9

Design consultancies

Organisations that offer design services to other businesses, usually on a per project basis, although sometimes they are paid on retainer. Design consultancies generally employ trained, professional designers. Consultancies were classifi ed via a scheme developed in the course of previous work on design by dandolopartners and Booz|Allen|Hamilton (2003) as follows.

Sectors Sub-sectors

Physical Architecture Interior Design Landscape Design Urban Design

Industrial Industrial Design/Engineering Design Consultancy Services

Visual Communications DesignCommunications Corporate Brand Design(VisCom) Commercial Artists/Graphic Design TV, Film and Theatre Set Design Exhibition and Display

Artisan Textile Design Fashion Design Jewellery Design Furniture Design

Multimedia Multimedia/Web Design/Computer Software/Computer Games

Education Services provided by Universities /TAFEs/Design Colleges

Other Includes Design Management /Facilitation Services

TAFE Technical and Further Education institutions providing a wide range of predominantly vocational tertiary education courses in Australia.

Interdisciplinary studies Studies that cross over and integrate several academic schools of thought, professions, or technologies in the pursuit of a common task. Interdisciplinary approaches typically focus on problems thought to be too complex or vast for adequate understanding in a single discipline.

12

1.1Introduction

The publication of Five Years On in 2008 by Design Victoria revealed the Victorian design sector to be a thriving industry, a net exporter of design services and an essential contributor to the success of many other businesses that engage design services.

But what of the future? Will the next generation of designers be adequately equipped to maintain this momentum and operate within a much broader and more competitive context in the future? Will we have enough designers working in the areas they are most needed? What is the perception of the standard and course content our design graduates currently receive?

Producing outstanding, highly skilled graduates is imperative to the continued growth, evolution and competitiveness of the Victorian design industry. Commissioned by the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development (DIIRD), through Design Victoria at RMIT University, Designing Our Future is a study of the provision of tertiary design education in Victoria.

The report draws on a wide range of data sources: published statistics, discussions with design practitioners and design teachers, surveys of students and consultations with course designers and coordinators in tertiary design, business and engineering schools.

It is hoped that the fi ndings of Designing Our Future will provide insight and guidance for government, the education sector and the design industry.

13

What We Wanted to Find Out

Based on feedback and recommendations from previous research in 2003 and 2008* this research primarily focused on the industrial, graphic design and to a lesser extent, multimedia design sectors (although other sectors are included) and undertook to examine the following issues regarding the demand for and supply of world-class design graduates in Victoria:

1. Is Victoria’s education sector producing enough design-qualifi ed graduates to meet the needs of employers, and is the mix appropriate? Are there shortages of design graduates or an over-supply?

2. If there are shortages in some design sectors, what are the reasons for this? Are prospective students deterred from entering design?

3. Are graduates adequately trained and skilled to meet the needs and demands of Victorian employers, both in design consultancies and within industry? Is the education being received in our elite institutions up to world’s best practice levels?

4. How should current courses and training be modifi ed to better meet the needs of graduates and employers?

5. Does the education system create an awareness of the value and importance of design among students in other disciplines?

* dandolopartners and Booz|Allen|Hamiltion (2003), Developing Victoria’s Design Capability and Design Victoria, (2008), Five Years On: Victoria’s Design Sector 2003-2008

14

The study has drawn on multiple sources of information, including previously published studies.

1. Collection of relevant statistical information (student numbers, annual enrolments, fi rst choice preferences etc.) These came from three main sources.

2. A survey of 100 careers teachers in secondary schools across Victoria examining teachers’, school students’ and parents’ perceptions of design as a career and barriers to embarking on a tertiary design course.

3. One-on-one interviews/discussions with 11 employers of design graduates (practitioners) and 13 design teachers across the university, TAFE and private sectors.

4. Online surveys of tertiary design and non-design (business/engineering) students.

5. A postal survey of the heads of course coordinators of design schools in Victoria. In total 35 design schools were included in this survey: 13 universities, 20 TAFE colleges or schools and two private colleges. A parallel survey to the design school survey was undertaken with 19 business and 19 engineering faculties among 23 universities and 15 TAFE colleges located in Victoria.

1.2Information Sources

15

Supply and Demandof Tertiary Students

• Suffi cient numbers of design students are currently entering and qualifying from Victorian institutions. Architecture is one possible exception to this, with demand for tertiary places well above supply.

• Design courses in Victoria have a much higher ratio of international to domestic students than other states (with the exception of Western Australia).

• The number of domestic enrolled design students in Victoria has grown around 20% during the period 2002 to 2007. The major growth sectors were multimedia and industrial design, however both came from a small base in each case. Physical design showed above average growth, while both VisCom and the artisan sector showed relatively modest levels of growth in enrolments.

• Final year university design graduates of 2007/2008 experienced greater diffi culties in fi nding work in the year following graduation, while also accepted lower starting salaries than graduates of other disciplines. This is despite entry into university design courses being as competitive as in other disciplines.

• Anecdotal evidence suggests that fi nding employment has become particularly diffi cult for graduate designers in 2009.

1.3 Key Findings and Conclusions

Deterrents to Entering Design

Feedback from both careers teachers and students suggests that a number of factors deter students from considering design as their career. These include:

• the demands of preparing a folio that forms part of the application process

• the impact on ENTER scores of taking design subjects at VCE level mean some parents to discourage their children from taking design subjects in secondary school

• misconceptions and concerns of parents and signifi cant others about the earning potential and prospects of a career in design

• the lack of local role models in the design industry can impede regionally based students from being exposed to the breadth, scope and potential of design-based careers.

Preparedness for Tertiary Study

• When surveyed about the level of preparedness their VCE design subjects had given them for tertiary level study, university design students felt generally well groomed for the skill requirements of their courses, particularly hands-on design work, technical and drawing skills.

• However, many felt poorly prepared for their tertiary studies in the areas of computer software, working in groups, time management and giving presentations.

16

How Do Design Students View their Courses?

In an online survey, design students were asked what they would change about their courses – the parts of their course they would like to be expanded, what might be contracted and what was just right.

• Students indicated a desire for more formal teaching: greater emphasis on the history and theory of design, (further attention to learning to) formulate ideas or conceptualise, and more teaching of business and commerce. The latter is the biggest perceived lack in current course content.

• In addition, design students would like more opportunity to work in groups with students from other disciplines.

• The only area in which students felt, on balance, that they had too much content in their course was hands-on design work.

• Despite this, design students are relatively highly satisfi ed with their courses overall and in particular the content, interest, practicality and teachers’ experience.

• Design students are more satisfi ed with their course than are business or engineering students.

Design Education Standards

• Previously, surveys of employers highlighted some concerns about design student education in relation to industrial design, and to a lesser extent, graphic design students.

• These concerns were refl ected in the discussions with industry practitioners in this study. In the case of industrial design, the shared common complaint was that students lacked industry experience, and hence basic business knowledge or acumen.

• In addition, there was some complaint about ‘basic’ design skills, and a tendency by young designers to rely too much on CAD.

• VisCom employers also complained that general standards have fallen, but despite this most said that they themselves had managed to recruit graduates that met their standards and requirements. This was achieved either through careful selection or accepting graduates’ shortcomings and building on their basic skills.

• Complaints about VisCom courses related to the shortened studio time and face-to-face contact with students compared to tertiary training in the past, and increased numbers of international students who may not have requisite English skills for a studio environment.

• The conversion of TAFE courses from ‘fi nished artist’ courses to ‘graphic design’ was seen as having led some students to believe they were trained for positions for which they were not suitable.

Tertiary Design Course Content

• Only a minority of Victorian design courses require students to spend time working in industry, although just over half offer this option as an elective.

• The majority of students gain their knowledge of industry via their lecturers/tutors (many of whom are, or have been, working designers), guest lecturers, assignments or briefs that are generated by business corporations, and on occasions when exhibitions of their work are critiqued by working designers.

• Generally, design students receive little formal teaching of business or commerce subjects. Rather they receive instruction on professional studio practice, and on running a design studio.

• Where business subjects or business skills are taught to design students, it is usually by on-staff lecturers, rather than through the resources of other faculties within the university or TAFE college.

• A majority of courses (around two-thirds) include some interdisciplinary activity involving design students and other groups. Of these, around three-quarters said that design students worked on joint assignments or projects with other students – in over half of cases these joint projects were with engineering students.

• Students’ own accounts of their courses generally confi rm these fi ndings. However only 27% said they had had the opportunity of working in interdisciplinary groups. Of these, slightly under half had worked in groups with business or commerce students.

17

• However, some employers prefer to recruit TAFE graduates, saying they have had more basic skill training, more contact hours, and are more likely to have industry experience than many university graduates.

• Whilst some design teachers did not accept the criticisms indicated above, others were in agreement with them.

• University academics made the point that universities have a number of roles and requirements rather than just producing ‘industry ready’ graduates. These include the running of the university as a business in its own right, the necessity for research, and the need to create careers for university staff.

• The inclusion of more business and commerce teaching into current courses was seen to be a near impossibility unless three-year courses are stretched to four years.

• Although Victorian schools may well teach design skills very capably, they do not, at present, meet the full range of criteria that determine the ‘world’s best’. Recognising this, some design schools are moving towards extended courses or broader provision of Master’s degrees.

Intended Improvements to Design Education

• Design schools surveyed indicated that they have become aware of some criticisms, and intend signifi cant changes. Of the 35 polled:

− 15 intend to offer more opportunity for students to gain work experience in a professional environment

− 14 intend to increase opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations

− 11 intend to increase access to computer facilities

− 8 hope to increase the teaching of business knowledge and skills.

Bringing Design to Non-Designers

• A high proportion of business/commerce and engineering schools believe they teach design topics in their courses. However, in the case of business/commerce courses this tends to be design exercises, brainstorming, or idea creation.

• Negligible numbers of business/commerce students are taught about the structure of the design industry, or how to brief a designer.

• Opportunities for business/commerce or engineering students to work in interdisciplinary groups with design students were limited.

• Likewise there is little teaching by business/commerce departments to design schools.

• Only 6% of the business/commerce and engineering schools surveyed intend to increase the teaching of design in the future. This contrasts strongly with results of a similar survey in the UK.

21

In 2008, Design Victoria published an extensive study into the state of design in Victoria. Five Years On examined both the design industry itself and the businesses that use design. What emerged was a picture of a robust, thriving industry, a key driver of innovation, and an unmistakable contributor to business profi tability and the creative economy for which the state of Victoria is so highly regarded.

Five Years On was an update of a previous study in 2003 by dandolopartners and Booz|Allen|Hamilton which gave a comprehensive picture of the size, scope, capability and growth of design using and creating industries in Victoria. It was this report that inspired the ‘Design Victoria Strategy’, an initiative by the Victorian Government that recognises the signifi cance of the design industry to the State’s economy, competitiveness and world-renowned liveability.

This report, Designing Our Future, considers the education of designers, which was not covered in Five Years On. The study is particularly focused on the tertiary undergraduate sector, as this forms the major pool from which employers draw. Because of concerns apparent among certain employers, this study has some emphasis on the fi elds of industrial design, graphic design and to a lesser extent, multimedia design.

World-class education and training is critical to the development of the next generation of highly skilled graduates who will advance and renew all aspects of Victoria’s design industry. The fi ndings contained in Designing Our Future will guide government, the education sector and the design industry in further refi ning education and training for the future.

2.1 Background

22

Design Victoria represents the State Government’s commitment to the continued improvement and development of a world-class design industry in Victoria.

Established in 2003 under the auspices of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Regional Development (DIIRD), Design Victoria has four main programs with individual but related aims.

1. Design Ready: Increase the proportion of Victorian enterprises that know how to use design confi dently to enhance competitiveness, innovation and export performance.

2. Business Ready: Improve the competitiveness of the Victorian Design Sector and its export performance.

3. Design Knowledge: Create a world-class body of knowledge of how design is used by private enterprises to deliver economic and other benefi ts.

4. State of Design and Premier’s Design Awards: Build Victoria’s design capability and national and international reputation as a centre of design leadership.

2.2 About Design Victoria

23

Design Victoria commissioned Wallis Consulting Group to conduct a study of the tertiary design education sector in Victoria.

A series of surveys and interviews were conducted with teachers, design departments, students, employers and careers advisors concerning the content and structure of design courses.

The objectives of the study were to answer the following questions:

• Is Victoria’s education sector producing enough design-qualifi ed graduates to meet the needs of employers, and is the mix appropriate? Are there shortages of design graduates or an over-supply?

• Where shortages exist in some fi elds, what are reasons for these? Are prospective students deterred from entering design?

• Are the graduates that are produced adequately trained and skilled to meet the needs and demands of Victorian employers, both in design consultancies and within industry? Is the education being received in our elite institutions up to world’s best practice levels?

• How should current courses and training be improved to better meet the needs of graduates and employers?

• Does the education system create an awareness of the value and importance of design among students in courses outside of design?

2.3Study Objectives

27

Unlike Five Years On, which was largely based on two major surveys and produced largely statistical and quantitative data, the key objectives of this study required multiple data sources, with some of the objectives only being met by counter posing information from several different sources.

Hence, fi ve major phases or stages of information collection (several conducted concurrently) were created for this project. The report also draws on other published sources, including Five Years On, where appropriate. While budget and timetable restrictions have meant that some of the survey data is based on relatively small sample sizes, we believe that the approach of ‘triangulating’ information from several sources leads to sound conclusions.

In the following paragraphs, we give a brief overview of each of the main data sources.

3.1 Overview

28

Stage 1Collection of data on student enrolment numbers, course placements and graduate destinations

We sought to build a profi le of design education in Victoria over time via the collection of various statistics. As much of the information sought was not publicly available, special requests for data were arranged. Details of the statistics collected are as follows:

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR)

• Data collected on the number of international and domestic students enrolled in undergraduate degree design courses, from 2002 to 2007, across all Victorian universities. This was also provided at state level.

• Tertiary ENTER scores, at a university undergraduate level, were collected for design disciplines as well as other disciplines (e.g. medicine, psychology, law etc) for comparative purposes.

Graduate Careers Australia (GCA)• Graduate employment statistics

collated for 2007 and 2008; more specifi cally the percentage of graduates fi nding full-time employment upon graduation and the average salaries offered in their fi rst full-time employment1. Again, statistics were also collected for some disciplines other than design, for example business/commerce and engineering, to examine differences between study areas.

Stage 2Survey of careers teachers in secondary schools

The aim of this research was to examine teachers’ perceptions of design disciplines as a career and through them, the perceptions of students and parents; why students do or do not take up design; and what more can be done to encourage the take up of design at higher and further education level. A telephone survey of 100 careers teachers at a range of public, private and Catholic secondary schools across Victoria was conducted between 9-18 June 2009.

Note: GCA collects these statistics from the Australian Graduate Survey (AGS), which is administered to all individuals who graduate from a course of study at all Australian universities as well as a number of smaller private higher education providers. The total domestic survey population in 2008 was 158,368 from which 96,832 responses were received. The survey is administered by participating higher education providers to their respective graduate cohorts. The AGS is administered to graduates approximately four months after the completion of their course of study. The primary data collection methodology is online surveys and hard copy questionnaires with some telephone follow-up.

Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC)

• Data collected (from 2004 to 2008) on the number of fi rst preference offers as a percentage of design course applications – at any level – across Victorian universities, TAFE institutes and private colleges.

