Progress and Manifesto

OK! So I am supposed to have a draft manifesto up on here by 1.40pm today. I am still going down the path of doing my manifestation first as it will inform my manifesto - however I can put the points I am using at the moment here and show you where I am at with the graphic design (which I am stoked with so far!)

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I am a designer. However I am about to graduate and still have trouble articulating what kind of designer I am. A design degree majoring in culture and context strives to educate students to use design research, thinking and critical practise in pursuit of creative solutions (Victoria University of Wellington, 2010). But when someone asks me what I am going to do with this degree, I continue to be unable to answer. People really just want to know whether we are going to design, posters, chairs, or the web. So what did we learn, and how can we apply this to the real world? Well, this is my take on the main elements of a culture & context degree, and where it can take us...

Question Everything.

If we take only one thing from Culture & Context, this is it. Critical thinking is perhaps the most important skills this degree has taught us. 

Follow the Process.

It will produce more interesting and surprising designs. Following the processes set out for designers will give you more direction, and by using tools in this process interesting connections are mostly likely to be made. It is obvious to everyone when you have not followed a process.

Research is ALWAYS a part of the Process.

This goes hand in hand with my next point however, the importance of research is so thoroughly drilled into us, that I feel it deserves it own point. Research will inform better designs, and ground the designs you produce in something more real. If you are stuck, do more research.

Everything Comes from Somewhere.

Everything can be traced back to another time in history. We are informed by that. Even the design of this manifesto, which I think is original is an expression of me being informed by many areas and designs.

Dunne & Raby are Not Gods.

However Critical Design is an important critique on Everyday Life and should be utilised when appropriate. 

Consumerism.

We are bound by it.

Sustain Vs Ability.

The ability to be Sustainable isn't all there is to consider. In our current market driven society, efficiency and cost wins most of then time. 

Social Design.

Majority vs Minority.

We are Damn Good Writers. 

All Designers will Judge the Font you Choose

Confidence

Responsibility

Do Good Things

Work on What you Love - Bruce Mau

Ambiguity is a Good Thing!

What I have realised is that culture and context is purposely ambiguous. We are trained to go into an ever-changing society, and so to learn definitive skills may be short sighted. Society likes to define, however, we will change jobs multiple times in our lives, the world will alter, technology will progress, and resources will diminish. Culture & Context teaches us instead to adapt our knowledge to any discipline we wish. The ambiguous definition of culture in context is allowing us to go into any business or area we wish and use our knowledge to make unexpected connections in order to create solutions in new and unexpected ways. We are taught to be designers for the present and the future.

So what do you do? I am a Designer. A culture & context graduate. I will use my diverse skills at this point in my life to get into graphic design. However, in five years time I might want to embrace the psychology or marketing aspects of my degree and use my design based thinking to help me with organisational work. Or I could be something completely new that we don't know exists yet. This degree enables all Culture & Context graduates to adapt to a changing world and ultimately, to design for life.

Realising the ambiguity of this degree actually opens more doors to us was the greatest thing I could have discovered. So next time you are asked what you are going to do with a culture and context degree, or what culture & context is? I have two answers to consider. One is the small-talk answer, which is something like the following:

I have a design degree from Victoria University and at this point I want to use it towards a career in
 ___________ <-- Fill in the blank based on whatever you wish to pursue.

And for those people interested in the long answer? All of the above point can help you, as you will no doubt get into discussing the major elements of the degree and why it is important. Ultimately, we are equipt to use our skills for any future we are faced with. I am a Culture & Context Designer. I love it.

So this is where I'm at currently.

:)

NOW FOR THE FUN GRAPHICS SO FAR AS WELL....WOO!

 These are shown in spreads.They are all still working progresses but I am stoked with how its looking mostly. You can tell the weak ones when you look at all of them together so I'll probably add to those but yes. Enjoying this part!