Please note! Course description is confirmed for two academic years, which means that in general, e.g. Learning outcomes, assessment methods and key content stays unchanged. However, via course syllabus, it is possible to specify or change the course execution in each realization of the course, such as how the contact sessions are organized, assessment methods weighted or materials used.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- evaluate the criteria of critical thinking in your own design practice
- relate aspects of your design practice in a wider intellectual discourse
- consider the careful balance between practice and theory in your work
- recognise your rights and responsibilities as a professional practitioner in the design field, and beyond
- produce text describing and framing your own design approach
- create an initial collection of your work and your critical writing
- develop first ideas of your master's thesis
- continue to keep track of your own position and development as a designer
Credits: 3
Schedule: 27.10.2020 - 28.05.2021
Teacher in charge (valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022): Arja Karhumaa, Rupesh Vyas
Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Arja Karhumaa, Anni Puolakka, Tommi Vasko
Contact information for the course (valid 07.10.2020-21.12.2112):
Contact information for Period II/Module 1, Theory, 27.10.–2.12.2020
Anni Puolakka, course teacher
Email: anni.i.puolakka@aalto.fi
Phone: +358 50 527 3123
Tommi Vasko, course teacher
Email: tommi.vasko@aalto.fi
Phone: +358 50 3600 864
CEFR level (applies in this implementation):
Language of instruction and studies (valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022):
Teaching language: English
Languages of study attainment: English
CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD
Content
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
This seminar course acts as a core of your first year studies: it introduces you to the learning community at VCD as a space to reflect and develop your own design practice. By way of lectures, presentations, readings, and discussion, critical thought is introduced as means to recognize normative ways of being in the world, and to imagine alternative ones. Classes aim to delineate existing, emerging, and potential modes of sustainable practice within communication design. The focus is in peer learning as you work towards situating your practice both individually and together with others.
The seminar consists of four modules:
Period II/Module 1, Theory: You begin by positioning your own work within critical thought and contemporary theory relevant to visual communication design. According to your interests, you start building a framework of references in areas such as science and technology studies, decolonial and feminist theory, sustainability transitions, and public sociology, and learn to understand how these are connected, and how they can inform your own design practice.
Period III/Module 2, Work: You are introduced to professional skills and methods necessary for a sustainable design practice. You gather knowledge in working and funding models for sustainable practice, intellectual property rights, good policies in time and project management, precarity and work–life balance, and your responsibilities of care towards yourself, your colleagues, the public, and the environment.
Period IV/Module 3, Archive (done independently): You learn to develop your understanding of your practice by writing, documenting, annotating, and archiving your work. You start gathering your work and your writing towards a collection which will ultimately perform the duties of a diary, a sandbox, a laboratory, a storage, a library, a publication, a portfolio, and an archive, all according to need.
Period V/Module 4, Thesis Camp: At the end of the semester, a three-day retreat will introduce you to the notion of research and help you synthesize your work and ideas into a thesis topic, and develop it in collaboration with others.Applies in this implementation:
More specific learning outcomes for Period II/Module 1, Theory, 27.10.–2.12.2020
On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- demonstrate an awareness of selected critical contemporary discourses and design practices and their connections to each other and historical precedents
- identify connections between visual communication design and theoretical frameworks beyond design theory
- demonstrate an ability to analyze specific design projects and works - your own and others’ - in relationship with varied theoretical debates
- engage in collaborative inquiry around criticality in the context of design
- critique and question the implications of different types of design projects
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
Good attendance, course assignments, and submitted archive collection.
Partial credits (3–6 ECTS) only available for exchange students.
Applies in this implementation:
More specific assessment methods and criteria for Period II/Module 1, Theory, 27.10.–2.12.2020
Discussions and assignments. Successful completion of the course requires 80 % attendance in class and that all writing exercises are completed and approved.
Applies in this implementation:
The course is evaluated in scale 1-5 based. 50 % of the evaluation is based on participation both as an active speaker and listener in class discussions. The other 50 % regards the writing and other assignments.In order to pass the course, the student has to
- read the provided texts
- submit all the assignments on time
If any of these aspects are missing at the end of the course, the student must contact the course leader.
Workload
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
93 h contact, 150 h independent work
Applies in this implementation:
Workload for Period II/Module 1, Theory, 27.10.–2.12.2020
The
classes consist of lectures, discussions, and assignments. There will
also be independent reading and assignments in between the classes, as
well as preliminary reading before the course begins.
The course workload divides in 48 hours in class and around 50 hours independent work, which divide into:
48 h in class
20 h reading
20 h writing and other assignments
10 h time to think
DETAILS
Study Material
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
Study materials are provided in the beginning of the course.
Substitutes for Courses
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
This course substitutes DOM-E2002 Design as Critical Practice
Prerequisites
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
-
SDG: Sustainable Development Goals
5 Gender Equality
10 Reduced Inequality
12 Responsible Production and Consumption