3.2 Data Collection Stages

1 Full-time employment is defi ned as 35 hours or more per week.

29

Stage 3In-depth interviews with employers of design graduates and design teachers

Face-to-face interviews conducted with 11 design practitioners who had hired graduates within the last 18 months aimed to investigate the issues of graduate skills and the adequacy of current courses and training.

The focus here was mainly on the industrial and visual communications (VisCom) sector (driven by some concern about the quality of design graduates within these industries).

Six of the 11 interviews were conducted with employers engaged in industrial/product design and the other fi ve were with those in the VisCom sector.

In addition, 13 in-depth interviews were conducted with academics involved in the teaching of design. Teachers (at all levels, from lecturers to heads of school) from universities, TAFEs and private colleges were interviewed – fi ve who taught industrial/product design and eight who taught graphic design courses (visual communications).

The teacher interviews covered similar issues to those of the practitioners. More specifi cally, we sought to investigate what kinds of courses are available for design students, the ‘recruitment’ process, what skills they are being taught, whether interdisciplinary learning is promoted within the curriculum and the future for design students and design education more broadly.

30

Stage 5 Surveys of design, business and engineering schools

The focus here was to identify the content of design courses from various perspectives, as taught to design students and comparably, the teaching of and appreciation of design amongst business and engineering students.

Questionnaires, modelled on those used by the UK Design Council, were sent to heads and course coordinators of design, business and engineering schools at tertiary education institutions offering design, business, commerce and engineering courses at any level.

We identifi ed separate ‘schools’, ‘faculties’ or ‘departments’ within Institutions offering related courses – for example School of Interior Design, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences and so forth. These separate units are referred to in this report as ‘schools’ although in practice the title might be different. The list of ‘schools’ identifi ed and forming the sampling frames for the mail-out is included in Appendix 2.

Stage 4 Online surveys of both design and non-design tertiary students

We also sought the perspective of students on their course curriculum and graduate skills. Web-based (online) surveys among students studying design, and among a sample of business and engineering students were used for this.

The reason for including ‘non-design’ students was to ascertain whether any elements of design were incorporated within their course of study and whether a career in design was ever considered and, if so, why it was not pursued. Both undergraduate university students and TAFE students were included in both surveys.

A combination of misconceptions about the purpose of the research and lack of direct access to students themselves due to the obvious privacy implications, made this stage of the research process most challenging.

Social networking site Facebook was also utilised and proved a successful tool in boosting survey response numbers.

At the close of the survey, 337 completed surveys were received – 150 from design students and 187 students studying either business or engineering. Figure 3.2.1 gives an overview of the sample structure of student surveys.

Note that both surveys are strongly weighted towards university students and do not include private colleges. This should be considered when interpreting results.

The design students survey contains a reasonable representation of students from the various design categories (although we had hoped to over-quota industrial design, which did not occur).

In the case of the non-design students, a majority of the engineering students came from one university department and this is a limitation on fi ndings in relation to this group. Likewise the balance of business to engineering students is clearly overly weighted to business, and again this must be considered when appraising results.

Figure 3.2.1 Sample Structure of Student Survey

Design Students Business/Engineering

Total 150 Total 187

University 130 University 151

TAFE 20 TAFE 36

1st year 60 1st year 60

2nd year 36 2nd year 53

3rd year 54 3rd year 74

Design Type Main Subject FieldPhysical 30 Business 151Industrial 15 Engineering 36VisCom 48 Multimedia 28 Artisan 16

31

At the commencement of the project Design Victoria set up a Steering Group to oversee and assist in the carriage of the study. Members had input to the design and content of the various stages of the research, and were helpful in gaining assistance from universities and TAFE colleges with the student research. The full names of attendees at the Steering Group are listed in Appendix 1.

3.3 Steering Group

Completed questionnaires were received from 35 design schools and 38 from business and engineering schools. Response rates were thus 46% for design schools, 40% for business/engineering. On examining the data we have found that all the universities offering design courses are included in the design school sample (13) as are 20 TAFE courses. However, private colleges (2) are not well represented.

Note: In the tables derived from surveys in the following sections, percentages may not always add to 100%. This is normally due to rounding unless otherwise stated.

34

Tertiary design education in Victoria is delivered through nine universities, 17 TAFE colleges, and 11 private colleges. A list of these institutions is contained in Appendix 2. This listing highlights that design subjects may be taught in various faculties or schools in the universities, and under different areas of study at TAFEs.

In the universities, design subjects may all fall under one faculty as at Swinburne (the Faculty of Design) or in different schools as at RMIT (Creative Media, Architecture and Design) or different departments as at Monash (Department of Architecture, Department of Design).

The range of design disciplines offered by universities varies greatly; at the University of Melbourne for example, the only design courses offered are in the areas of architecture and the built environment, and in keeping with the ‘Melbourne model’ courses now start with a common three years Bachelor of Environment degree, usually leading to a further two year Masters degree.

4.1 Overview

35

The majority of university Bachelor degrees are three year courses, although the industrial design courses at RMIT and Monash are four-year courses. The other exception to the general pattern is architecture, perhaps because it is controlled by the Australian Institute of Architects, which requires a minimum fi ve years, and in some courses, six years of training. It is not apparent why architecture should require such an extensive time frame whereas industrial (or automotive design) is generally allotted only three years, but there are some academics and practitioners who maintain that three year fi rst degree courses require a further Masters Degree to produce graduates with world-class skill levels.

Design education via the TAFE system includes Certifi cate III, Certifi cate IV, Diploma and Advanced Diploma courses. Usually TAFE courses take one or two years, but Advanced Diploma courses may take three years. As the listing in the Appendix indicates, TAFEs are similar to universities in generally offering only a number of design disciplines. Whilst this is sensible from a resourcing point of view, it has the obvious consequence that students in non-metropolitan areas may have to live away from home to pursue some design subjects.

The private colleges are inclined to specialise in particular fi elds (e.g. architecture, multimedia or photography) and none offer industrial design. They tend to offer qualifi cations recognised under the VET system (Certifi cate III, IV or Advanced Diploma), but a minority offer Bachelors degree.

36

Figure 4.2.1 shows university design student numbers in 2007 by state2. In the case of the VET sector, statistics are collected on a national basis but design cannot be distinguished from much broader subject ranges3.

It is interesting to note that overall, Victoria is educating more university-trained designers than New South Wales, considering the disparities in population between the states. This can be attributed to the much higher proportion of international students that

2 These fi gures were supplied by the Australian Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) and are the latest available.

3 It appears to be symptomatic of the lack of interest in design nationally in Australia that statistics on numbers of design students, or practising designers are not rigorously collected and reported by any offi cial body, with design disciplines other than architecture and fashion design generally relegated within other categories.

4.2 Student Numbers

Figure 4.2.1 Design Course Enrolments – By State and Student Origin: 2007

New South Wales Victoria Queensland Western Australia South Australia

Victoria hosts – 30% compared to 17% across the other states combined. The exception is Western Australia where 37% of students are from overseas.

Victoria’s domestic student numbers compare well to New South Wales’ when the relative populations of the two states are taken into account.

All DomesticInternational

6,150

5,394

756

7,589

5,315

2,274

3,406

2,914

492

2,559

1,620

939

1,5281,391

1370

3,000

4,000

5,000

1,000

2,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

37

Figure 4.2.2 indicates enrolments specifi cally for undergraduate industrial and VisCom design courses. Taking domestic or international students together, Victoria leads by far, mainly because of the high numbers of international students.

Data from the same source (DEEWR) shows that 2,179 students enrolled in university undergraduate VisCom design courses in 2007, of whom around two-thirds were domestic students. For comparison, 246 students enrolled in industrial design courses in the three universities offering them; this fi gure grew from 149 in 2002, an increase of 65%.

4 Based on enrolments in 2007.

Figure 4.2.2 Industrial and VisCom Design Course Enrolments – By State and Student Origin: 2007

New South Wales Victoria Queensland Western Australia South Australia

All DomesticInternational

1,7161,616

100

2,426

1,578

847746

538

208

1,059

497 562

241 22813

It will be noted that the data here has referred to enrolments, which is clearly not the same as the numbers of graduates being produced. Estimates from our one-on-one interviews suggest around a 10% drop-out rate, indicating that in 2009 around 1,600 (domestic) university students4 will have graduated from their fi rst degree in Victoria. A proportion of these will have gone on to Honours or Masters programs, with the majority of the remainder seeking work this year.

Figures quoted above have been for undergraduate programs. Including postgraduates as well we see a slightly faster rate of growth with the total numbers of university design students increasing by around a third (33%) over the period 2002-2007.

Equivalent fi gures have not been located for the TAFE sector. Hence we have not been able to establish rates of growth. TAFE students usually take a shorter time to complete their courses (one or two years); nevertheless (based on past fi gures) we would expect there to be at least as many TAFE as university design students.

0

1,500

2,000

2,500

500

1,000

3,000

3,500

4,000

38

Figure 4.2.3 illustrates the growth in domestic design student numbers over time. It is pleasing to note that numbers grew in all states in the period from 2002 to 2007. However the growth in NSW and Victoria of around 20% is below that of Queensland (23%), Western Australia at 29% and South Australia at 42%.

The growth in international design student numbers over time is shown in Figure 4.2.4. The signifi cant and continuous growth in numbers in Victoria is apparent from this chart.

Figure 4.2.3 Number of Domestic Student Enrolments by State: 2002-2007

20072006200520042002 2003

Figure 4.2.4 Number of International Student Enrolments by State: 2002-2007

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

20072006200520042002 2003

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

New South Wales Victoria Queensland Western Australia South Australia Total

New South Wales Victoria Queensland Western Australia South Australia Total

20072006200520042002 2003

0

3,000

4,000

5,000

1,000

2,000

6,000

7,000

39

The change in the number of undergraduate student enrolments in design courses from 2002 to 2007 can be seen in Figure 4.2.5. This accounts for both international and domestic students.

Figure 4.2.5 Number of Student Enrolments by State: 2002-2007

New South Wales Victoria Queensland Western Australia South Australia Total

40

Next we examine the growth in the various design sectors within Victorian universities between 2002 and 2007. Figures 4.2.6 and 4.2.7 examine the growth of various design sectors within Victorian universities over the period 2002 to 2007, showing domestic students and international students respectively. Industrial and VisCom design students are combined in these charts.

Figure 4.2.7Victorian University Student Numbers 2002-2007: International Students

Figure 4.2.6Victorian University Student Numbers 2002-2007: Domestic Students

4,431

5,315

2,284

2,902

1,513 1,578

555 562

79273

0

1,500

2,000

2,500

500

1,000

20072006200520042002 2003

0

3,000

4,000

5,000

1,000

2,000

6,000

7,000

1,520

2,274

766

1,017

574

847

1771693

221

20072006200520042002 2003

Physical Industrial/VisCom Multimedia Artisan Total

Physical Industrial/VisCom Multimedia Artisan Total

41

Figure 4.2.8 gives us a picture of the total number of students enrolled in each type of design sector. Note that this is the only chart in which we are able to show industrial design as a separate category (due to data availability).

Looking at these fi gures, it is clear that growth has varied greatly by discipline. Overall the number of students studying design has grown 28% over the fi ve-year period 20025 to 2007 – 20% for domestic students but 50% for international students.

Multimedia studies have had the greatest growth over this period – from 82 enrolments to 494 (a growth of 500%). Growth has also been good for industrial design, from 149 to 246 enrolments representing a 65% increase. The physical sector shows growth of 28% over this period. However, both VisCom and the artisan category have not done as well at 12% and just 3% respectively.

Figure 4.2.8Victorian University Student Numbers 2002-2007: All Students

5 Data is taken from 2002 to 2007 because the dandolo report, although published in 2003 shows 2002 data. At the time of compilation of this report 2007 data was the latest available.

20072006200520042002 2003

0

3,000

4,000

5,000

1,000

2,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

3,050

3,919

1,9382,179

732 751

82

149246

494

5,951

7,589

Physical Industrial/VisCom Multimedia Artisan Total

40

70

80

90

50

60

100

110

%120

42

Developing a pool of talented, innovative designers with an exceptional breadth and depth of skills primed to meet the unique demands of the future will be imperative to the global competitiveness of our design industry. So, is Victoria’s education sector producing enough tertiary educated design students to meet employers’ needs and is the mix appropriate?

There are several types of published data that could be produced in examining this question. The fi rst of these are the numbers applying for available student courses: if courses were having diffi culty attracting students (in comparison to other options) then it would indicate diffi culties in subsequently meeting employer demand.

4.3 Are There Enough Young Designers?

Figure 4.3.1 below is produced from VTAC (Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre) fi gures and outlines the number of design course applicants who received their fi rst preference as a percentage of all preferred offers (at any level, not necessarily fi rst preference) from 2004 to 2009. The data includes universities, TAFEs and private colleges and is broken down by design sector.

Overall we can see that demand for tertiary design qualifi cations is greater than what is available – in 2008 only 78% of people who applied for a design course as their fi rst preference received preference offers.

• Demand levels have been relatively steady from 2004 onwards – 2007 saw a drop in applicants receiving their fi rst preference to 76%.

• Looking at the design disciplines, VisCom and artisan courses fared the worst in terms of enough offers to meet demand – at 64% and 68% respectively.

• Since 2004, Fine Arts has had the most movement, peaking in 2005 at 86%, but gradually declining over the years, so that now only 68% get fi rst preference offers.

Figure 4.3.1 Percentage of Students Obtaining First Preference by Design Sector (Victoria)

2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009

VisCom Artisan Fine Arts Physical

Visual Arts Multimedia Overall

0

60

80

100

20

40

120

%140

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The next chart (Figure 4.3.2) breaks down the same data into greater detail, showing data for individual course types. (Unfortunately data is not available for industrial design as a separate category.)

• Graphic design, one of the courses of most interest, displays a relatively consistent pattern with around 80% of students able to get their fi rst preference.

• The only design course to meet demand is information sciences/software development (under the category multimedia). In fact, fi gures show that the trend here is in reverse to other design courses – there are actually more placements on offer than there is demand (106% in 2008). This may refl ect a particular desire in the TAFE sector to continue to offer these courses as multimedia design is a particular strength in Melbourne.

• Architecture courses are in particularly high demand, with less than half (44%) receiving preference offers.

• Demand is also particularly high for fashion design courses – whilst the number of students being offered placements has gradually increased from 2004 – peaking in 2007 to 56% – supply still does not meet demand. Only half of all people applying actually received a placement offer in 2008.

• Some other courses have had periods of over-supply, such as landscape architecture, but then returned to equilibrium.

Figure 4.3.2 Percentage of Students Obtaining First Preference by Design Course (Victoria)

2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009

Information Sciences/Software Development Overall Architecture Landscape Architecture

Interior Design Urban Planning Photography VisCom Visual Arts

Fashion Jewellery Textiles Fine Arts

44

Whilst demand and supply of design course placements does fl uctuate, a further test of the balance of supply with demand is that of whether design graduates can fi nd jobs on graduation. Data provided by the Graduate Careers Australia (GCA) survey sheds some light on this (see Figure 4.4.1).

The fi gures suggest that design graduates have found it more challenging fi nding employment in 2007 and 2008 than graduates from a range of other disciplines spanning medicine (the highest employment rate) to psychology, business and computer studies. The exceptions to this are graduates of the physical sector, where the placement rate is around 90%, commensurate with other occupations shown. Multimedia had a good outcome in 2008 with 75% of graduates employed at the time of the survey, close to psychology at 77%.

