and Nelson Mandela University. Professor Johannes Cronje Dean of Informatics & Design at Cape Peninsula University of Technology started the workshop by encouraging participants to take a story telling approach to writing an abstract. He walked participants through the process, and they applied the story telling technique to create an outline for an abstract. There was a great deal of interaction, debate and feedback from participants at all three venues.Viki Erikson and Veronica Barnes, both design lecturers at CPUT, presented an overview of how to create poster presentations for a conference. They covered the dos and don’ts of poster presentation design and provided examples of successful poster designFor more information about these workshop and future workshops please visit the Defsa website: http://www.defsa.org.za/articles/workshop-practice-basedhttp://www.defsa.org.za/articles/professional-workshop-abstractDr Andrew Kaniki, Executive Director: Knowledge Advancement and Support of the NRFBuilding research capacity – DEFSA workshops 2018Newsletter Jan 2019DEFSA Newsletter 1 2019 2In higher education, there is pressure to conduct research and improve one’s qualifications. Such ambitions can emerge from the educator’s personal interest, motivation and career goals or may be driven by the institutional requirements, culture and goals. These are backgrounded by the broader ranking and regulatory requirements. On a personal level, academic visibility, qualifying for promotion and receiving funding is linked to publishing research and having an appropriate qualification. With current legislation in which private higher education institutions have the opportunity to apply for university status, such pressures are extending to academics at private, as well as public institutions. When deciding on what course to take at a postgraduate level, many design educators are caught between continuing with their design specialization or choosing to pursue an education qualification. As an academic who studied in the specialized field of photography up to Masters level and who then chose to do a PhD in education, my decision was a relatively easy one to make. There were very few PhD’s in Photography on offer in South Africa, I could not afford to study overseas, and I was, at that point in my career, an educator, not a photographer or a photography lecturer. For others, especially those in the early stages of their academic career, the decision might not be so easy. Cross disciplinary research is encouraged at many institutions and design educators may choose to merge education and design in their research towards a postgraduate design qualification. This approach can be very successful, however, there are a number of potential pitfalls. When considering studying towards a postgraduate qualification, many design educators have at least four years of formal study in a specialist field of design, but no formal learning in education. Depending on their experience and interests, their knowledge and understanding of education and educational theories may be superficial. Education has a rich philosophical, and knowledge tradition, with a multitude of theories, models and practices which take extensive reading, time and thinking about to come to terms with. Not only is the postgraduate student, with no education training, catching up on four years of study in education, but if their supervisor is not qualified in education, they may not be adequately supported in this area. My personal view is that if a research project is about education, for instance teaching, curriculum design or assessment, and the design discipline merely provides the context, the study would be better supported in an education faculty. Yes, disciplinary knowledge and the unique characteristic of each design discipline and how its curriculum and assessments are constructed is important, but the question that should be asked is does this study contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the design discipline? Too often in this type of research one could replace the ‘fashion/graphic design/interior design education’ in the research question with ‘geography/mathematics/science education’. One clue when evaluating this, might be the lack of references from the literature relating to the field of design. If the specialist design knowledge, practices and theories add nothing to the research then what makes it a postgraduate design qualification?When making the decision of what to research and what type of qualification to choose, each individual should consider their personal needs and ambitions, and how the knowledge and skills gained might benefit them now and in ten years’ time. Will it be of benefit if you chose to leave the academy for industry, will it benefit you as a teacher and supervisor? Does the institution that you intend studying at have supervisors who are knowledgeable in the field of specialization and in education, or do they consider team supervision where an educator and a designer could co-supervise your research project? What type of qualification, research and topics are employees, both in the academy and industry, looking for? What interests you at this point in your career and which institution and supervisor/s would best support you? All of these questions, and there are no doubt more, are key to ensuring that you will do a postgraduate qualification that is