Design Is ... WORKSHOP!

The whole purpose of the "Design Is..." newsprint has been to distribute it to students interested in the visual arts. As designers, we personally know how little high school education focuses on what design is, what it is capable of doing, and that it's not only a realistic career path, but a worthwhile vocation---even (especially) in this economy.

Well, sometimes the planets align.

In reaching out to Chicago Public Schools, a program called Project Osmosis offered to share our publication with over 100 students as a part of their Design Youth Forum this week (!) Even more amazing, we were invited to coordinate and teach a day-long graphic design workshop for 20 of their interested juniors and seniors (!!) And, because that's not incredible enough, we were asked to begin the day as THE keynote speakers, giving us the opportunity to explain what design means to us, why it inspires and how it impacts the world---in short, getting the creative blood flowing for a day full of design (!!!)

A few photos of this amazing day, below

 

^ by the time we arrive, the kids already have our newspaper in hand

^ after introducing some inspirational and effective real-world design examples, we go through the contents of our newspaper, explaining the meaning behind each image

^ then it's on to the workshop, where we start off manually sketching ideas for posters that the kids will be working on for the remainder of the day. Because the theme is "Design for Positive Change" we get everyone to begin by thinking aloud, What causes do I care about? Where do I want to see change in my environment?

^ finally it's on to the computer lab to digitize and finalize ideas. Everyone has his and her own way of expressing---some focus on meaningful words, others are confident in their illustration skills... many choose to collaborate... all of the designers work very hard. 

We finish the day with two of our students presenting their designs to the rest of the forum, proud (and a bit nervous) to showcase their pieces. I think everyone left feeling excited and inspired. For me, this experience has been a blessing from start to finish, and reminds me of what I love about design: the power of bringing people together.