Graduate Starting Salaries

As Figure 4.4.2 highlights, starting salaries for our design graduates are well below those of the other disciplines shown. The exceptions to this are graduates working in urban design and planning and landscape architecture. Unfortunately we are not able to show industrial design separately, but the contrast between the salaries of most design graduates and those of engineering students is striking. Salaries for architecture graduates appear particularly low, perhaps because undergraduates have to do a further period of training before they are qualifi ed.

Overall the data presented tends to confi rm the concerns of parents and some prospective students (see later sections) that design jobs are more diffi cult to fi nd upon graduation, and that salaries will be low. Whilst long-term salaries for designers may well be comparable to those of other graduate groups, especially for those with their own practice, whenever a person starts from a low base it takes time to catch up.

In response to these statistics it has been suggested that many design students in fact go on to further education, and that some deliberately hold themselves out of the employment market as their longer term ambition is to open a design practice of their own, and they want to build up a body of work with this in mind. It has also been suggested that the GCA fi gures are based on a measure taken very soon after the end of the graduation year, and that design students may be particularly poor at responding to surveys.

4.4 Can Design Graduates Find Jobs?

However, in response to these points, it should be said that the GCA survey produces statistics only for those graduates available for employment – those who are in further education, not seeking work, or travelling are not included. Furthermore the data are collected at the same point in time for students from all disciplines and should be comparable. Hence it is reasonable to conclude that it is harder for design graduates to fi nd work, and that they do commence on (generally) lower salaries.

As an addendum, it should be noted that the data contained in this section refers to the 2007-2008 year; direct reports from design course coordinators suggest that employment rates have dropped greatly in 2009.

Despite this, the overall message from the data, and from anecdotal sources, is that the great majority of design graduates do fi nd jobs, and those that do will shortly fi nd themselves able to fi nd work almost anywhere around the world. The ‘design industry’ needs to counter the picture of short-term employment problems with the more rounded picture of long-term employment prospects.

45

Figure 4.4.2 Median Starting Salaries for Design and Other Graduates

Figure 4.4.1 Graduate Employment Outcomes for Design and Other Disciplines

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46

In 2008, a sample of Victorian design consultancies and other businesses employing designers were surveyed. The data presented so far in this report can be set against this information. In those surveys, employers were asked a series of questions about recruitment, including:

• whether they had recruited staff in the past year

• if they had recruited, whether they had faced any problems in fi nding staff

• what the problems were.

4.5 Employer Perception of Graduate Availability

Reiterating the conclusions of that study, it was found that only 28% of design consultancies had recruited staff (in the previous year), but 37% (of all) reported diffi culties in recruiting, with 24% saying they had serious diffi culties. Among those who reported recruiting diffi culties, just 20% reported a shortage of skilled graduates (equivalent to 8% of all design consultancies). This response was largely given by consultancies in the physical and industrial fi elds.

Other business employers of design staff were less likely to report problems: among those with in-house design teams, just 25% had attempted to recruit, and only 21% saw recruitment as a problem with just 9% viewing it as a serious problem. Overall just 3% of all businesses employing designers in any capacity reported a problem with graduate recruitment.

The evidence suggests there is no general shortage of design graduates. However, among design consultancies there seems to be some shortage of those in the physical and industrial categories. The fi nding in relation to the physical sector may be placed against the evidence that less than half of those applying for places in architecture courses (44%) get their fi rst preference choice (see above) – a lower percentage than for most other options. This suggests that places in architecture courses may be below the optimum level.

A shortage of industrial design graduates suggested by the survey data was not refl ected in the qualitative interviews in this study; practising designers we spoke to did not believe that they lacked suffi cient numbers of graduates to select from, because they generally had a preference for recruiting staff with at least two to three years experience. This is allied to certain perceived shortcomings in graduate education that are discussed later in the report.

47

• There are enough graduates from design courses in Victoria. The possible exception to this is the physical sector, in particular architecture. It may be the case that the length of architecture courses, and the resource requirements have led to some restrictions on intake, in the same way as there are restrictions on the numbers of medical graduates. This is somewhat supported by the fact that the course launched at Monash University in 2008 was the only new architecture course in Australia in 30 years6.

• In contrast to some perceptions, it is not easy to get into a design course relative to other fi elds of study, but there is some evidence that design graduates may take longer to fi nd jobs, and may commence on lower median salaries that graduates in many other occupations.

4.6 Conclusions

• While some design academics have been inclined to dismiss the GCA fi gures as perhaps unrepresentative, it is worth canvassing another explanation; that new graduates fi nd it hard to get their fi rst job in design because employers tend to look for recruits with at least two or three years experience. This situation can exist in other fi elds such as marketing, PR and (we believe) market research and ICT.

• This begs the question of whether design graduates are ‘industry ready’. Considering employers prefer graduates with at least some experience and are prepared to pay higher salaries for them (and they may still need considerable further training), it may well be indicative that new design graduates are not ‘industry ready’. Those that have managed to include some industry experience during their courses will have a marked advantage in the job market.

• We may also venture another hypothesis, which is that the apparent homogenisation of the training of designers has led to the devaluation of their skills. There would seem to be no reason why an employer should value the work of an industrial designer below that of an engineer, or that of a multimedia designer below that of a database programmer, or by extension a fully trained graphic designer below that of a technical writer.

However, the survey conducted last year indicated very large numbers of people are employed in the role of ‘designer’ or at least in departments with design roles, including particularly large numbers employed in graphic design roles in industry. These numbers could not have been trained by the university system alone, and it would appear that many people doing relatively routine jobs in graphic illustration, print layout, web design etc have come via the TAFE system. Failure to distinguish levels of training and capability may be reducing the perceived value of design graduates.

6 See www.monash.edu.au/news/monashmemo/stories/20080716. The course is apparently also unusual in being located in an Art and Design School.

51

Despite evidence of an adequate supply of graduate designers, there is considerable evidence in this study that prospective students may face deterrents to entering design. This emerges from our surveys of students themselves and careers teachers/advisers. The deterrents vary:

1. A lack of knowledge or understanding among the general public about what a career in design is or involves. Anecdotal evidence (from both careers teachers and students) suggests that these misconceptions tend to be greater among recent immigrants or families in economically disadvantaged areas.

2. Perceptions that career prospects are poor; leading parents in particular to prefer careers in other fi elds, especially professions such as law, medicine or commerce. Peer pressure from friends can also affect would-be designers in this regard.

3. The diffi culties of preparing for a career in design, which require the right courses to be taken at year 10 in order to have a body of work by the end of year 12. Taking VCE arts or design courses may also close off more general options.

4. Some perceived risk that VCE design-related subjects that may lead on to design courses at tertiary level, tend to cause a reduction in ENTER scores. Therefore, students taking a VCE design subject/s and subsequently do not get a place in a design course, or decide to change direction, may fi nd themselves disadvantaged.

The Careers Teachers’ Perspective

52

It is worth reviewing the evidence that leads to these conclusions. One hundred careers teachers were interviewed across a representative selection of secondary schools. From these interviews three barriers for entry into tertiary design courses emerged:

1. Students must have a relevant portfolio of work.

2. Subjects suitable for entry to design courses lead to lower ENTER scores.

3. Parents may have misconceptions or negative perceptions about design as a career.

Firstly, we asked career teachers if their school offered suitable subjects that would lead onto design courses at tertiary level. All but one (a non-government school) said they did. The table below summarises the courses offered, indicating that Visual Communication and Design is the most prevalent followed by Studio Arts.

In an open-ended question, careers teachers were asked what sort of students should consider a career in design. Their answers were relatively predictable:

• Around half said either creative students (42%) or artistic students (11%).

• Just over a third (36%) said those with an interest in art or design subjects.

• A quarter said ‘passionate’, ‘committed’ or ‘enthusiastic’ students.

• Just over a fi fth said talented/capable students.

• 15% said organised or logical students or those with an aptitude for problem solving.

• Teachers were also asked to use a score out of 10 to rate different aptitudes or skills necessary to equip students for a career in design. Taking the mean scores, the order in which the aptitudes emerged is as follows;

ScoreBeing able to think creatively 9.0Being able to draw and paint well 7.9Having good ‘people skills’ 7.4Being good at craft work 7.3Being academically gifted 7.3Being good at maths 6.4 and science

Subjects offered All Government Non-Government (n=100) (n=55) (n=45) % % %

Visual Communication and Design 90 91 89

Studio Arts 81 87 73

Design and Technology 71 80 60

Art 65 58 73

Multimedia (VET course) 56 60 51

None of these 1 0 1

Figure 5.0.1: Design Suitable Subjects Offered at Secondary Schools

Source: Careers Teachers Survey

Generally students appear to have more than adequate opportunity to take a subject at VCE level that will lead to a career in design. There are some apparent differences between government and non-government schools, but only one that is signifi cant; government schools are more likely to offer Design and Technology as a VCE subject.

Of those schools studied, only 5% of teachers said that no students had gone on to take tertiary design courses in the previous three years. In fact, taking the reported fi gures, an average mean of 11% of year 12 students (or a median 8%) were said to have gone on to take design (although teachers may have varied in their defi nitions from those used in this report).

53

Once again and not surprisingly, the ‘ability to think creatively’ was easily the top ranked attribute on the list. Perhaps less obvious is the placing of good people skills solidly in the list alongside technical abilities and being academically gifted. Maths and science abilities get the lowest score, perhaps justifi ably, although this might vary with design discipline.

Although results to this point indicate a school environment that is conducive to students moving on to tertiary level design, other results highlight some barriers. The fi rst of these was a question that asked the careers teachers how well they understood the entry requirements for design courses. Over two fi fths (42%) said very well, and 46% said at least fairly well. However, this leaves 12% saying not very well (or not at all). Responses of this kind were notably concentrated (in 11 out of 12 cases) among careers teachers with less than six years experience. Inability to advise students about course requirements would be a drawback in some circumstances and this is an issue that could be addressed further.

Careers teachers were questioned further about the barriers (mentioned above) that students considering tertiary design courses may face.

Portfolio Preparation

Firstly they were asked if the need to prepare a portfolio of work – which means that students must decide on a career in design at the end of year 10 – caused any problems in practice. Exactly half of careers teachers said that this is an issue (no relevant variations by sub-groups). The problems mentioned were:

• If students do not decide to pursue a course in design until year 12 they are then under great pressure to catch up in the topic and prepare a portfolio.

• The need to prepare a portfolio can lead to a great deal of work in the subject selected, leaving the student under-performing on other subjects.

• Students are unaware of what is required in a portfolio, may fail to attend the relevant discussions or workshops or (in country areas) may not have access to portfolio workshops.

Students can make up for a lack of a portfolio by attending a ‘portfolio college’ in year 13, but for those with a range of options to choose from, or those whose parents or family are not supportive, there may be pressure to take up other courses.

The Impact of Design Subjects on ENTER Scores

Design and art related subjects are marked down in the VCE system leading to lower ENTER scores. 69% of careers teachers state that this is a deterrent to taking design subjects for parents and 50% say it is a deterrent for students. It is of interest that there is little difference between government and non-government schools here.

Parental Perceptions of Design Careers

The long-term career prospects for people working in design fi elds are a disincentive to parents, more so parents with children in non-government schools. In contrast students themselves are less likely to be deterred; half of all careers teachers said it was not an issue to students, with 30% thinking that the prospects of a design career were an attraction. Figure 5.0.2 summarises these results.

54

Subjects offered All Government Non-Government (n=100) (n=55) (n=45)

Q19 Do some PARENTS shy away from design subjects because they reduce ENTER scores?

Yes 69% 69% 69%No 30% 31% 29%Don’t know 1% 0% 2%

Q20 Are some STUDENTS put off design subjects because they reduce ENTER scores?

Yes 50% 55% 44%No 46% 45% 47%Don’t Know 4% 0% 8%

Q21 Are PARENTS attracted to or put off design by the long-term career prospects?

Attracted 2% 0% 4%Put off 55% 47% 64%Neither 36% 45% 24%Other response 2% 2% 2%Don’t know 5% 5% 4%

Q22 Are STUDENTS attracted to or put off design by the long-term career prospects?

Attracted 30% 27% 33%Put off 16% 16% 16%Neither 50% 49% 51%Other response 2% 4% 0%Don’t know 2% 4% 0%

Figure 5.0.2: Potential Discouragements to Design Among Parents and Students

Source: Careers Teachers Survey; Q19 – Q22Percentages do not always add to 100 due to rounding.

55

Careers teachers were also asked if there were any other barriers to a career in design so far as parents are concerned. This was an open-ended question and the responses make for interesting reading, as the following extracts show. Of particular interest are the comments that indicate the diffi culties faced by young people in non-metropolitan areas in convincing their parents about design as a career, and likewise those faced by children of some immigrant communities. A further concern for parents is the likely costs of materials if their child pursues a qualifi cation in arts or design subjects.

‘For parents in the country it is perhaps about distance, design jobs are all in the city.’

‘Leaving the town having to study out of the area and move.’

‘The relocation costs, living in rural areas causes problems.’

‘Being a country school they worry about if there are enough jobs around. They may have to move away from home.’

‘A lot of the students don’t have access to the city so the awareness of the different types of jobs are not in amongst it all compared to the city kids.’

‘Being in western suburbs, (with parents from an) Asian background, if they are a doctor or pharmacist then the parents respect them but if they take up the arts fi eld they are not as respectful to their children.’

Overall however it is the general misunderstanding of what design is about and what a career in art or design will involve that acts as a deterrent to parents:

‘Not well represented to parents, they don’t really know about the design industry...’

‘Parents’ own perception of doing something creative. They don’t see creative as a career.’

‘At the moment I think that other things are being considered ahead of design. I think that the profi le of the career path of design needs to be raised. There is a lack of awareness due to a lack of information.’

‘Not being completely informed about how diverse the design fi eld is, they (parents) don’t realise that students are not just limited to what they complete their degree in.’

‘Parents don’t see it as a serious career path and a prestigious career path.’

Careers teachers were likewise asked what other barriers there were to students choosing a career in design. Once again the issues faced by young people in country areas were mentioned:

‘Students have trouble fi nding work experience in the country so they can’t get a taste of whether they like it, we only have one graphic designer in this town so it’s hard for them to decide if they haven’t tried it.’

Students may also not understand what a career in design involves. Some may not realise the range of options available in design, but others may believe that an ability to draw or paint well is all that is needed:

‘It’s not a sexy thing, there are no shows on the TV to promote the role of arts, like for forensics, CSI is good...’

‘Lack of awareness of what opportunities exist and of what a career in that fi eld would bring them. Also they have to move away for tertiary education.’

‘The lack of understanding of an art career, “I can draw so I’m good”, they don’t understand that they need people skills to deal with the clients; it’s a big picture and they are young so they don’t know how to break into the whole industry...’

‘The personal attributes needed for a design course are a combination of two things, not a lot of students have both attributes. Some students that are very creative can be quite weak in English and maths and vice versa. I feel that the weaker students academically actually have more of a barrier. Some creative students don’t really see design as being very creative.’

Once again, the fi nal barrier mentioned by careers teachers was the onerous task of compiling a portfolio in the competitive climate of the VCE system. Some students lack the understanding of what is required; for others, assembling a portfolio can take many hours away from other subjects.

58

Design Students’ Perspectives

The survey of design students confi rmed the existence and importance of the various barriers to a career in design. In this context it should be recalled that these survey results come from those who successfully navigated their way into a tertiary course – we are not hearing here from those who were discouraged and opted out.