appropriate for your needs. This article is written in my personal capacity and does not reflect the opinions of DEFSA or Inscape.Post graduate studies - design discipline or education?Sue Giloi - DEFSA PresidentWhen making the decision of what to research and what type of qualification to choose, each individual should consider their personal needs and ambitions, and how the knowledge and skills gained might benefit them now and in ten years’ time. DEFSA Newsletter 1 2019 3DESIGN KNOWLEDGE• Local vs global• Representation, communication and sharing of design knowledge• Experiential knowledge• The intersections between texts and objects as the material of design• Design fictions• Storying the intersection of design, research and collaborative humans• DESIGN RESEARCH • Lessons from industry• Studio based design research• Applied design re search• Design-based research• Blue skies research in design• Collaborative design research• Design ethics and research• Design philosophy as researchPOST GRADUATE DESIGN EDUCATION • Challenges and opportunities• Postgraduate studies, formats and assessment• Postgraduate supervision• The young researcherBookings for the conference will open on 25 March 2019.DESIGNED FUTURESDesign educators interrogating the future of design knowledge,research and education. 8th International DEFSA Conference 9-11 September 2019City: Cape Town | Hosts: CPUT and Vega Venue: Vega Cape Town Campus 130 Strand St, De Waterkant, Cape Town, South AfricaWhen considering the future of our world and the impact of technology, the global economy, societal changes and the damaged environment, design is often put forward as a tool that can ‘save the world’. Designers are equipped with a unique combination of skills, ways of thinking and doing, and the personal attributes essential to take on a range of complex tasks that call for innovative solutions. Given the significance of creative design in an increasingly automated future, how does design education prepare students for an unpredictable future in which they will have to rapidly acquire new knowledge, learn new skills and adapt to new contexts and cultures? How might design education and design research support the generation of new knowledge for the changing world?The theme for the 8th International DEFSA Conference to be held in September 2019 explores the future of design knowledge, research and education. We invite members and non-members to submit abstracts for review for presentations, possible full-papers or poster presentations relating to the following sub-themes.Criteria for submissions of Abstracts for Posters and PapersAbstracts for Conference presentations and poster presentations must be uploaded to the DEFSA site by the 28 February 2019. Abstracts will be reviewed by the DEFSA Abstract Peer Review Panel in a blind review process.The Abstract submission deadline is on or before 28 February 2019. Your abstract must be no more than 300 words. The abstract should be a concise statement of the problem, approach, and conclusions of the work described. It should clearly state the poster or paper’s contribution to the field. A title that communicates the topic, plus three to five Keywords must be included. The abstract should not include your name.Masters and PhD students of DEFSA member institutions should consult their institution regarding the poster selection process.PresentationsOn acceptance of the abstract, authors will be notified and should prepare a 20 minute presentation for the conference. Presentations should be in PDF, PowerPoint or related format.Acceptance of an abstract means that you may present your paper, it does not a guarantee that your paper will also be accepted for publication in the conference proceedings.Poster presentationsAuthors will be provided with a display area and a time in which they can speak to the poster. Final posters must be printed no larger than A1 for display at the Conference. (A1: 594 x 841 mm or 23.4 x 33.1 in)We would recommend that posters be laminated for protection. Posters should include diagrams, images, graphs, illustrations which the author would discuss with small groups of people. Authors would be required to conduct the poster discussions at the specific times allocated. For final papers Full papers must be uploaded to the DEFSA submission site at 24:00 on 9 July 2019, prior to the Conference.All papers will go through a double-blind peer review process. This process will be completed before the conference. Only papers that were presented at the conference will be considered for publication in the Conference Proceedings. Authors will be informed after the DEFSA conference of the double-blind peer review and selection outcome.Selection will take into consideration the DHET requirement of “More than 60% of contributions published in the conference proceedings being submitted for a subsidy claim must emanate from multiple institutions” (DHET, 2015, p. 19).The decision of the Editors of the conference proceedings is final.To be able to see the links to submit an abstract you need to REGISTER and LOG IN to the DEFSA website www.defsa.co.za. Usernames and passwords are case-sensitive.DEFSA Newsletter 1 2019 4What’s happening?Apply now - Innovation By Design Awards!The 2019 Innovation by Design Awards honor the designers and businesses solving the problems of today and tomorrow. The competition, now in its eighth year, has featured a