Creative Paths
Featured Interdisciplinary Design Approaches: Case Studies in Graphic Design Teaching, Research, and Scholarly Activities
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Siriporn Peters
Interdisciplinary design approaches have become vital in Graphic Design teaching, research, and scholarly activities in U.S. higher education. The objectives of this study are to articulate and disseminate knowledge based on my reflections on graphic design teaching, and collaborative research and scholarly activities the U.S. higher education between 2014 and 2024. Interdisciplinary design approaches can be employed by individuals and/or a team who possess different disciplines to investigate complex design situations and problems to generate advanced knowledge which is not possible to accomplish in a single discipline as well as create positive and sustainable solutions for stakeholders and participant communities. The methodologies were a mixed-methods research approach that combines both qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study and series of case studies. This involves multiple research methods for data collections, analysis, and evaluations on the effectiveness of teaching, research and scholarly activities. In this paper, multiple case studies of graphic design teaching, research, and scholarly activities are presented. Reflections and discussions of each case study are included.
Transdisciplinary Learning: The Future of Digital Product Design Education
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Chin-juz Yeh, Christie Shin
As the digital product design landscape continues to evolve, the integration of diverse disciplines becomes essential in preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the future. This paper explores the concept of transdisciplinary learning in product design education, with a focus on how blending technology, design, and creativity can foster innovation. By examining the teaching methodologies employed at FIT’s Creative Technology & Design program, this study highlights cutting-edge courses such as kinetic typography, AI-assisted design, and design systems for UX/UI, which are shaping the next generation of designers. The session will showcase pedagogical strategies that encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration and adaptability, essential for navigating an increasingly complex design ecosystem. A central feature is a case study of student projects that exemplify the power of transdisciplinary approaches, demonstrating how students synthesize knowledge from multiple fields to create innovative and impactful designs. This study aims to inspire educators to rethink traditional boundaries in design education and embrace a holistic, future-forward curriculum that prepares students not only to meet current industry demands but to anticipate and shape the future of product design which will meet the demand of an increasingly complex world in the digital age. Concrete examples of student projects illustrate how transdisciplinary learning prepares students for the complexities of the contemporary society. These case studies focus on how students integrate AI, UX/UI design, and experiential design to create innovative solutions for real-world problems.
Fieldwork vs Site Analysis: Addressing the Disembodiment Issue in Architectural Education
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Anastasia Gkoliomyti
Site analysis is one of the foundational skill sets that both architecture students and practitioners engage in. Analytical thinking in design education originates from Cartesian tenets entering architectural design in the 19th-century Beaux-Arts. During that same period, colonial governments sent anthropologists to survey colonies' built environments worldwide. Thus, two distinct academic directions dealt with the site: the architectural-Cartesian-Analytic school of thought and the anthropological-colonial-ethnographic school of thought. Echoing Foucault's call to engage in knowledge archaeology, the contemporary universal challenge for architectural educational practices to cultivate sustainable built environments invites the inquiry into the context and legacy of both schools of thought and tracing their influence in the present. This paper engages in the above investigation and propose a counter-methodology to site analysis found in design fieldwork. Introducing the binaries of site-field and analysis-work the proposal speculates on an embodied and relational pedagogy for disciplines that are concerned with the built environment.