Students were initially asked why they had selected design as a course of study. As Figure 5.0.3 denotes, an interest in aesthetics or appreciation for design or beauty, wanting a creative but practical career, and being good at drawing or art are the most signifi cant motivations.

While the sample size does not allow us to detect many differences between groups, results do show that ‘liking building or making things’ was of more importance to students in the physical and industrial design areas than for other design students (67% vs. 33%).

Design students’ motivations revolve around their interest in a creative activity, their talents in this direction, and their interest in aesthetically pleasing buildings, objects and communications. Hence it is not surprising that the most frequently considered alternative to a course in design was fi ne arts (43%), although arts in general was also frequently mentioned (by 27%), followed by marketing/advertising/communications at 21%, and creative writing/journalism (21%).

The rank ordering of the alternatives does not generally change except among multimedia students who put computer studies as their main alternative (46%). Among the very small sample (only 15) of industrial design students, fi ve put engineering as the second option they considered.

Students’ reasons for eventually selecting design (chosen from a pre-coded list) are shown in Figure 5.0.4. It is encouraging to see that by far the most frequent reason was ‘I’m passionate about good design’ (selected by 63%). Few had selected design for negative reasons (e.g. not able to get into other courses).

59

Figure 5.0.3Students’ Reasons for Studying Design

Source: Design Students Survey; Q5 (n=150)

Figure 5.0.4Students’ Reasons for Selecting Design Over Other Options

Source: Design Students Survey; Q10 (n=150)

Reasons for electing to study design %

I’ve always been interested in aesthetics and beautiful things 75

I wanted to do something practically creative 73

I was good at drawing, and/or artworks 69

It sounded interesting/cool 45

I liked building and making things 43

I knew someone/some people who worked in design 23

I thought it was a career that would allow me to travel 19

I was not good at science or mathematics 18

I didn’t know what I wanted to do 10

Other reasons 11

Reasons for selecting to study design %

I’m passionate about good design 63

It’s what I’ve always wanted to do 49

Course looked more interesting/exciting 47

Thought it would suit my needs better 35

More practical course 25

Better job prospects 15

Not able to get into other courses 5

Other course looked too diffi cult 3

Other courses not available 1

Other 6

Don’t know/not answered 6

61

That a third of students have faced some form of discouragement, most notably from parents and friends, corresponds to careers teachers’ views, especially remembering that these reports come from the students who made it into design. The reasons they gave for parents’ discouragement make interesting reading. The following is a selection.

‘They thought that it would not make any money since it would supposedly be hard to fi nd a job... especially in Australia. Jobs would be possibly unsteady and in terms of recognition, professions such as being a doctor or lawyer seemed more prestigious. Apart from that they thought that students who didn’t know how to study only took design subjects. i.e. that they were not as smart as others. There also seems to be a stigma that students only pick design because they didn’t do well in VCE or were in some way disadvantaged. Not only from my parents but this was the type of response I got from family friends, even though I proved otherwise by getting an ENTER over 90 for VCE.’

‘Because it’s a career which demands a lot of passion and is not a career that is “safe”.’

‘Initially they believed it was a waste of my academic intelligence, when I was much younger I used to say that I wanted to be a lawyer and they used to be extremely happy with that decision. When I got older and liked being creative etc they weren’t too happy when I became very interested in graphic design, photography, illustration and other types of art in general. They don’t think a career in design is a wise option I remember my father really tried to persuade me to do accounting or economics or something. I don’t think they believe that jobs in design provide a solid career, money etc.’

‘Because my mother thought it was a dying industry.’

‘No future… not considered serious enough. I didn’t have the confi dence to challenge this. Ended up doing a Bachelor of Arts and after many years of client admin/administrative roles, I came full cycle and decided to embrace my interest in the arts through formal study.’

‘My family overall has never been interested in art or design and they never visit galleries or exhibitions for fun. My mother was very much against me studying anything to do with art. She felt it was a waste of time, uninteresting and not a stable career choice. When she made me switch high schools between year 10 and year 11 she had a relative translate my high school documents for her and she picked all of my subjects for me. The art studio unit in year 11 happened to be a prerequisite subject as well so I couldn’t take it up in year 12. I had no skills and no folio by the end of high school – so applying for any graphic design course was not an option.’

The discouragement provided by friends tended to be of a similar nature, starting from misconceptions about what design involves, but also pointing out the poor salaries in design:

‘They said that you will not make money from design and will just work behind a computer all your life!’

‘Have to work very hard and do not get paid well.’

‘It’s not a career you select out of impulse or for the money – it’s something you do from the heart.’

‘Mainly because it is a very hard industry to get into – a lot of competition. May not be successful.’

Conclusions

63

Young people who are interested in undertaking a career in design (or the visual arts more generally) face considerable barriers. These include structural barriers, such as the diffi culties of learning about what design entails in country areas; and the problems of preparing a portfolio which can be disproportionately time consuming for year 12 students.

Students do receive encouragement to enter design, usually from the teachers who see their talent, and sometimes from parents and friends, but many face discouragement. Parents often lack understanding of what a designer is or does (and hence may confuse a career in design with trying to make a living as a freelance artist). Based on open-ended responses, this confusion appears to be relatively high among certain groups, such as families with no prior fi rst hand contact with design (which may include socially disadvantaged families) or immigrant families.

Parents are also concerned about lack of earnings, prospects for a long-term career, and the effect of design related subjects on ENTER scores. Other careers are seen as safer.

Students sometimes share their parents’ concerns, especially if they are not sure enough of their ‘talent’ to be confi dent of getting into a design course.

Whilst it is desirable that students who enter design have a passion for it, demanding that this passion overcome all obstacles may be a heavy burden on young people in their teenage years.

67

How Well Prepared are Students for a Tertiary Course?

Essential to producing world-class designers for Victoria is ensuring that secondary students entering tertiary courses are as well prepared as possible, poised to take full advantage of their courses. This brief section examines how well the current VCE program equips students for higher education design studies.

68

The design students in the survey were asked which courses they had taken at VCE level in order to gain entry to a tertiary course. Figure 6.0.1 summaries the outcome.

A signifi cant number (41%) of students had not taken any of the courses asked about. This is because of the inclusion of international, interstate, mature age and alternative entry students in the survey.

Students were then asked how well the VCE/VET multimedia course they had taken had prepared them for the tertiary course they were currently undertaking, rating them on a four point scale (very well, quite well, poorly, very poorly) on a range of aspects important to their tertiary studies. Outcomes are summarised in Figure 6.0.2.

Figure 6.0.1School Design Courses Taken

Source: Design Students Survey; Q12a (n=150)

Subject Taken

Visual Communication and Design 41%

Studio Arts 23%

Art 20%

Multimedia (VET course) 9%

Design and Technology 8%

VCE Theatre studies 3%

None of these 41%

There is no hard criterion for interpreting results here, but assuming that these are aspects of tertiary courses that students should be prepared for, then it seems reasonable to suggest that at least three quarters should feel at least ‘quite well’ prepared for each of them.

Students seem adequately prepared in terms of the basics of drawing/drafting or design aspects for tertiary level study. More explicitly:

• 83% said they were well prepared for the hands-on design work

• 82% were well prepared in terms of applying critical or analytical skills to design

• 80% were well prepared in problem solving in relation to a design brief

• 80% were well prepared in terms of their technical or drawing skills.

In contrast, students often felt poorly prepared on other aspects of their course; 56% were poorly prepared in relation to fi le management skills and 45% in computer software skills. Equally, 51% were poorly prepared for working in groups with others, 38% for presenting work to others and 33% for time management skills.

A particular focus here was on the VCE Visual Communication and Design Course, which is currently under review7, therefore the results for this course were examined separately. What emerges is that results for this course are very similar to the results for all courses combined with one exception: 62% of students taking VCE Visual Communication and Design said they were poorly prepared for working in groups with other students. Students taking VEC Art or Studio Arts or in fact VCE Design and Technology felt better prepared. In fact on these three courses, only 42% felt poorly prepared. This difference did not extend to ‘the ability to present work to others’.

7 We were requested to include these questions by Jessica Flamank from Mentone Girls Secondary College who has been undertaking the review of the VCE Visual Communication and Design Course.

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Conclusion

Students’ experiences and views suggest that current VCE courses prepare students well in relation to the technical aspects of design (such as drawing skills, or critical skills in relation to design examples) but perhaps do not give them adequate computer skills training. Equally they do not impart some of the social or personal aspects necessary to a designer: ability to present work to others, ability to work in a group with others and time management skills.

It is a moot point as to what extent the skills identifi ed above should be created at school level as compared to tertiary level. However, granted the increasing importance of communication skills, team work, and interdisciplinary collaboration, as perceived by working designers and other commentators, it may well be that the development of skills such as presenting work to others and working in groups may be under-emphasised at VCE level.

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What is being taught in design courses in our TAFEs, universities and colleges? Are the future skill requirements of designers likely to be met by our current educational programs?

Design courses comprise lectures and theory relating directly to design, and seminars and lectures on a range of subjects peripheral to design such as business communications etc. but courses are essentially practical and centred around studio work. Formal studio work and assignment studio work comprise the bulk of all student activity.

Studio work can consist of individual exercises or assignments, or in almost all courses, group projects. Ideally, practical projects correspond to actual business practice, and in some departments students work on assignments generated by real business briefs. Teaching staff who are themselves active designers can facilitate this.

Many design commentators agree that the future design landscape will necessitate coherent engagement in interdisciplinary collaborations with a whole range of industries and modalities, a greater appreciation of business processes and more sophisticated technical skills. Clearly in the educational context this highlights the importance of design students gaining interdisciplinary experience through working in teams that contain people from disciplines other than design. For industrial design students, this may mean projects that involve working with engineering students. It may also mean design, commerce and other students working together to consider a strategic business problem from different perspectives.

7.1 Overview

It is essential that design students gain adequate knowledge of commercial practice and thinking. In their working lives they will almost always have to undertake design within a commercial setting. Understanding of the structures of business organisations, drivers of profi t, underlying cost structures, and legal, social and environmental pressures on businesses is essential. Those designers aspiring to start their own consultancies need to have business management skills.

Commentary by a former President of the Design Institute of Australia includes an overview of the content of courses for industrial designers, and this is reproduced as Appendix 3. Whilst this is specifi c to this discipline, the content of VisCom courses would be comparative in many respects.

We surveyed design institutions about the content of education afforded to design students. Similar questions were asked of students themselves. The following sections summarise responses from each group.

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7.2 Institutions Reports

Survey responses were received from 35 tertiary design departments, faculties or schools. Whilst universities and TAFEs appear to be adequately represented, only two private schools out of the ten known to exist in Victoria participated, hence the latter are underrepresented. Note that the sample of private providers is too small to be considered representative.

All design sectors are represented in the mix.

Industry Experience

How do students gain fi rst hand experience or exposure to industry?

Interviews with working designers revealed this to be one of the key areas lacking in students.

Figure 7.2.1 summarises courses that are mandatory and Figure 7.2.2 those that are either mandatory or elective.

Figure 7.2.1 confi rms that a full co-op or work experience year is rarely mandatory, and in fact only three TAFE faculties required it. Overall almost a fi fth of all institutions demand that students work in industry at all – three of the 13 university faculties, and fi ve of the TAFE faculties or schools.

Figure 7.2.1Mandatory Ways in which Design Students Gain Industry Experience

Source: Design Schools Survey; Q6

Institution Type TOTAL University TAFE Private

Base (Number responding) 35 13 20 2

Staff lecturers/tutors who 27 10 15 2are working designers (77%) (77%) (75%) (100%)

Exhibitions/shows that 26 9 16 1are critiqued by working designers (74%) (69%) (80%) (50%)

Guest lectures from 25 10 13 2working designers (71%) (77%) (65%) (100%)

Assignments with briefs generated 20 9 10 1by business corporations (57%) (69%) (50%) (50%)

Informal meetings with 15 7 7 1alumni who are working in design (43%) (54%) (35%) (50%)

Visits to design studios, either in consultancies or 10 4 5 1business corporations (29%) (31%) (25%) (50%)

Vacation experience, a semester or similar blocks of time spent 8 3 5 0working in industry (23%) (23%) (25%) 0

A co-op or work experience 3 0 3 0year spent out in industry (9%) 0 (15%) 0

NB: Table shows numbers and column percentages

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Next, Figure 7.2.2 combines the options that students have, both as mandatory requirements and electives, in gaining fi rst hand industry experience. Overall we see that:

• Almost all institutions employ working designers as lecturers or tutors, use designers to critique students’ work, and invite designers to give guest lectures.

Figure 7.2.2Mandatory/Elective Ways in which Design Students Gain Industry Experience

Source: Design Schools Survey; Q6

Institution Type TOTAL University TAFE Private

Base (Number responding) 35 13 20 2

Staff lecturers/tutors who are 34 13 19 2 working designers (97%) (100%) (95%) (100%)

Exhibitions/shows that 31 10 19 2are critiqued by working designers (89%) (77%) (95%) (100%)

Guest lectures from 29 12 15 2working designers (83%) (92%) (75%) (100%)

Assignments with briefs generated 28 11 15 2by business corporations (80%) (85%) (75%) (100%)

Informal meetings with 24 9 13 2alumni who are working in design (69%) (69%) (65%) (100%)

Visits to design studios, either in consultancies or 16 5 9 2business corporations (46%) (38%) (45%) (100%)

Vacation experience, a semester or similar blocks of time spent 20 7 12 1working in industry (57%) (54%) (60%) (50%)

A co-op or work experience 14 3 10 1year spent out in industry (40%) (23%) (50%) (50%)

4 2 2 0Other (11%) (15%) (10%) (0%)

NB: Table shows numbers and column percentages

• University design departments appear to have more guest lecturers from working designers than do TAFE faculties (92% vs. 75%), while the TAFE sector hosts more designer-critiqued exhibitions (95% vs. 77%).

• Whilst university departments will allow or promote vacation experience, TAFE colleges are much more likely to build a full co-op year into their programs.

In conclusion, it is to the credit of design schools of all types that they employ working designers in many capacities. However in terms of exposing students to actual industry work experience, only a minority of institutions insist on it and generally it is TAFE colleges that facilitate a full co-op year.

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Business Skills

Next, design schools were asked in what ways their students were taught business or commerce skills. Once again respondents were asked to say which ways were mandatory and which were elective.

A look at Figure 7.2.3 demonstrates that the great majority of design students will be taught the essentials of studio practice (taking a brief, preparing a proposal etc.) However, only around half take courses on management topics, or general courses on marketing, branding or advertising.

Figure 7.2.4 indicates who delivers the three main types of business or commerce tuition in design schools. As is evident the majority of delivery is by staff lecturers, with considerable input from guest lecturers. Only eight out of the 35 institutions call on staff in other faculties to deliver management education. In the case of marketing or communications courses, this number falls to four. (Note: the survey includes two private colleges that have no access to staff from non-design faculties.)

Figure 7.2.3Ways in which Design Institutions Teach Business/Commerce

Source: Design Schools Survey; Q8

Mandatory Mandatory and Elective

Base (all respondents) 35 35

31 32Courses on professional studio practice (89%) (91%)

Courses on managing a design practice 18 26(management, accounting, marketing etc.) (51%) (74%)

General courses on marketing/ 18 23branding/communications (51%) (66%)

1 3Other (3%) (9%)

Figure 7.2.4Who Delivers Business/Commerce Education to Design Students?