cross section of blue-chip companies, scruffy startups, and hungry young talents. It is one of the most sought-after design awards in the industry. There are 21 categories you can enter, and the judges include renowned designers from a variety of disciplines, business leaders from some of the most innovative companies in the world, and Fast Company’s own editors. Entries are judged on the key ingredients of innovation: functionality, originality, beauty, sustainability, depth of user insight, cultural impact, and business impact.https://www.fastcompany.com/apply/innovation-by-designDesign Principles & Practices 2020The Fourteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices will feature plenary sessions by some of the world’s leading thinkers and innovators in the field. For design practitioners, a central paradox of our times is the increasing specialization, on the one hand, but on the other, the need for more broad-ranging and holistic integration of design tasks, working between and across design disciplines. Design is becoming an ever-more social, indeed sociable, process.The conference program groups together presentations along similar themes to facilitate knowledge sharing and community building, so the first schedule of sessions will be available when we’re able to present a complete picture of the conference.Theme 1: Design EducationTheme 2: Design in SocietyTheme 3: Designed ObjectsTheme 4: Visual DesignTheme 5: Design Management and Professional PracticeTheme 6: Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental DesignRead more: https://designprinciplesandpractices.com/Design Indaba Conference 2019Design Indaba, the internationally acclaimed creative conference, will take place in Cape Town from Wednesday 27 February to Friday 1 March 2019 at the Artscape Theatre.https://conference.designindaba.com/UJ’s DESIS LAB TALKIn UJ’s first DSD DESIS Lab Talk for 2019 Dr Desiree Smal will be presenting her feedback and impressions from the 6th Global Fashion Conference that she attended in October/November last year. She will also be discussing sustainability in the fashion and textile industry in South Africa.If you would like to attend the event, please RSVP to dsd.desis.lab@gmail.com.Something happening at your institution that you want to share?Please send to:dianne@intercomm.co.zaand ria.vanzyl@gmail.comhttp://defsa.org.za/DUT is introducing a new Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication Design.www.dut.ac.za/faculty/arts_and_design/visual_communication_design/DEFSA Newsletter 1 2019 5Participation Design and Design Thinking are the first courses introduced to Communication Design honours students. In 2018 the two courses were jointly taught by two lecturers, Christa van Zyl (Participation Design) and Peggy Ntsepe (Design Thinking). This is the first project where students receive real-life clients to work with directly throughout the two projects, first to assess and create appropriate design solutions in Design Thinking through thorough research for the client and secondly to refine designs to exactly answer client needs. The project structure was changed from its former 5 week format to 10 weeks, in order to incorporate Design Thinking as a separate project from Participation Design.There were six clients, some of whom had more than one project, taking into account the limited number of students available in the class. The clients were: MTN Group (3 projects), North-West Crafters (5 projects), STITCH (3 projects), Slow food SA (1 project), Indigo media (two projects) and Johannesburg Zoo (1 project). Each client had to present their various projects from their companies. Students were then given the chance to vie for their favourite client. MTN Group required internal marketing to entrench a culture of collaboration amongst employees, employee wellness and their 21 Days of Y’ello Care community engagement initiatives. The North-West Crafters required branding and marketing materials for their various businesses, including jewellery, ceramics, ornamental lighting and fashion accessories, as well as suggestions for new products. This branding was already applied and used by the crafters at Decorex 2018. STITCH, an umbrella brand for female-run sowing co-operatives from mainly Soweto, is the brainchild of UJ Business Management lecturer and Enactus UJ Chief Administrator, Joyce Sibeko. The aim of STITCH is to offer financial support, training, workspace, machinery, an online store and a store in Southgate Mall. Slow Food SA required marketing, branding and packaging material for their Rainbow Maize Revival project, aimed at saving the South African heritage crop, Rainbow Maize. Indigo Media, in collaboration with Izindaba Zokudla, required a rebrand for Izindaba Zokudla, as well as new branding and marketing materials for AWIA, African Women in Agriculture. The Johannesburg Zoo asked students to help work on potential funding initiatives to revamp and financially support their Education Centre.The overall reflection from students on Participation Design was very positive. One member of the class felt that it was a great experience working with an actual client, speaking to them and finding out what they need. “It was a good opportunity to have a client to speak to because it’s the kind of situation we will come across in the industry”. Another member of the class stated that she enjoyed the creative freedom