WHY I TEACH
I have a list. It gets added to every year; graduates from our program at DCAD about where
that student went to pursue an BFA and where they landed in their seeking employment within
the broad field of design. It is both an unscientific catalog of creative people that seek a bit of
advice after leaving our small program and young designers who maintain connections through social media like LinkedIn or Facebook.
that student went to pursue an BFA and where they landed in their seeking employment within
the broad field of design. It is both an unscientific catalog of creative people that seek a bit of
advice after leaving our small program and young designers who maintain connections through social media like LinkedIn or Facebook.
Growing this list may seem an odd validation to the greater academic world but to me, it means some of the things I have learned over almost four decades as a working creative are still applicable to our students.
My goal: to make a worthwhile impression with future designers. If they decide to teach a class
or mentor a junior team member some day, they will remember teachers that pushed
–positively–for better results, thoughtful efforts and more empathy to their subject.
or mentor a junior team member some day, they will remember teachers that pushed
–positively–for better results, thoughtful efforts and more empathy to their subject.
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
I work hard to see young designers
leave DCAD's small program to pursue a
Bachelor's degree in communication design,
seek work as an art director's assistant or
gain entry to the field via digital production work. I find mission, inspiration and validation
in the strong foundation that we provide.
These maintained connections through
the resources of social media
or good old fashioned email and really old fashioned stopping by the College speak to continued
and successful efforts of these graduates.
The students in our studio spaces want to craft
successful solutions to communication problems.
Beginning foundation year design majors seem to thrive by limiting the specific design brief
or criteria they need to follow, the range of solutions evolve and
manifest to more clear results.
What is always compelling is the broad variety
students apply in solving problems.
Some will empathize with the task and form
immediate connections to what is in front of
them. Others will need the details unpacked
with specific examples or verbalized with
alternative metaphors.
My goals must accommodate a range: helping the quick-to-the-result artist
to slow down and consider things they may
have missed through prompting
the more deliberative personalities
to embrace that trait, build on it and see the value in their path!
to embrace that trait, build on it and see the value in their path!
A few hope to remain hidden behind their quiet
persona–they want to sort it out in more isolated
learning spaces. Through years of teaching I have noticed that a student who would pose questions
after class does not necessarily mean inattention.
It may mean they are working in class in their own way to get to that quiet place they thrive in outside of class! The student who
lingers with queries can and do send alert signals:
additional prompts and in–class interactions as needed or greater levels of responsibility can be handled.
Another thing I have realized from the years: input from
their cohort as help to form answers may be
how their process works… How I deliver the task as information–clear as it may be to some–will simply not be the case to all students. I stress this to them and prompt them to ask for help understanding my admittedly–and documented by our students–quirky and unconventional delivery style. We all need time in development
of anything new. As long as it is found and used

Brad Wason during a crit; VisComm II, Spring 2012. We were fortunate to have Brad teach for DCAD for a number of semesters. A graduate of the College in 2003, Brad is currently the Director of Brand Development for Capitol One in New York City. Zach Hartzell; foreground shares a moment with Ed Cunicelli who made this photograph. Zach keeps
very busy with photo and video projects, some of his notable recent work has been for Martin Guitars.
He is a fine designer in his own right.
very busy with photo and video projects, some of his notable recent work has been for Martin Guitars.
He is a fine designer in his own right.
CRITIQUE
I try to gain everyone’s confidence of the
requirement that questions asked are not only
expected, they are required of professional designers. "I like it" is not enough: tell us why.
It benefits the entire cohort. Through
prodding, cajoling, humor and their future
working–world obligation, I strive to promote the
studio lab and the critique wall as the one place
they mix all learning types together and gain
insight into what it means to be a creative
in diverse working environments.
I ask them
for constructive honesty and mutual respect
for each other’s point of view. With practice
during analytical give and take, we all strive
to evolve the group beyond basic likes and
dislikes. When another student answers with
something that truly enhances the work in
question, a goal has been realized: inspiration
to the designer who can improve their work and
reinforcement to the other who made the
suggestion.
Academic critique is one of the
few places left it seems, where the degree of
understanding by the students is freely on
display at the pedagogical level and at to the
cohort through an open forum of peer review. My years of working world evidence revealed often quite the opposite.
EXPERIENCE
Students that attend DCAD now are different
from the first class I worked with as a full time
instructor back in 2003, or even more so as an
adjunct in 1998. They are more demanding,
less prone to close reading, exposed to industry–
standard software before setting foot in the studio;
the students entering our lab's doors today half
expect a continuation of what happened in a
high school design class, if there was such a class. Digitally adept students may
join a cohort that had only traditional media-
drawing & painting–and no software skills.
Ironically, the more software exposed student
may never have had any drawing from
observation in a formalized class.
My approach is to make our studio spaces feel
a little like their first job. I want them to miss the
place even after they are finished with school.
To this end: professional approach, best practices
and industry standards are part of how we begin
the transformation of a graphic design major
into a working professional.
The other part is a lot of honesty and humility on
my part. Also, listening, listening and more listening.
Hearing what they are saying–not to elicit a response
from my ego–but to hear them
to help them. Transforming themselves is what I find to be a key to their success.
to help them. Transforming themselves is what I find to be a key to their success.
The
AIGA, the professional organization for design and NASAD have a valuable series of ongoing discussions of design
education expectations and outcomes.
Thanks for reading,
John Breakey
Program Chair, Graphic Design
Delaware College
of Art and Design
Wilmington, DE