Source: Design Schools Survey; Q9a – 9c

Courses on Courses on General courses on professional managing a marketing/branding studio practice design practice /communications

Base (all respondents) 32 26 23

30 24 22 Staff lecturers (94%) (92%) (96%)

22 19 12Guest lecturers (69%) (73%) (52%)

8 6 4Staff from other faculties (25%) (23%) (17%)

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Opportunities for Interdisciplinary Projects

In the third area of student experience examined, institutions were asked if their students had opportunities to work in interdisciplinary situations with students from faculties outside of design.

Overall 23 of the 35 institutions (66%) answered yes to this question. The bulk of interdisciplinary projects were assignments and industry projects (around three-quarters of those offering these opportunities) with the other option being shared guest lectures (43%). Working on interdisciplinary projects was more predominant for fi rst and second year students than for those in third, fourth or postgraduate years.

Figure 7.2.5Other Student Groups that Design Students Work With

Source: Design Schools Survey; Q12

All University TAFE

Base (Institutions offering this option) 23 9 14

12 7 5Engineering students (52%) (78%) (36%)

7 3 4Business/commerce students (30%) (33%) (29%)

6 4 2Fine arts students (26%) (44%) (14%)

3 1 2Physical sciences students (13%) (11%) (14%)

Computer sciences or 3 2 1systems engineering students (13%) (22%) (7%)

5 0 5Other groups/postgraduate (22%) 0 (36%)

Once again the private colleges with no access to other faculties could only answer no to this question, and the same was true of some TAFE colleges that were not co-located with other faculties.

Figure 7.2.5 shows the other student groups that the design students work with. The largest single group is engineering students, whom 12 of the 35 schools (in total) said their students worked with. In these cases the students would be mainly those working in industrial design, architecture or other physical design courses.

One in fi ve (seven out of 35) design schools said their students had the opportunity to work with business or commerce students in interdisciplinary situations.

Asked to give their feedback on what they saw as the greatest impediments to increased interdisciplinary collaborations between design students and other student groups, respondents cited:

• timetabling/diffi culties in matching up the various curricula

• travel issues, with design students sometimes located at a distance from other departments

• out-moded/rigid thinking of teachers in other departments

• in the case of TAFE, the set nature of curricula due to AQTF requirements.

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A. Hours Spent on Various Activities

How does the typical design student spend their week? Students were requested to indicate how much time they spent on various activities in a typical week. Figure 7.3.1 summarises the outcomes in terms of hours spent on three activities. For ease we have shown the mean and median.

Using the means, students claimed total working time (on average during a semester) is around 39 hours per week. Over half of this total, 20.4 hours, is spent on assignments outside of formal work. The fi gure of 0.9 hours for industry based learning or placements is based on the few (16%) that actually have such placements.

In total, students’ ‘contact hours’ total around 17.5 per week taking the mean (or around 13 if we total the median), which is in line with the 15 hours or so that was estimated elsewhere by various informants. Note that no attempt has been made to remove outliers in these fi gures, for example the 3% claiming to spend at least 20 hours a week in tutorials.

Of some interest is the fact that only around 8.5 hours mean (or 8 hours taking the median) are spent in formal studio or lab work. This is a far lower fi gure than is claimed was spent in the past in such formal work, and students are clearly left to make up the time in assignment or group work outside of the formal time. The relatively low amount of time devoted to lectures on the theory or history of design or on topics that are not strictly design related is refl ected in students’ later comments that they would like more formal tuition time. Over half of students have no lectures on topics other than design-related topics.

Readers may query the inclusion of students from different years in the same table, or those from university and TAFE together (although university students dominate the analysis), or from different types of design.

7.3 Students Reports

In the case of university versus TAFE, the numbers of TAFE students are not great enough to show any differences. Looking at students by year, we fi nd that those in second year have a higher mean number of hours spent in lectures on non-design topics than students in other years and students in their second and third years spend more time on assignments outside of formal studio work than those in their fi rst year. These differences seem quite plausible.

The only difference between students taking different types of design courses is that those in physical design courses (architecture, interior design etc) spend twice as many hours on average in formal design-related lectures than do those taking VisCom subjects (4.2 hours vs. 2.1 hours). Again this fi gure seems quite likely.

Figure 7.3.1Design Students’ Stated Hours Spent on Different Activities

Source: Design Students Survey; Q14/Q15 (n=150)

None 1-4 hours 5-9 hours 10-19 hours 20+ hours Mean MedianStudio/lab work 10% 16% 43% 25% 6% 8.5 8

Lectures on history/theory of design 23% 62% 10% 3% 2% 2.8 2

Lectures outside of design topics 55% 36% 7% 1% 1% 1.7 0

Tutorials 18% 48% 21% 10% 3% 4.5 3

Industry based learning/placements 84% 11% 3% 1% 1% 0.9 3

Assignments outside of formal work 0% 4% 16% 27% 53% 20.4 20

NB: Table shows horizontal percentages

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B. Non-Core Learning

The design students were asked if their course had included units of study on a range of topics that were not strictly related to the process of design itself. These subjects are shown in Figure 7.3.2 along with the percentages of students who had taken such units.

In this instance results are closely related to year of study, and to discipline. As one would expect industrial and physical design students were more likely to have taken courses in engineering topics than other students. Likewise students in VisCom and multimedia students were less likely to have taken materials science units than those in physical, industrial or artisan design.

Figure 7.3.2Non-Core Subjects Taken by Design Students

Source: Design Students Survey; Q13a

3rd Year All Students Students (n=150) (n=54)

Design practice/running a design studio 39% 52%

Marketing/advertising/media communications 33% 37%

Business fi nance/accounting/economics/commerce 15% 19%

Engineering subjects (e.g. mechanical/electrical/software) 9% 13%

Materials science 18% 22%

Figure 7.3.3Who Provides Students’ Teaching?

Source: Design Students Survey; Q13a-b

Marketing/ Business/ Design Advertising Finance/ Material Practice Communications Commerce Engineering Science

Base (n) (59) (50) (23) (13) (27)

Who provides teaching?

Staff from your own school or faculty 78% 72% 78% 69% 96%

Staff from another faculty in your institution 8% 18% 22% 31% 0%

External or guest lecturers 34% 18% 22% 8% 15%

Third year students were much more likely to say they had taken units in design practice or running a studio than fi rst year (52% vs. 28%). For other units, fi rst year students tended to lag both second and third year students.

Because of the differences, Figure 7.3.2 shows third year students as a separate group. This enables us to see that just over half of such students (52%) have taken some study units in design practice or running a studio. Just over a third (37%) have done some study of marketing/advertising or media communications. But just under a fi fth (19%) have taken further business or commerce studies.

Students’ accounts of who provides the teaching to them (see Figure 7.3.3) indicate that lecturers from within their faculty or school provide the great majority. Only in engineering is there signifi cant input from other faculties. Business and commerce subjects in particular appear to offer opportunities to make use of teaching capability elsewhere in the institution.

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C. Interdisciplinary Opportunities

When asked whether their courses had provided any scope for working in interdisciplinary groups with students from outside of design, only 27% said they have had this opportunity. The incidence was higher among the small groups of industrial design students (seven out of 15 said ‘yes’) or multimedia students (12 out of 28 said ‘yes’) who have most likely worked with engineering or computer studies students respectively. Figure 7.3.4 indicates which groups the students had worked with indicating that business/management or marketing groups prevail overall.

Figure 7.3.4Groups that Design Students Work with in Interdisciplinary Settings

Source: Students Survey, Base students who have engaged in interdisciplinary work (n=41)

Other student groups have worked with: %

Business/commerce students 44

Marketing/advertising/communications 44

Fine arts/visual arts 32

Management 12

Electrical/electronic/computer systems engineering 10

Other engineering 10

Accounting/fi nance 10

Law/taxation 2

Economics/econometrics 2

Other 20

NB: Table shows horizontal percentages

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Students claim an average of 17.5 hours of contact time, and just over another 20 hours of further assignment work per week (based on a survey dominated by university undergraduate students). Little of a student’s time is spent in formal tuition, yet as we shall see in the next section, formal teaching is what they would like to have more of in their courses.

By third year, approximately one-half of design students have had some tuition in regards to design practice or running a design studio, similar to the proportion of design department respondents who stated such courses to be mandatory. Around a third of students claim to have taken courses on marketing, advertising or communications topics, but relatively few (15%) overall have taken any other business courses. The results generally support the notion that there is little time available for teaching of business or commerce in design degrees.

Although two thirds of the institutions surveyed claimed that students had opportunities for interdisciplinary activity, just half offered the chance to engage in interdisciplinary assignments, usually with engineering students. Among design students themselves, just over a quarter (27%) said they had worked on interdisciplinary assignments and 12% of all students had worked with business or commerce students. These results overall indicate that interdisciplinary work between design students and business studies students is very limited.

7.4 Summary

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This section examines what design students have to say about the education they are receiving. Students were given the opportunity to rate the content of their own design course and give feedback on the areas they would like to see increased or decreased. They were also asked to rate their level of satisfaction with their course.

What Do Design Students Think of Their Course?

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Students were asked to suggest ways their course could be improved. Most did so, with just 13% having no improvements to suggest. Many of the suggestions were specifi c to courses and related to aspects of course structure, for example the time allocated to assignments, or the workload on different days of the week or times of the year. There were also complaints that lecturers, particularly guest lecturers, were practising designers, but were not trained teachers or trained in teaching.

Other key themes were:• the need for greater opportunity for

industry placement or cadetships

• a desire for more teaching of the history or theory of design and

• the need for more inclusion of business or commerce topics to make design relevant to the real world of industry.

Examples of some comments made by students sets the tone:

‘ Little bit more technical work learning about using programs. Class time that’s spread out over the week rather than having one eight-hour studio class a week – two four-hour classes at least two days apart would be more suffi cient and productive. Also getting tutors that have some teaching background rather than just designers from the industry coming to teach students.’

‘ Have more class time dedicated to theory and opportunities to work on current projects.’

‘Invite professional designers for seminars.’

‘More theory and history classes. Work internship for students in third year.’

‘Summer/winter internship programs would be excellent.’

‘More collaborative work with other students and faculties.’

‘Industry placement or work experience would be good.’

‘More direct work for my fi eld. Industry placements and experience.’

‘To actually teach us the theory and how to design. Workshops, group work where we are engaged to work together, the whole class to solve a design dilemma. Leaving us to do our own work doesn’t make us learn. Teach us on overcoming our faults by dedicating a class to it... hands on case studies. Just more involvement in the design process.’

‘It would be great to know more about business, marketing and working with these areas as well as advertising.’

‘Currently the course is very new and it shows with some units included as core subjects being quite unrelated to design. I would include more industry based learning, more group design work and focus on the paces a designer will be put through in the real world. Perhaps generate a unit that works around fi nding a real brief for a real client which leads into an assignment.’

‘Include design history as a basis for studio practice.’

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Summary

Comparisons of Student Satisfaction Across Disciplines

Design students’ level of satisfaction with their courses compares favourably with those of the business and engineering students who also took part in an online survey (see section 10). For example, among business students, 8% said their course had exceeded expectations, and 54% said it had met them well. Among engineering students, the fi gures were 11% and 61% respectively. Hence to have 18% of design students saying their course had exceeded expectations and 55% that it had met them well, is a good result.

A greater degree of formal teaching, learning about business and commerce, the theory or history of design, and how to formulate ideas or conceptualise is generally what design students would like to see more of in their courses, as opposed to more studio or assignment work.

They have also expressed a strong desire for more opportunity for interdisciplinary working on assignments or projects, and some desire for more teamwork with other design students.

However, despite criticisms of course content, design students’ ratings of their courses compares reasonably well with those of the business and engineering students who also participated in an online survey.

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This section of the report tackles the diffi cult issue of standards of design education. Are they suffi ciently high to help create a world-class design industry? This topic is relevant not just to Victoria but Australia more generally. We start by considering evidence from surveys conducted in 2008, and then move on to more detailed and specifi c interviews conducted as part of this current research.

Are Design Education Standards High Enough?

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In the 20088 surveys of design consultancies and employers of designers, respondents were asked to rate the quality of design graduates. Figure 9.1.1 reproduces these results.

As the table indicates, 62% of design consultancies and 74% of employers with in-house design departments rated graduates as excellent, very good or good. The remaining ratings tended to be fair rather than poor, but still suggested that graduate quality is something of an issue.

Those who rated graduates as only fair or poor (77 of the design consultancy staff, and 24 from businesses with in-house design) were asked what the issues were.

Figure 9.1.1Ratings of Quality of Design Graduates

Source: Based on weighted survey results of design consultancies and employers with in-house design departments.

Design In-House Consultancies Departments

Base (employers who have recruited graduates) (n=215) (n=93)

Excellent 11 7

Very good 24 26

Good 27 41

Fair 32 19

Poor 7 8

8 Five Years On, Victoria’s Design Sector 2003-2008.

9.1 Employers Surveys

The design consultants’ responses reveal several concerns:

• graduates lack/are not taught basic design skills 33%

• graduates lack business skills/don’t know how business operates 27%

• lack production/manufacturing experience 22%

• not taught to think about problems/thinking skills 17%

• people entering design have wrong/inappropriate abilities 12%

• lack of skills needed for our industry 11%

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Further analysis has revealed that relative dissatisfaction with graduates was concentrated among those employing industrial design and graphic design graduates, and this has led to the focus on these groups in this report.

This report is not alone in identifying potential gaps between the skills required by employers and those being taught in design courses across Australia. In 2007, the then president of the Design Institute of Australia (DIA), David Robertson, wrote an article titled, The Design Education Debate9. It commences ‘Designers should be angry. Tertiary design education is undermining the capability and reputation of the design profession… The design profession’s unequivocal observation is that tertiary design education standards are declining.’

9 Read this article at www.design.org.au/content.cfm?news=309&id=102, dated 26 September 2007.

This article referred to a DIA survey of (its member) designers, and states that:

‘ In the survey, designers repeatedly referred to graduates’ lack of commercially relevant skills and knowledge, their lack of production skills regardless of discipline, their lack of preparation for participation in the business environment, either in an employment situation or in self employment; and the overall low average quality of design skills.’

Unfortunately the Wallis Group has not been able to sight the survey that is quoted, and we should emphasise that it presumably refers to industrial designers, and despite, or because of, being conducted among DIA members, may not be representative of the views of the whole profession. Nevertheless the very strong conclusions put forward in this article partly refl ect our own 2008 fi ndings.

With this in mind a number of one-on-one in-depth interviews with design practitioners and design academics were conducted to investigate the issues further, determine the basis for the criticisms and establish what realistic expectations of graduates may be.

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The owners/managers of four industrial design consultancies and Tony Stolfo, the Head of Industrial Design at GM Holden were interviewed. The GM Holden experience is outlined later as it imparts some valuable insights into industry-education alliances.

The four industrial design practitioners we interviewed all echoed the various complaints made in the survey interviews, to a greater or lesser extent. The single shared complaint was that industrial design students lack industry experience and that internships of one, two or even three months should be mandatory, probably in each year of a design course10. It was stated that this would be the practice in Europe.

Lack of industry experience has appeared in the survey above as lack of business or industry skills, but this lack is not necessarily to be made up by teaching business skills (e.g. management accounting, or human resources). Rather it concerns more basic aspects of business such as:

• how to write a letter to a client

• the importance of keeping track of time and being able to charge for hours spent on a project

• time management skills

• where and how to research for materials properties and which ones to select

• obtaining full information in a business information search – for example, not just what material is suitable, but where to source it and what it will cost.