that she was given by her client. Many people liked the fact that students had to come up with creative solutions and could take what they were given and make it their own – everyone’s personal style was visible in their work. All students had to keep a blog on their project, and to update it as often as they worked on the project.With regards to Design Thinking the overall reflection was also positive. One member of the class said that it was helpful to learn more about the design research process than just the regular practical side. Students were encouraged to explore the fields of design thinking and human centred design in greater detail than in their graduate studies. Students were also taught how to better interact and communicate with clients and to have more empathy, a crucial skill, not just for a designer but also in life in general. A suggestion for these two courses in the future would be to adjust the structure by starting with design thinking and then doing participation design, instead of having design thinking in between. Students felt it was a great learning curve and taught them many skills that will help them in the future. Written by Maxene Booysen (Honours student), with contribution by her lecturer, Christa Steyn. DEFSA members share....UJ: Participation Design & Design Thinking course 2018DEFSA Newsletter 1 2019 6Simplicity is key!Talk by Matías Delfino, UNICEF’s global lead designer.On 9 April Matías Delfino, a United Nations Civil servant serving the UN as a Graphic Designer, came to UJ to present his designs and talk about using Graphic Design as a tool for social change. Matías Delfino spoke to the students thanks to the support of the Argentinian Embassy and its ambassador, Mr. Javier Esteban Figueroa, and the United Nations information Centre based in Pretoria, specifically Mr. Masimba Tafirenyika. From 5 – 20 April, Matías Delfino exhibited Making Hope Visual, a collection of United Nations posters and campaigns that bring the message of the UN to life. This exhibition was at the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre. In communicating ideas across borders through the universal language of design, these designs all address the same challenge: being equally understood by people of different cultures who speak different languages. Matías discovered his interest in social design at the age of 21, when, as a student at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), he was assigned a project to design a series of public service announcements for UNICEF in order to raise awareness about child abandonment. The search for information for this project brought him to the UNICEF / UNITED NATIONS offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was this revealing experience that moved Matías to start considering the possibility of devoting his professional life to the use graphic design as a tool for social change. During the last 17 years, his creations have reached all the United Nations’ 193 member states.The UJ graphic design students were intrigued and amazed by his work and his design processes. Delfino made them feel comfortable with his down to earth spirit and passion for what he does. He not only showcased his work, but spoke about his experiences and his journey to the United Nations and beyond, as well as how he got to where he is in his career. He inspired the students, making them feel that in the field of Graphic Design social change and helping others is possible, and that all they need to remember is to have passion and pursue ‘simplicity’ to make their work communicate across all cultures.Delfino has worked on amazing projects around the globe. He spends time traveling the world, capturing amazing experiences with his camera and learning and exploring new cultures, another factor that leads to more cultural sensitivity in his work. He strongly feels that we can change the world one design at a time, as seen clearly in his work.The IIE’s Vega was selected as the official tertiary education partner for the Comic Con Africa event, that took place from 14-16 September 2018 at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit & International Convention Centre.This year’s event marked the first Comic Con to be hosted on the African continent, giving local comic book and science fiction fans the chance to don their finest cosplay, meet international comic book artists and celebrities, and indulge in all the latest science fiction/fantasy films, television shows and popular arts.“Comic Con is the best known geek-culture event, and this is an excellent portunity to introduce it to thousands of South Africans,” says Pieter Joubert, Gaming Navigator and resident coding expert at Vega. “We have amazing talent in our country, from local comic book artists to local Indie game developers, and Comic Con Africa is a great opportunity for them to also showcase their work.” Joubert spoke at Comic Con Africa on The IIE Bachelor of Computer and Information Science (BCIS) in Game Design and Development degree, gaming as a worldwide phenomenon and the space it occupies locally, and the opportunity this presents in terms of pursuing a career in an industry that is relatively new in the local context.The IIE BCIS in Game Design and Development degree is available to study at Vega as a three-year, full-time undergraduate qualification. “Coding is a fundamental component of this degree, which we believe is more than just a tool used to bring apps to life, but a valuable way for students to learn about problem-solving and creative-thinking first-hand,” Joubert says.Vega students are routinely exposed to unique opportunities through their studies, which forms part of Vega’s mission to prepare students for real world experiences, helping them build sustainable careers long after graduating. In light of this, Vega and Comic Con Africa ran a t-shirt design competition exclusive to Vega students, that challenged entrants to design a new and exciting African superhero. The top five designs were showcased at Comic Con Africa 2018.