Technology and Visual Designers: How Must We Respond to the Changes?

... keynote address to International Conference on Technology and the Arts (Chinese language site), Department of Information Communication (English language site), Yuan Ze University, Taiwan, October 13, 2001.

"The world in which we design has changed. While this implies many changes and adjustments for practicing designers, if we are to respond to these changes in the most meaningful way, then we must change the way that we prepare designers for our profession. Changes are happening - some important ones at YuanZe University where graphic design and computer science students are studying together in a cross-disciplinary program. Some institutions are further along in this change, both from the standpoint of education and the standpoint of practice, than are others, but it is important to discuss the change with each other no matter what phase we are in.

In my view, there are three critical components of the changes in the world that impact designers particularly ; 1) the introduction of interactivity or user control into many contexts where designs are used, 2) the gap between designers and those who use their designs, and 3) the growing complexity of the designed environment."

Text of the paper in .rtf format Elizabeth Boling and Feng Ru Sheu

Powerpoint presentation with graphics (2.58 Mb)