Abstract
The article emphasizes the need for certain revolutionary changes in design education to suit the needs of sociocultural conditions of the information age. The author, while pointing out design movements during the industrial and information ages, by adopting a theoretical framework, stresses the importance of design education that is holistic, flexible, and well suitable to the rapidly developing information age.
According to him, a designer must be able to constantly update with ever-increasing information and understand systemic complexities, to deliver products and services to satisfy changing requirements. The information age is showing dramatic socio-cultural changes with new technologies and globalization. Institutions must come forward with innovative nodes of design education that allow collaboration among different fields and organizations. A well-informed designer can survive disturbances that may arise from increasing socioeconomic complexities and excel with much-needed creativity. Design education must consider and include changing trends in technology and turn human lives, for the design practice to last longer.
Critical Evaluation
We have indeed witnessed rapid advancements in technologies during the last two decades, which have entirely changed the way we perceive the world. The developments in communication technologies have made us practically realize many past assumptions. In the wake of these changes, designers have the comfort of using technology to enhance their skills and creativity. As a simple example, the introduction of software like Microsoft Word and Typing master has made the job of a document designer much easier. However, an individual or organization needs to be skilled enough to work up to the expectations raised by the technological improvements.
In the current globalization period, a designer must be flexible to understand and use, when necessary, the interrelations of various design technologies and processes in simplifying task accomplishment. Convergence is achieved through and is essential for deriving innovations. It enhances the benefits of a product or service for the end-stage users. However, attempts are necessary to further opt for different approaches, while considering these interrelations, to bring in newer advancements. This divergence is also necessary for maintaining standards and identity.
The changing global trends have made it compulsory to adopt strategic collaborations among organizations to survive the competition and economic fluctuations. These collaborations are essential for sharing information and services, thereby alleviating unwanted obstacles. This is in turn helpful in creating new products by meeting vast technological and organizational assistance available to designers. However, to realize this design practices should be able to manipulate complexities in favor of task management.
A holistic approach of design moments to include various disciplines is necessary to make the best use of available knowledge for the benefit of mankind. For example, computers and other electronic and communicative devices work on certain mathematical and related data applications. Creating virtual environments with these devices needs the help of satellites that are made and operated through applications of physics and chemistry along with mathematics. It emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach to realizing new technologies.
Also, new developments like virtuality are rapidly changing the trends and requirements of society. To be successful in these situations, a designer is supposed to have the creativity to go beyond commonality and think of further innovations. It is much necessary for this information age due to the rapidity of changes. In this regard, traditional design education with its narrow, field-oriented applicability is not helpful, as creativity in the current scenario requires the ability to correlate various disciplines. Also, creativity with social awareness helps in fulfilling social responsibilities related to cultures and traditions.
It is worth mentioning that the present technological advancements and societal changes are more rapid than in the past. This has been much evident in recent decades. It does imply to all areas ranging from product innovations to human thoughts. To keep pace with these changing trends, it is necessary not only for the designers but also for the general public to update with new information that results from these changes. A designer who cannot cope with these circumstances simply lags and will be left alone.
Moreover, a designer can be aware of his/her social responsibilities only when he/she knows the complex nature of society. Going with alluring global trends while maintaining the identity of the self and society needs comprehensive knowledge and analysis of the past and present scenarios, and future possibilities.
Implications for Design Education
There is a remarkable difference in design movements in the information age, compared to the past. Accordingly, design education needs to adopt new approaches to meet the present requirements. The availability of vast information in the current period has brought dramatic changes in human lives. Design education must change accordingly to guide people in using this information to simplify tasks and deliver better services, as traditional strictly field-oriented design practice cannot satisfy the requirements of the information age.
The increasing technological and multicultural requirements suggest the holistic approach involving various disciplines and cultures. This increases the scope of design practice and gives impetus to new inventions. The purpose of any design practice is to benefit the increasing number of users. Thus, following a comprehensive approach in design education makes the designer meet the needs of society and work with social responsibility.
Design education must emphasize the need for co-evolution, giving equal importance to both collaboration and competition. While collaboration helps in sharing the existing knowledge and other resources, competition helps in achieving uniqueness in products and services. Also, collaboration is essential to overcome the problems of complexities in designs, manufacturing, and marketing. Moreover, education that gives importance to overall creative abilities helps the designer to survive these problems and scale new heights in innovations.
The realization of the virtual environment has made it necessary for the institutions to change the educational patterns so that the learners can get the information anywhere and anytime. Also, it is a must to implement continuing education programs for keeping designers fit to cope with the rapidity of changes in the information age.