“The creative skills that apply to geek culture go beyond the hobbyist level and can be applied in multifaceted contexts within the workplace. For learners and students, this is a great opportunity to see how doing something they love can become a real valuable career,” says Joubert. For learners and students, this is a great opportunity to see how doing something they love can become a real valuable career. Read the full story at: https://view.joomag.com/vega-octant-2018-semester-2-octant-semester-2-2018/0811594001548053899Vega geeking out ahead of the first Comic Con in AfricaDEFSA members share....DEFSA Newsletter 1 2019 7The Tshwane University of Technology’s (TUT) Herman Botes, Acting Head of the Department of Visual Communication, has contributed significantly to the body of knowledge on citizen designers with the publication of a new book, which is considered the first of its kind in post-apartheid South Africa. Herman Botes is the co-editor of the book, Educating Citizen Designers in South Africa. Botes is also the President-elect of the Design Education Forum of Southern Africa (DEFSA). The eleven chapter book aims at sharing critical citizenship design teaching, by including contributions from a range of design educators and one student who work in different design disciplines, such as architecture, graphic and product design.Prof Elmarie Costandius, Associate Professor and Co-ordinator: Art Education, Department of Visual Arts, Stellenbosch University, is the co-editor. She is also the supervisor of Botes’ current PhD studies.In the preface of the book, Botes argues that students should investigate deeper causalities within society and experience academic freedom, and that this freedom should accommodate the ability to politicise notions of culture, knowledge and power. In a blurb on the back cover, Dr Duncan Reyburn of the University of Pretoria, describes the book as “an essential scholarly work that does us the favour of taking seriously the design educator’s role in facilitating responsible design theory and praxis within South Africa’s complex socio-political context.”Prof Deidre Pretorius writes “Educating Citizen Designers in South Africa is the first book of its kind to appear in post-apartheid South Africa and it is therefore both overdue and extremely welcome. The book aims at sharing critical citizenship design teaching and learning pedagogies by including contributions from a range of design educators, and one student, who work in different design disciplines, such as architecture, graphic and product design.Critical citizenship education is explicated in relation to a range of theories and new and existing models. Numerous contemporary case studies and examples of design projects from a range of South African Higher Education Institutions are included. As such, a variety of perspectives emerge, including the consensual, where the aim of critical citizenship education is viewed as promoting social justice, shared values and critical thinking, to the conflicting – where critiques are levelled against conceptions of critical citizenship education. Contentious, contesting and contradictory views are inevitable and necessary given the South African context as it is only in open debate that the one point of agreement among the authors, the need for social change, can be worked towards.”This book is available from: http://www.africansunmedia.co.za/Sun-e-Shop/Product-Details/tabid/78/ProductID/536/Default.aspxhttps://www.tut.ac.za/news-and-press/article?NID=187Editors: Elmarie Costandius & Herman BotesNew bookEducating Citizen Designers in South AfricaHerman Botes, Acting Head of the Department of Visual Communication, and Defsa President elect is the co-editor of a new book, Educating Citizen Designers in South Africa.DEFSA is the Design Education Forum of Southern Africa. The organisation provides a platform for academics in the design education sector to engage in research, best practice and networking through various mechanisms including a biennial conference, workshops and an interactive website that hosts peer reviewed and published research papers. Our members span a range of creative disciplines including architecture and interior design, photography, film, multimedia, industrial product design, ceramics, graphic design, clothing, textile and jewellery design, and software UX.Mission• DEFSA maintains appropriate links with industry, government departments, professional bodies and similar design organisations• It shall strive to foster and promote all facets of design through design education initiatives in Southern Africa in particular, on the continent of Africa and further abroad• Furthermore, DEFSA shall endeavour to promote relevant research with the focus on designhttp://defsa.org.za/imagineNext >