10 Although the Swinburne IBL meets the need in many cases, it was not popular with all employers, who regarded taking on an IBL student as similar to recruiting a new graduate.

9.2Industrial Design Interviews

A second area of complaint was that graduate students in fact lack basic design skills. References were made to such tasks as:

• being able to develop and create 3-D technical drawings, that can communicate everything that needs to be specifi ed about a product, and can be used by people whose fi rst language is not English

• having or being aware of basic knowledge – such as the size of a standard door

• being able to design a basic circuit board

A third area of complaint is reliance by students on CAD. Students now have excellent computer skills, which is positive and an improvement from a few years ago. However, as soon as they are asked to conceptualise a design they head straight for the computer instead of thinking through the design process.

In parallel interviews we spoke to design teachers in each of the three universities that teach industrial design and the one TAFE that offers product design. Generally, as might be expected they were resistant to the idea that their graduates did not have adequate skills, countering that employers might have unrealistic ideas of what can be taught in a three or four-year course.

This same consideration applies to the teaching of business skills. Students are given tuition in some of the skills needed to run a design consultancy business (taking a brief, preparing a proposal etc.) However, design teachers did not see it as feasible to take this to a higher level – for instance immersion in courses on accounting or marketing etc for all students (although these can be electives for some).

Fundamentally, however, there are pressures on universities that make it diffi cult to respond to business needs:

• Universities are businesses in their own right – they have to achieve KPIs of their own, and these include budget targets and student numbers.

• As a result of funding shortfalls, universities have come under great pressure to increase student numbers, (and our statistics demonstrate this), including expansion of international student numbers (again earlier statistics show this).

• University staff are not only required to teach, but also conduct research and publish. Staff need adequate opportunities for these activities in order to further their careers.

• Not all students are headed for industry; some will wish to go on to postgraduate study and academic careers.

• Hence (it is argued) university courses cannot be entirely designed around the short-term needs of businesses, which in any case may vary from business to business.

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Despite these arguments, the staff who were spoken to were aware of the criticisms and were attempting to address them in a number of ways:

• making use of guest lecturers who can relate real life examples

• having students work on assignments generated by real industry briefs

• visits to design consultancies.

The point was made that an industrial design degree is already very full, and students need to have some life outside of their education. Professor Lyndon Anderson of Swinburne University has stated that “If Australian graduates wish to compete with the best in the world, they will need to take Masters degrees; this is already the norm in top USA institutions”.

The single shared complaint was that industrial design students lack industry experience and that internships of one, two or even three months should be mandatory, probably in each year of a design course.

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VisCom Employer Perceptions of Graduates

Criticisms of VisCom graduates have been less strident than of industrial design graduates but along the same lines. We spoke to a total of fi ve practitioners, all of them running a visual communications business. These practitioners were less critical of design education than were their equivalents in industrial design (two had in fact been design teachers as well). All have had success in recruiting graduates into their businesses, although because of the downturn in business not all had retained them.

However, in several cases it appeared that these businesses had recruited graduates who they regarded as having good or even exceptional skills and talent, from a pool that was generally relatively ordinary.

One said of two recent graduates:‘ I am overall happy with their skill sets. I think that’s largely because they took time outside of school to actually work up some skills – they did industry placements, that sort of thing.’

Another said:‘ We don’t expect them to know everything, that’s another thing. Of course they’re going to lack basic skills, what’s basic skills anyway? They theoretically know how to design, but it takes practice. A lot of practice. This is something that you acquire. Sometimes they don’t think outside the square, that’s not their fault. Blame the unis.’

Although generally able to recruit graduates who met their needs, these practitioners, all of whom had trained 15 to 20 years ago, pointed to changes in design education they felt had led to a lowering of standards. One of these has been the transformation of TAFE courses from ‘fi nished art’ to ‘graphic design’ courses.

‘ What we have not got is enough fi nished artists – these used to be trained by the TAFE colleges – we have lost that. The TAFE colleges now try to produce graphic designers and they think it is beneath them to do this – what used to happen is those who weren’t creative enough but wanted to be in the industry would be fi nished artists – but we have lost these people.’

Another respondent mentioned a one-year graphic design course she had been asked to comment on:

‘ I couldn’t believe this guy was labelling this a graphic design course when basically all they were learning was programs... it was fi ne as a course but as far as calling it graphic design, I said to them there is no way these people could get work as a graphic designer, may be as a fi nished artist, you couldn’t call it a graphic design course.’

In contrast one practitioner said he had generally found that TAFE graduates met his needs better.

Another issue mentioned by practitioners was the expansion of the universities, and the growth in international students, whom they regarded as facing the dual challenges of having English as a second language and disparate cultural expectations of how criticism of creative work is handled.

Says one practitioner: ‘ 20 years ago you could expect to fail the course if you didn’t perform – but I’m not sure that applies today… I have picked that up because there are students I interview who should not have passed – there’s absolutely no way they are going to get jobs – they are showing inferior folios around.’

However these practitioners were more accepting of the level of graduate business skills than the industrial designers.

One said:‘ I think a lot of practitioners they kind of use this scenario as a punching bag, like graduates need to know about business fundamentals, project management, software issues, environmental factors, I mean that’s completely impossible. I mean that’s more like a dream list, it’s not realistic, just not possible. I suppose I’m saying that because I’ve got a foot in both areas.’

Although the same person later said:

‘ I think graphic design courses should be four years rather than three years long, and I think this has a lot to do with maturity. I think if the course was extended you’d get a far more mature graduate, with much deeper skill sets in terms of design and software.’

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VisCom Teachers

We conducted eight parallel interviews with VisCom teachers, two in universities, three in TAFE colleges, and three in private colleges.

Both university teachers concurred that there is diffi culty in achieving a collegiate/studio atmosphere on campus. Previously, a lack of materials and resources at home meant that students did their assignment work on campus. Now that so much of their work is done on computer, many students do not stay on campus outside their formal teaching and do their assignment work at home. Hence the sharing and critiquing aspect of the studio situation that once existed has now been lost. Attempts are being made in both cases to reverse this change.

They viewed the standard of graduates as high, but that increasing students’ business knowledge and skills would require a possible extension to the length of the degree.

In the case of the TAFE colleges the course coordinators we spoke to indicated the relatively higher contact hours at TAFE (25 hours vs. 12 to 15 at university) as one of their strengths, and also the requirement that students spend some time in industry. Whilst this has become increasingly diffi cult to arrange it has still been possible. If anything, students at TAFE appear to be given more tuition in general business topics and skills (somewhat confi rmed by later survey evidence). Hence there was less concern that graduates were not ‘industry-ready’.

One of these respondents indicated that the differences between TAFE graduates and university graduates remain:

‘ The graphic design taught here is very technical. So long as the industry roles are technical, I believe the graduates are well qualifi ed to do the job. Their strength is defi nitely the technical aspect of design. Their weakness is the conceptual aspect, simply because we do not focus on that in our teachings here.’

Later this person said:‘ Another thing that makes it diffi cult for our graduates to fi nd a job is that the employers are expecting them to be, or the graduates are selling themselves as, graphic designers. They are not really graphic designers. They are actually fi nished artists.’

The three private providers are specialist design colleges, offering a range of courses between them, including Certifi cate III, IV, Advanced Diploma and Bachelor degree courses. In some cases these colleges specialise in one type of design (e.g. graphic design) only. Campus life would be very different for students attending these colleges, with few of the extracurricular opportunities afforded by universities or TAFE and a total absence of interdisciplinary teaching or working.

Actual work experience placements did not seem to be required at these colleges. The impression gained from these interviews is that these courses would be even more based around achieving competencies than the TAFE courses. This is not to suggest that students coming from such courses would be any less well trained in certain respects than those going through public educational establishments.

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How does Australia retain a manufacturing base, achieve extraordinary standards in service delivery, become a world-leader in sustainability and energy solutions and excel in the fi ercely competitive global marketplace? Surely, a creative and clever future must depend upon a resource base of world-class designers. If we cannot entice overseas designers without the attractions of an Apple, a google, a Philips or similar high profi le company, we must then, educate and nurture our own.

It has been suggested that Australia’s absence from magazine Business Week’s list of the Top 60 Design Schools in the World implies that as yet, based on this (crude) criterion, we are lacking world-class design schools.

It needs to be pointed out however, that the Business Week list is highly biased towards United States design departments and whilst their list features two Chinese schools, two from India and one from Brazil, it is highly oriented to the fi rst world and traditionally recognised centres. Some inclusions and exclusions on the list could certainly be questioned; for instance, why does Denmark, considered the outstanding knowledge economy of Europe, have only one slightly eccentric entry?

9.3Is Victoria Producing World-Class Graduate Designers?

In contrast, several respondents in our one-on-one interviews made claims for the international reputation of Australian designers. For instance, that ‘Australian automotive designers are highly sought all over the world’; that ‘Australian industrial designers can work anywhere in the world’, and that ‘the standard of our graphic designers is as high as anywhere.’

What standards must we meet to be considered for the top echelon? As the Top 60 Schools are selected by an unnamed panel of ‘innovation consultants, design academics and corporate executives, the criteria is not clear. Nevertheless examination of the list, and what is stated about the institutions, plus examination of another publication ‘Design Intelligence – America’s Best Architecture and Design Schools’ may provide some insight.

From the two publications the important criteria for achieving world-class status, aside from general reputation, appear to be:

1. Links with local industry, in the form of sponsorship of the institution, and working on projects for local industry.

2. Identifi able mainstream employers who take numbers of graduates.

3. Interdisciplinary programs, particularly those that link business students with design, or incorporate design into business teaching.

4. Well known or famous alumni.

5. Links with other institutions internationally, that facilitate exchange programs.

As an example, the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California is the top school in Design Intelligence, and of course is one of the Business Week Top 60 (more than once it was mentioned in our interviews as a top design college). It has class projects sponsored by GE, Nike, Honda and Whirlpool, and its graduates go (in numbers one assumes) to Disney, Electronic Arts, IDEO, Nike, Target, Honda, and BMW. It has Chris Bangle of BMW among its alumni. It has links to Insead in France and Etade in Spain and a number of students study at these institutions.

In light of our examination of design education in Victoria, how do our design schools measure up against this? The answer would appear to be that although they may teach students within the spectrum of particular design disciplines they do not currently meet the criteria.

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How does our current design education compare to the ‘world-class’ criteria?

1. Links with Local Industry. Australian universities seem to

be averse, or to fi nd it diffi cult, to collaborate with local business. Perhaps they cannot persuade business to sponsor them. While there are examples of this (see below) it is not the norm. University funding could partially explain this; our universities are funded by the federal government, which allows industry to stand aside, whereas in the USA, universities are locally funded and more dependent on local support.

Our research did indicate that students work on real briefs generated by industry, but more as examples of real world practice than as part of an attempt to provide a service to industry. Possibly more such interaction is happening at postgraduate level, but it does not seem to fi lter through in undergraduate programs.

2. Identifi able Mainstream Employers. Almost certainly Victorian design

schools do provide graduates to mainstream business companies. However comparison of the websites of American schools with those of our Victorian counterparts, indicates that the latter are circumspect about promoting where their graduates are working.

3. Interdisciplinary Programs. This is very limited in Victorian design

education at present. Certainly there are some alliances between engineering and design in the industrial context, and of fi ne arts and design on some courses, but relatively few courses offer opportunities for design and business students to work on shared projects. Further there seem to be real obstacles to creating such programs.

4. High Profi le Alumni and International Links.

In terms of illustrious alumni, undoubtedly there are claims that can be made by each school, and some design schools certainly have international links (in fact some have them to schools in the Top 60) but this is not openly marketed. Perhaps such promotion is out of character with the way Australian universities operate, but it does not assist their hopes of international recognition.

5. The Gap between Industry and Universities.

Most institutions in the Business Week Top 60 train their students with a view to careers in major corporations. This is not the case in Victoria, where design departments seem to have in mind that graduates will work in design consultancies. However, in Victoria many design consultancies are small, have very limited resources and other than providing guest lecturers and tutors, are not in a position to form effective partnerships with design schools.

One notable example of an impressive industry-education alliance is that between Monash University and GM Holden (see box over page) which seems to follow the American model. We do have large corporations capable of sponsoring design partnerships, but it may be necessary to look beyond the obvious candidates.

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Do providers of design education in Victoria see any need for change to their programs? If so, what would their ‘wish list’ of improvements include? What areas of their design education would they redress fi rst and are such changes realistic? Is change in design education in Victoria already in the wind?

This section examines what our design education providers have in mind for the immediate future. The results make for interesting reading.

Improving Design Education

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Figure 10.0.1Desired Improvements to Design Student Education

Source: Design Schools Survey; Q15a(Note: No participant said they did not want to make any improvements)

TOTAL University TAFE Private

Base (all participants) 35 13 20 2

More opportunity for students to gain work experience in 25 9 14 2a professional environment (71%) (69%) (70%) (100%)

Greater opportunity for interdisciplinary assignments 20 8 12 0and working (57%) (62%) (60%) 0

Increased inclusion of business 16 6 9 1knowledge or skills in the course (46%) (46%) (45%) (50%)

More teaching delivered by external faculty staff 16 5 11 0(e.g. engineering, art, business) (46%) (38%) (55%) 0

Increased access 15 7 8 0to computer facilities (43%) (54%) (40%) 0

Greater focus on 14 4 10 0basic design skills (40%) (31%) (50%) 0

More stringent/relevant selection processes 9 2 7 0for incoming students (26%) (15%) (35%) 0

Longer courses 8 4 4 0(e.g. 4 years instead of 3) (23%) (31%) (20%) 0

Raising the enter score 3 1 2 0of incoming students (9%) (8%) (10%) 0

Fewer international/ 1 0 0 1overseas students (3%) 0 0 (50%)

8 3 5 0Other (23%) (23%) (25%) 0

Participants in the survey of design schools were asked in what ways they would like to improve the design education of students attending their faculty (which covers departments, faculties, schools and courses). The question used pre-coded categories, refl ective of other topics in the questionnaire; hence these were suggestions that were put to the respondents11. The results, areshown in Figure 10.0.1.

11 Participants in the survey reading this may recall being confused by a printing error in the questionnaire. This was remedied by a telephone follow-up survey of participants to clarify answers.

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The fi rst four answers in the table take up themes discussed earlier in this report. Heads of design schools, or course coordinators, would most like to increase opportunities for students to get fi rst hand professional experience (71%), to participate in interdisciplinary assignments (57%), to include more business knowledge or skills in their course (46%) and to offer more teaching delivered by staff outside of the design faculty (46%). Narrowly following behind is increased access to computer facilities.

In other words, it appears that design teachers themselves have been aware of the issues raised in this report, and would want to address them. Of interest is that the fi rst three of these themes are common to both university and TAFE academics. However TAFE course managers have a greater desire for more teaching by external staff than university academics.

It is surprising to see 14 out of the 35 mention that they would like to see a greater focus on basic design skills, this again being cited more often by TAFE course managers (50%); as this was not an area that had occupied earlier parts of the questionnaire or that had been suggested as an issue elsewhere.

Next, survey participants were asked to say which items on their ‘wish list’ they regarded as the most important. In this result, the desire for teaching by external staff dropped off (to 5 out of 35), with the four most important being seen as:

• more opportunity for students to gain experience in a professional environment – 43% (15 people)

• greater opportunity for interdisciplinary assignments and working – 31% (11 people)

• greater focus on basic design skills – 26% (nine people)

• increased access to computer facilities – 23% (eight people).

