changing design education in Australia

Director of the Creative Industries Innovation Centre (CIIC), Lisa Colley recently attended the launch of the Australian Design Alliance (ADA), providing her insights on design education.

So, what do we need to change about design education in Australia?

Over the last 12 months the Business Advisers working with the Creative Industries Innovation Centre (as part of the Enterprise Connect program of Department of Industry, Innovation, Science and Research) have worked with over 150 creative industries firms – undertaking a comprehensive analysis of the business and working with them to address critical sustainability issues for their companies.

The largest cohorts of business that we have reviewed have come from the design sectors and it is from engagement with them that I draw my observations. I am not a design educator although I have spent a lot of time talking with design educators – as our Centre has a network of university partners all intensively involved in design education and so I hear the frustrations from both sides.

From the design companies I hear – "Why can’t our graduates be more work ready?"

From the educators – "We know us our curriculum needs to be more flexible but how do we achieve that and our academic requirements?"

The feedback we are getting from industry about graduate abilities includes the following observations:

• Companies who do employ graduates tended to be the larger companies and they are resigned to a long period of on the job training
• Many of the smaller companies don’t employ graduates but contract in as they can’t afford the lead up time to bring people up to speed.
• They also see a failure in graduates understanding how to integrate design with technology – a result of dedicated design departments, where there is little connection to application technologies.
• Emerging technologies are and will continue to have a profound impact on design – there is still too big a gap between engineering and design departments – to the detriment of both disciplines.

So what would be the features of a great design education system in Australia?

• Design forms part of K-12 curricula so that students join TAFE and university with a more realistic and indeed sophisticated understanding of what working in “design” means.
• We would have a robust and collaborative engagement between universities and small to medium design enterprises;
• Design industry has a strong engagement with the curriculum process developing creative solutions to meet the needs of industry and the academic requirements of our tertiary institutions.
• We would see a proliferation of living laboratories with students across disciplines working together with industry, consumers and government to solve real world problems
• We would have a highly developed intern programs; with industry associations taking a leadership role to ensure graduates and companies small and large get maximum benefit.
• Design graduates have undertaken their degrees across design, IT, engineering, and business faculties.
• Companies across the economy will benefit from the skills and approach of our design graduates – bringing with them a sharper understanding of commercialising creativity.
• Dare I say we would have fewer graduates but ones who are better prepared? 
• Or perhaps if we get the right mix - the demand for our designers will increase exponentially and our graduates will have satisfying destinations.

To find out more, please visit the DIA website.