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The Student Life an ongoing journal by Donald Lehman |
....who is Donald Lehman? |
December 31, 2002  by Don Lehman If you go on the Core77 message boards it seems that half of the topics have to do with hating KR and the other half are college-hunting high schoolers, frantically asking the question, “What is the best design school?” More and more designers have been wondering that same thing lately. In October, ID Magazine put out an issue devoted to design education. In it they put their top 10 design school list: Art Center California Institute for the Arts Carnegie Mellon University Domus Academy Illinois Institute of Technology Minneapolis College of Art & Design NYU Interactive Telecom Parsons RISD University of Cincinnati A pretty good list, but it left off some very well respected schools and included only one European school (Domus). The list is a start. It’s more interesting for the questions it brings forward, mainly how do we determine which are the best design schools? Therein lies a problem. How do we determine which are the best design schools? Think of all of the variables. First, every school has a different philosophy on how to approach design. RISD is as different from Art Center as RIT is to Savannah. Some schools will stress having a strong base of skills like sketching, model making, computer work, etc. Others are research oriented and delve deep into user-centeredness (If user centeredness is not an actual term, then I’m patenting it.). Some are heavy into transportation design, some product design, some furniture, and some a little of each. Some are 4-year programs, some 5-year. Some are on a 10-week quarter system. Some 15-week semesters. Then you have to take into consideration the teachers at the schools. Not only do they each have their own theories on design, but also they can change from year to year. At RIT for example, the faculty is almost completely different from what it was 3 years ago. Don’t forget, not everyone can go across the country or spend $30,000 a year on a design school. So, how do we determine which the is the best design school? You can’t. The moral of the story is there is no #1 design school. You have to decide for yourself as what works best for you. Happy Ending. Everyone hugs. Ok, that’s a copout. I know I had a couple high schoolers strung along there, waiting to hear which school they should go to. (I know because I was the same way.) First of all, relax. Here are some tips I learned during my college search: 1) Visit the school’s website. Every school has a website. Put your name on the mailing list so you can get info. Check out student work. The work the students put up are most likely the same projects you will be working on. But also be wary. Just because they have some cool flash animations and Alias 3d work doesn’t mean you should sign up just yet. Sometimes the schools with the cool information materials also were trying to cover for something else. Likewise, some of the schools with really horrible info materials were pretty solid. 2) Visit the school. If you can of course. There is no substitute for getting a school’s vibe than being there in person. Also, try to visit when school is in session. See the students in action. Talk to the professors. Get a feel for the location. Ask them questions. Find out what courses you will take. See what they want in a portfolio. They won’t BS to you. I did not visit a single school that tried to make the claim that their school was superior to others. I had a few professors that even encouraged visiting other colleges. Just like you want to find the best school for you, they want to find the students that will work with them the best. 3) Don’t freak out. You will not become a bad designer by going to a lesser known school just like you won’t have your own signature line of blenders just because you went to a famous school. There is no substitute for working your butt off. And don’t forget to check out Core’s education section. They have a full list of design schools with contact info and other good tips to keep in mind on your search for your own #1. “There Was Crack Involved” Design of the Month: Elmo Dancing Chicken Doll  Seriously, what the hell inspired this? Be warned: If you play with this thing for even a minute, you’ll be singing that damn jingle for a week. |
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