We know that course managers would like to make these changes, but will they prove to be realistic, attainable goals?

• The most widely desired change is more opportunity for students to gain fi rst hand work experience; we know from several reports that it has become increasingly diffi cult to establish student placements over the past two years as growth in the economy has slowed markedly.

• In relation to interdisciplinary working, as Section 7.2 discussed, there are some obstacles to be overcome to achieving this.

• Likewise increased computer facilities may require investment that is hard to fi nd in cash-short institutions.

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To follow up on this, survey participants were asked to indicate which of the improvements they actually intended to pursue. Results are shown in Figure 10.0.2.

We note that the top four activities on course managers’ wish lists are in fact set for improvement, including more work experience (43%), more interdisciplinary assignments and working (40%), increased access to computer facilities (31%) and increased business teaching on design courses (23%).

Figure 10.0.2Improvements that are Intended for Design Student Education

Source: Design Schools Survey; Q15b

TOTAL University TAFE Private

Base (all participants) 35 13 20 2

More opportunity for students to gain work experience in 15 5 9 1a professional environment (43%) (38%) (45%) (50%)

Greater opportunity for interdisciplinary assignments 14 6 8 0and working (40%) (46%) (40%) 0

Increased inclusion of business knowledge 8 4 3 1 or skills in the course (23%) (31%) (15%) (50%)

More teaching delivered by external faculty staff 7 2 5 0(e.g. engineering, art, business) (20%) (15%) (25%) 0

Increased access 11 4 7 0 to computer facilities (31%) (31%) (35%) 0

Greater focus 7 3 4 0on basic design skills (20%) (23%) (20%) 0

More stringent/relevant selection 4 0 4 0processes for incoming students (11%) 0 (20%) 0

Longer courses 6 4 2 0(e.g. 4 years instead of 3) (17%) (31%) (10%) 0

3 0 3 0Other (9%) 0 (15%) 0

The one puzzling item is ‘increased focus on basic design skills’, since this would seem to be the one improvement that is within the capability of the design school itself, and not subject to liaison with other departments or further capital investment. However, this item, seen as desirable by 14 of the 35 (though more so by TAFE course managers), and the most important by nine, is set for improvement by only seven. Does this indicate some impediment in increasing the focus on design skills?

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We note that the top four activities on course managers’ wish lists are in fact set for improvement, including more work experience (43%), more interdisciplinary assignments and working (40%), increased access to computer facilities (31%) and increased business teaching on design courses (23%).

120

Whilst there was a good mix of universities and TAFEs in the fi nal response set, none of the fi ve private colleges known to offer business or engineering courses in Victoria responded. Thus, the following analysis and conclusions are drawn from the university and TAFE sectors only.

Of the 38 total responses received, 23 were from universities and the other 15 from TAFE. There was an equal number of responses from engineering and business schools (19 from each discipline).

Teaching of Design Knowledge and Practice

Respondents from the institutions offering undergraduate and/or postgraduate degrees were asked whether these degrees included a specifi c design component could be combined with a design degree. Eight out of the 21 (38%) institutions offering undergraduate degrees did offer a design component or as did fi ve out of the 20 (25%) of those offering postgraduate degrees.

All respondents were then asked about the teaching of design in their curriculum more generally. (The questions used in this part of the questionnaire were largely based upon those used in a survey conducted in the UK by the UK Design Council.)

As can be seen, all 15 of the 19 (79%) engineering schools include some teaching of design in their curriculum; as do 12 business schools out of the 19 (63%). Figure 11.2.1 illustrates the methods employed to teach design skills.

11.2 Institutions Reports

As shown, hands-on design exercises, including physical drawings are the most common design exercise, particularly amongst engineering schools (74%, compared to 37% of business schools). TAFE colleges were highly likely (80%) to say they incorporated hands-on design exercises into their curriculum, mainly because almost all were teaching engineering.

Some of the other most common ways in which design is taught include idea creation or brainstorming skills (50%) and the role of design in new product development (50%). However, only a quarter of the business or engineering schools surveyed (24%) teach their students how to brief a designer.

The following table (Figure 11.2.2) shows who delivers the teaching of design knowledge and practice. All 27 respondents said that their staff lecturers taught elements of design to their students. In comparison, we see that only 10 have staff from other faculties teaching design. The results are comparable across the study areas and institutions type.

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Figure 11.2.1Business and Engineering Schools: Ways in which design thinking and practice are incorporated into curricula

Source: Business and Engineering Schools Survey; Q6 Covers both undergraduate and postgraduate curricula

Study Area Institution Type TOTAL Business Engineering University TAFE (n=38) (n=19) (n=23) (n=23) (n=15)

Includes any 27 12 15 15 12teaching of design 71% 63% 79% 65% 80%

Hands-on 21 7 14 9 12design exercises 55% 37% 74% 39% 80%

Idea creation 19 9 10 10 9or brainstorming skills 50% 47% 53% 43% 60%

Role of design in new product development 19 9 10 8 11or engineering solutions 50% 47% 53% 35% 73%

Structure and make up of the design industry/ 13 4 9 9 4what designers do 34% 21% 47% 39% 27%

Using market or user research in the 12 7 5 9 3design process 32% 37% 26% 39% 20%

How to brief a graphic, industrial or 9 4 5 6 3multimedia designer 24% 21% 26% 26% 20%

Brand design, development 9 5 4 7 2and communication 24% 26% 21% 30% 13%

Financial planning 8 5 3 4 4for design 21% 26% 16% 17% 27%

How to select and 6 1 5 4 2work with designers 16% 5% 26% 17% 13%

Figure 11.2.2Who Teaches Design Knowledge and Practice?

Source: Business and Engineering Schools Survey; Q7

Study Area Institution Type TOTAL Business Engineering University TAFE (n=27) (n=12) (n=15) (n=15) (n=12)

27 12 15 15 12Staff lecturers 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

18 7 11 10 8Guest lecturers 67% 58% 73% 67% 67%

10 4 6 5 5Staff from other faculties 37% 33% 40% 33% 42%

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Interdisciplinary Learning

When asked whether students were given the opportunity to work alongside design students on projects and assignments. Just 11 of the 38 (29%) schools surveyed said there were such opportunities – seven engineering schools and four business schools. TAFEs offer more opportunities for such project work with design students than do their university counterparts (40% compared with only 22%). Figure 11.2.3 below illustrates these fi ndings.

Figure 11.2.3Opportunities for Interdisciplinary Learning

Source: Business and Engineering Schools Survey; Q8Covers Undergraduates and Postgraduates

Study Area Institution Type TOTAL Business Engineering University TAFE (n=38) (n=19) (n=19) (n=23) (n=15)

11 4 7 5 6Yes 29% 21% 37% 22% 40%

22 12 10 16 6No – not part of course 58% 63% 53% 70% 40%

No – there are no design 5 3 2 2 3faculties/schools 13% 16% 11% 9% 20%

Figure 11.2.4Do Staff Undertake Teaching or Tutoring to Design Students in Other Faculties or Schools?

Source: Business and Engineering Schools Survey; Q10

Study Area Institution Type TOTAL Business Engineering University TAFE (n=38) (n=19) (n=19) (n=23) (n=15)

9 6 4 3 6Yes 24% 26% 21% 13% 40%

22 11 11 16 6No 58% 58% 58% 70% 40%

No, because there are 7 3 4 4 3no design faculties 18% 16% 21% 17% 20%

Interdisciplinary Teaching

In light of the fi ndings, in Figure 11.2.3, it is not surprising to fi nd that interdisciplinary teaching is just as limited. Respondents were asked whether their faculty provides staff who undertake teaching or tutoring to design students in other faculties/schools within the institution. Over 50% said no; this is largely driven by the university sector (70%) compared with 40% TAFE. A small proportion (18%) said they had no design faculties at their institution, see Figure 11.2.4 below.

Despite acknowledging that interdisciplinary teaching and learning is limited, 61% said they would like to see a greater degree of cross-disciplinary projects between students.

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Future Intentions with Regards to Design Teaching

Lastly, we inquired as to the future intentions of institutions, in regards to furthering the teaching of design topics and skills in business/engineering courses. Figure 11.2.5 outlines these.

As can be seen, only a small number – six out of the 38 – say they are actively planning to include more teaching of design into the curriculum. A proportion (34%) believe that design skills are covered adequately in their current course, and don’t see a need for change. Notably too, one-fi fth do not see design topics as relevant to their students – particularly so amongst business schools (32%).

Figure 11.2.5Future Plans for Design Teaching

Source: Business and Engineering Schools Survey; Q11

Study Area Institution Type TOTAL Business Engineering University TAFE (n=38) (n=19) (n=19) (n=23) (n=15)

We do not see design topics/ skills relevant to the students 8 6 2 6 2 on our courses 21% 32% 11% 26% 13%

We are covering design topics and skills adequately 13 5 8 9 4in the current courses 34% 26% 42% 39% 27%

We see a need to include more teaching of design but simply do not have 8 5 3 7 1space in curriculum 21% 26% 42% 39% 27%

We see a need to include more teaching of design knowledge and skills, but face impediments 5 1 4 3 2in doing so 13% 5% 21% 13% 13%

We are actively planning to include more teaching of design knowledge and 6 3 3 0 6skills in the future 16% 16% 16% 0 40%

Others, 34% overall, would like to see more teaching of design, but face barriers in doing so; one-fi fth (21%) citing there is no room in the curriculum (pre-coded response) and a further 13% face other barriers, the most common being the fi nancial resources to fi nd appropriate teachers who were adequately qualifi ed. The following are some comments in relation to this issue:

‘ Effective design requires appropriate (but expensive) teaching space’.

‘ Diffi culty in accessing suitably experienced staff with demonstrated skills in design, particularly from within industry’.

‘ Within the courses offered at Certifi cate III and IV in VET there are very restricted units to encourage students in design and if we do choose a unit, the cost of software and funding adequately qualifi ed teachers of design in that particular package or unit area is expensive’.

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In order to gain greater insights into the issues of course curriculum and graduate skills, a survey was also conducted among business/commerce and engineering students. The reason for doing so was to see whether any elements of design were incorporated within their course of study and whether a career in design was ever considered and, if so, why it was not pursued. Whilst the survey was intended to include both undergraduate university students and TAFE students, results are skewed towards university students. Of the total 187 responses received, 151 were from university students and the other 36 from TAFE students. (The balance between engineering and business students is also skewed towards the latter – 151 business students compared with 36 engineering.)

The Teaching of Design to Non-Design Students

A total of 44 business and engineering students (24%) said they receive some kind of teaching of design in their current course, however only 14% of business/commerce students receive design education, compared to almost two thirds (23 out of 36) of engineering students. We see no differences between TAFE and university institutions here. Figure 11.3.1 below illustrates these fi ndings.

11.3 Non-Design Students Report

Figure 11.3.1Design Teaching in Current Course; Business and Engineering Students

Source: Business and Engineering Students Survey; Q5

Study Area Institution Type TOTAL Business Engineering University TAFE (n=187) (n=151) (n=36) (n=151) (n=36)

44 21 23 35 9Yes 24% 14% 64% 23% 25%

143 130 13 116 27No 76% 86% 36% 77% 75%

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Those who said their course did incorporate design (44 in total) were asked what areas of design are taught. As Figure 11.3.2 shows, industrial/product design is the most frequent, although this is largely skewed towards engineering students, which is a common elective in engineering courses.

Other popular areas of design include communication design (48%) and corporate brand design (32%). A greater proportion of business students are taught these components compared to their engineering counterparts. The least common design component is the artisan group: textile/fashion/jewellery or furniture design (7%).

Figure 11.3.2Areas of Design Taught in Business/Engineering Schools

Source: Business and Engineering Students Survey; Q6a

Study Area Institution Type TOTAL Business Engineering University TAFE (n=44) (n=21) (n=23) (n=35) (n=9)

23 7 16 22 1 Industrial/product design 52% 33% 70% 63% 11%

21 14 7 15 6Communication design 48% 67% 30% 43% 67%

18 3 15 18 0Other engineering design 41% 14% 65% 51% 0

14 11 3 11 3Corporate brand design 32% 52% 13% 31% 33%

11 6 5 10 1Graphic design 25% 29% 22% 29% 11%

10 5 5 9 1Design management 23% 24% 22% 26% 11%

9 7 2 7 2Multimedia 20% 33% 9% 20% 22%

6 5 1 4 2Interior design 14% 24% 4% 11% 22%

5 4 1 3 2Architecture 11% 19% 4% 9% 22%

5 3 2 4 1 Landscape/urban design 11% 14% 9% 11% 11%

Textile/fashion/jewellery/ 3 2 1 3 0furniture design 7% 10% 4% 9% 0

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Next, looking at who is delivering the teaching of these design components, the results mirror those of the institutions survey, with the majority – 89% – of students saying staff from their own school/faculty taught the design components to them. See Figure 11.3.3 on the right.

When asked whether they would like to see more time devoted to the teaching/role of design in their course, 81 out of the 187 surveyed (43%) said they would – engineering students were more inclined to say so than business students. Interestingly, a relatively high proportion (34%) said they were not sure whether design was needed in their course – results show that none of these students have opportunities to work with design students on assignments in their current course.

Interdisciplinary Learning with Design Students

Students were asked whether their course offered any opportunities to undertake projects or assignments in groups with design students – 21% said they did. Engineering students are more likely to engage in project work with design students than are business students – 39% said they did so (more so in the second and third year of their course). Given the nature of engineering, it is not surprising to fi nd this, but it does further reiterate the view that design is not an integral part of the business curriculum.

While we do see differences between study areas here, results are comparable across institution type, as can be seen in Figure 11.3.4.

Figure 11.3.3Who Delivers Design Teaching?

Source: Business and Engineering Students Survey; Q6b

Study Area Institution Type TOTAL Business Engineering University TAFE (n=44) (n=21) (n=23) (n=35) (n=9)

Staff from your own 39 18 21 33 6school or faculty 89% 86% 91% 94% 67%

Staff from another faculty 12 5 7 11 1in your institution 27% 24% 30% 31% 11%

External or 9 5 4 7 2guest lectures 20% 24% 17% 20% 22%

Figure 11.3.4Interdisciplinary Learning with Design Students

Source: Business and Engineering Students Survey; Q7

Study Area Institution Type TOTAL Business Engineering University TAFE (n=187) (n=151) (n=36) (n=151) (n=36)

Staff from your own 40 26 14 33 6school or faculty 21% 17% 39% 22% 19%

Staff from another faculty 147 125 22 118 29in your institution 79% 83% 61% 78% 81%

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Career Considerations

The last part of the questionnaire asked students how they came to choose their course of study and whether a career in design was ever considered. Interestingly, 34% of the business students and 61% of the engineering students said they had considered a career in design.

All the business and engineering students were asked why they did not choose to study design. Half (50%) replied that they were better at other subjects, or were ‘not very good at it’ (36%) or are not creative (22%). However, 37% said they did not know enough about the industry. Results can be seen in Figure 11.3.5.

It is widely known that parents and teachers play an important role in infl uencing secondary students in their decision-making about the future. Whilst some students did initially consider a design career, when questioned further, 17% of all respondents (32 in number) said they were discouraged from doing so. Parents were the major infl uence here – 63% said so; this is followed by careers teachers (34%) and other teachers more generally (25%). Parents were said to hold the view that design offered ‘poor pay’, ‘a career in design was not stable or serious’ and that there was ‘no real future in the industry’.

Figure 11.3.5Reasons for NOT Choosing to Study Design

Source: Business and Engineering Students Survey; Q18

Study Area Institution Type TOTAL Business Engineering University TAFE (n=187) (n=151) (n=36) (n=151) (n=36)

I was better 94 72 22 78 16at other subjects 50% 48% 61% 52% 44%

I didn’t know enough 69 54 15 57 12about the industry 37% 36% 42% 38% 33%

I was not very good 67 64 3 55 12at it 36% 42% 8% 36% 33%

I don’t like designing 41 39 2 37 4things/I’m not creative 22% 26% 6% 25% 11%

The industry is 32 23 9 29 3too competitive 17% 15% 25% 19% 8%

Choosing ‘design’ subjects would have lowered my 23 16 7 21 2ENTER score 12% 11% 19% 14% 6%

I was advised 18 14 4 15 3against it 10% 9% 11% 10% 8%

Not very good job prospects in 19 14 5 17 2the design industry 10% 9% 14% 11% 6%

Designers don’t get 13 10 3 11 2paid well 7% 7% 8% 7% 6%

132

Name Title Organisation

Mr Peter Handsaker Manager – Design Design, Innovation and Technology, DIIRD

Ms Melinda Marty Skills Policy Design, Innovation and Technology, DIIRD

Ms Michele Azzopardi Director Design Victoria

Mr Andrew Rimmington Senior Manager, Employment, VECCI Education and Training

Mr Aston Smith Business Capability Adviser Industry Capability Network (Vic) Ltd

Ms Deborah Warrender Director of Planning and Resources, RMIT University, Design and Social Context Portfolio College of Design and Social Context

Ms Jan Henry-Jones Victorian Councillor AGDA, Victoria Chapter

Professor Lyndon Anderson Deputy Dean, Faculty of Design Swinburne University of Technology

Mr Russell Kennedy Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication Monash University, Department of Design, Faculty of Art and Design

Ms Madeleine McManus Victorian State President 2009 Engineers Australia (Vic)

Mr David Campbell Executive Director Offi ce of Knowledge Capital, City of Melbourne

Appendix 1.Steering Group Members

133

Institution Type Areas of Study Offered Website

Australian Academy of Design Private Fashion Design www.designacademy.edu.au Graphic Design Photo Media

Australian Catholic University University Visual Arts and Design www.acu.edu.au

Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE TAFE Graphic Design www.britafe.vic.edu.au Interactive Digital Media

Box Hill Institute of TAFE TAFE Design www.bhtafe.edu.au Building Design (Architectural) Furniture Making Games Development Interior Decoration and Design Jewellery Graphic Design Fashion Technology Interactive Digital Media Screen and Media Textile Arts

Chisholm Institute of TAFE TAFE Design, Multimedia & Arts www.chisholm.edu.au Graphic Design Illustration Interactive Digital Media Printing and Graphic Arts Building Design (Architectural)

Deakin University University Architecture www.deakin.edu.au Animation Graphic Design Film Photography Webmedia Games Design and Development Multimedia Technology

East Gippsland Institute of TAFE TAFE Graphic Design www.egtafe.vic.edu.au Multimedia Furniture Design

Footscray City College Film Private Film www.footscrayfi lms.com.auand Television School Multimedia

GippsTAFE Graphic Design www.gippstafe.vic.edu.au(Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE) TAFE Fashion Desktop publishing Multimedia Visual merchandising Interior Decoration and Design

Gordon Institute of TAFE TAFE Art Design & ICT www.gordontafe.edu.au

Appendix 2.List of Design Schools in Victoria

134

Institution Type Areas of Study Offered Website

Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE TAFE Design www.gotafe.vic.edu.au Graphic Design Digital Media Jewellery

Grenadi School of Design Private Graphic Design www.graphicschool.com.au Multimedia Web Design Animation and Interactivity

Holmesglen Institute of TAFE TAFE Graphic Design www.holmesglen.vic.edu.au Animation or Live Action Screen and Media Fashion Design and Technology Interior Decoration and Design Interactive Digital Media Printing and Graphic Arts (Digital Production) Furniture Applied Design Building Design (Architectural)

Institute for Design, Private Interactive Digital Media www.idea.edu.auEntertainment and the Arts (IDEA) Multimedia Graphic Design

JMC Academy Private Digital Media and 3D Animation www.jmcacademy.edu.au

Kangan Batman Institute of TAFE TAFE Fashion Design and Technology www.kangan.edu.au Interactive Digital Media Printing and Graphic Arts Furniture Multimedia Visual Merchandising

La Trobe University University Graphic Design www.latrobe.edu.au/ visualarts

Monash University University Architecture www.artdes.monash.edu.au Printmedia Photomedia Metals & Jewellery Multimedia & Digital Arts Interior Architecture Industrial Design

Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE TAFE Interior Decoration and Design www.nmit.vic.edu.au Building Design Architectural Design Graphic Design Illustration Jewellery Multimedia Interactive Digital Media

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Institution Type Areas of Study Offered Website

Northland Design Studies Private Graphic Design www.northland.vic.edu.au/ designstudies/index.htm

Oceania Polytechnic Institute of Education Private Architecture www.opie.vic.edu.au Interior Design Interior Decoration Building Drafting Building Design Interior Decoration and Design

Photography Studies College Private Photography www.psc.edu.au Media Arts

PIC Photographic Imaging College Private Photography www.pic.org.au

Qantm College Private Animation www.qantm.com.au Games Design Games Programming Digital Video Production Graphic Design Interactive Media/Multimedia

RMIT University University Animation, Multimedia and Games www.rmit.edu.au Film and Television Photography Architecture Fashion Industrial Design Interior Design Landscape Architecture Communication Design Fashion Design and Technology Fashion and Textile Footwear Textile Design

RMIT University TAFE TAFE Building Design (Architectural) www.rmit.edu.au Architecture, building and planning Interior Design and Decoration Fashion Design Textile Design Footwear Graphic Design Interactive Digital Media Product Design Furniture Multimedia Screen and Media

South West Institute of TAFE TAFE Multimedia www.swtafe.vic.edu.au Interior Design Fashion Design Animation Graphic Design Interactive Digital Media

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Institution Type Areas of Study Offered Website

Sunraysia Institute of TAFE TAFE Graphic Design www.sunitafe.edu.au Interactive Digital Media

Swinburne TAFE TAFE 3D Design www.tafe.swinburne.edu.au/ Film and Video design Graphic Design Industrial Design Interior Design New Media Design Photography Set Design Web Design Multimedia Automotive Manufacturing (Design and Development) Building Design (Architectural)

Swinburne University University Communication Design www.swinburne.edu.au/ Industrial Design design Interior Design Multimedia Product Design Engineering Film and Television Multimedia – Games and Interactivity

University of Ballarat University Graphic Design www.ballarat.edu.au/ard/ artsacademy

University of Ballarat TAFE TAFE Graphic Design www.ballarat.edu.au

University of Melbourne University Architecture www.abp.unimelb.edu.au Urban Design

Victoria University University Interactive Media www.vu.edu.au Multimedia Architectural Engineering

Victoria University TAFE TAFE Applied Design www.vu.edu.au Graphic Design Building Design (Architectural)

Whitehouse Institute of Design Private Fashion Design www.whitehouse-design. Interior Design edu.au

Wodonga Institute of TAFE TAFE Building Design (Architectural) www.wodonga.tafe.edu.au Furniture Interactive Digital Media Multimedia Design Fundamentals Interior Decoration and Design Graphic Design

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The following extract is taken from an article by the then President of the Design Institute of Australia (DIA), David Robertson, published 26 September 2007

The following table illustrates the knowledge and skills a graduate requires to meet the professional description Industrial Designer (ANZSCO 232312). The table illustrates the distribution of this information within a four year degree course.

In Foundation Knowledge there is a confi rmation that the student can visualise the principles of science and maths that govern the manufacturing industry and the knowledge base of the technical professionals involved in it. There is grounding in the historical and cultural precedents that inform the relevance and acceptance of their future work by the community.

Appendix 3.Course Content for Industrial Design

In Foundation Skills the ability to communicate their work is developed together with the skills to analyse and critically discuss the properties and values of products and their own concepts.

The Design Process is presented progressively through the four years of the course with early emphasis on research, analysis and conceptualisation, moving towards a thorough emphasis on industry standard CAD modelling, detailing and documentation in the later years of the course.

Technical Knowledge includes a detailed understanding of the manufacturing environment and the skill sets of other manufacturing occupations in the supply chain. Understanding of tooling and production requirements that constrain the design process is emphasised. Project management and planning, and documentation control ensure that the graduate has a broad relevance to future employers. Materials Knowledge introduces the student to the vast offerings of the materials suppliers, their relevance to product assemblies, their strengths and limitations, and the selection process used to arrive at a decision.

Business Knowledge ensures that the student has an understanding of the viewpoints of the management and administration staff of businesses. It introduces the role that marketing and advertising play in the product development arena. It provides them with the core skills necessary to understand their role and behaviour in a small-business consulting environment, and gives them grounding in the entrepreneurial process if they choose to be self-employed.

Advanced Knowledge provides designers with the professional depth that will allow them to make informed project decisions and interact on an equal level with other professionals in the product development and commercialisation supply chain. Areas such as Offshore Sourcing, Documentation and Quality Control, Intellectual Property Protection and Sustainable Design will have major impact on future manufacturing in Australia.

The selection and ordering of practical projects during the course should cover the Design Process emphasis for the particular year, and cover the range of typical project types that a graduate will encounter.

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Course Content Course Year 1 2 3 4

Foundation KnowledgeDesign History • • – –Design Theory • • • –Cultural Factors • • – –Colour Overview • – – –Physics – State of Knowledge • • – –Chemistry – State of Knowledge • – – –Maths – Basic Engineering Maths • • – –Environment • • • –English – Written Communication • – – –Manufacturing History • – – –

Foundation SkillsVisual Communication • • • –Drawing • – – –Technical Drawing • • – –CAD • • • –Product Analysis • • – –Design Analysis • • – –Meeting Presentation Skills • • – –Brief Preparation • • – –

The Design ProcessProduct Analysis • • • –Research • • • –Ergonomic Analysis – • • –Market Research • • • –The Product Brief • • • –Project Planning – • • –Conceptualisation • • • –Product General Arrangement – • • –Design Development – • • –CAD Modelling – • • •Component Selection – • • •Prototyping – • • –Testing – – • •Project Review – – • •Design Resolution – • • •Tooling Documentation – – • •Production Documentation – – • •Tooling & Production Liaison – – • •Marketing Support – – • •

Course Content Course Year 1 2 3 4

Technical Knowledge(Manufacturing & Process)Standards • – – –The Manufacturing Environment • • – –Interacting With Other – • • –Manufacturing Disciplines Tooling – • • –Machining – • • –Project Management – – • •Project Planning – – • •Documentation Control – – • •Product Finishing – • • –Mechanisms – • • –Moulding – • • –Fastening Systems – • • –

Materials KnowledgeMaterials Overview • • – –Metals – • • –Plastics – • • –Other Materials – • • –Materials Selection – • • –

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Course Content Course Year 1 2 3 4

Business KnowledgeSmall Business/Consulting Business – – – •Product Development and Commercialisation – – – •Advertising – – • –Marketing – – • –Entrepreneurship – – – •Management – – • •Supervision – – – •Legal Environment – – – •Advanced Knowledge Ergonomics – • • –Human behaviour – • • –Consumer behaviour – • • –Economics – – – •Professional issues – – – •Electronics – • • –Programming/Digital Products – • • –Sustainable Design – – • •Styling/Product Aesthetics – • • –Report Writing – • • –Intellectual Property Protection – – – •Offshore Sourcing – – – •Quality Control – – – •Colour Selection and Specifi cation – – • –Industry Software – • – –Documentation Control – – – •Product Costing – – • •

Course Content Course Year 1 2 3 4

Design PracticeVisual Redesign • • – –Human Interface • • – –Invention Development – • • –Plastics – • • •Sheet Metal – • • –Machining – • • –Fabrication – • • –Electronics Integration – – • •Mechanism Integration – • • •Product Redesign – – • •

Selected Bibliography

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Australian Government (2009) Powering Ideas – An innovation agenda for the 21st Century, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research

Business Week (2007) D-Schools Special Report, available at www.businessweek.com/innovate/di_special/20071005d-schools.htm

Cartledge, D. and Watson, M. (2008) Creating Place: Design education as vocational education and training, published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), Adelaide

Cutler and Company (2008) Venturous Australia – building strength in innovation, Report to the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon. Kim Carr

dandolopartners and Booz|Allen|Hamiltion (2003) Developing Victoria’s Design Capability, Report to the Victorian Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development

Design Institute of Australia (1996) Design Education, Proceedings of National Conference

Design Victoria (2008) Five Years On: Victoria’s Design Sector 2003-2008, available at www.designvic.com/Knowledge/publications/FiveYearson.aspx

Design Futures Council (2008) Design Intelligence – America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools, Norcross, GA, USA

Fry, T. (2008) The Role of Design as a Contributor to Innovation, submission to the National Review of Innovation System

Government of Victoria (2008)Submission to the Review of Australian Higher Education

McArthur, I. (2007) Learning Continuums Visual Paradigms – refl ections on the impact of graduate design education on professional practice in the 21stC, visualdesignscholarship, Vol 3 No 2, pp 26-38

Robertson, D. (2006) A Co-ordinated Design Policy for Australia?, available at Design Institute of Australia website, www.design.org.au/content.cfm?news=144&id=102

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Robertson, D. (2007) The Design Education Debate, available at Design Institute of Australia website, www.design.org.au/content.cfm?news=309&id=102

Robertson, D. (2007) The Ideal Industrial Designer, available at Design Institute of Australia website, www.design.org.au/content.cfm?news=310&id=102

UK Design Council (2005) Higher Education Skills Mapping – Business Schools Research Findings

UK Design Council (2005) Higher Education Skills Mapping – Design Schools Research Findings

UK Design Council & Creative Cultural Skills (2007) High-level skills for higher value, (UK Design Industry Skills Development Plan)

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Acknowledgements and Credits

Acknowledgements

This research is a valuable contribution to the design industry, the education sector and the Victorian Government. Design Victoria would like to thank the Steering Group and the many Victorian tertiary education institutions, academics, teachers, students and others who generously gave their time and energy to this project.

Credits

Research – Wallis Consulting Group• Dr John Fidler – Director and

General Manager• Armand Panji – Senior Consultant • Josie Vocale – Consultant• Marian Steele – Think Marketing

Project Steering Committee• Peter Handsaker, DIIRD• Melinda Marty, DIIRD• Michele Azzopardi, Design Victoria• Andrew Rimmington, VECCI• Aston Smith, Industry Capability

Network (Vic) Ltd• Jan Henry-Jones, AGDA,

Victoria Chapter• Professor Lyndon Anderson,

Swinburne University of Technology• Russell Kennedy, Monash University

and International Council of Graphic Design Associations (ICOGRADA)

• Deborah Warrender, RMIT University• Madeleine McManus, Engineers

Australia (Vic)• David Campbell, Offi ce of Knowledge

Capital, City of Melbourne

Publication Design – Cornwell• Steven Cornwell – Creative Director• Lynne Franke – Design Manager• Nuttorn Vongsurawat – Designer• Andy White – Finished Artist

Editor• Elise Johnston

© State of Victoria 2009

This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968.

Authorised by the Victorian Government 121 Exhibition Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000

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