Design Center for Global Needs

K-12 Mentoring Program | DAI Courses

Design Education

DCGN ASSOCIATED CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

The Design Center for Global Needs in the Department of Design & Industry at SFSU sees a tremendous opportunity to make a profound impact on the issues of diversity in design education and its relative environment. An environment that constitutes, and needs to be more responsive, to the social, cultural and physical needs of the underrepresented, the disabled, and the disenfranchised. There is a need to expand and enhance the representation, awareness and the traditional focus of design education. A responsive awareness that goes beyond the esoteric values of the conventional marketplace to engage the needs of the expanding non-traditional markets of emerging economies. Economies that must exist and evolve, on the local, or international level, within the context of sustainable development.

DAI 300 Design Process
A core requirement in the DAI degree program and a General Education course, this course follows progressive steps to develop and enhance the student's knowledge and ability in executing the design skills necessary to analyze and communicate the design development process. This process includes marketing, consumer surveys, production, and distribution. Course projects address the broad spectrum of design applications such as: product design, graphic design, package design, furniture design, environmental design.

The curriculum instruction focuses on involving the students in real world problems such as: "User-Environmentally Friendly Packaging Design Seminar/Workshop"; Design for the Aging; Design for the Environment. This packaging design workshop, which was sponsored by the Institute On Disabilities at SFSU, was conducted in conjunction with Ellen Lieber, president of AccessAbilities; the design office of Primo Angeli in San Francisco; as well as faculty from San Jose State University, Packaging Engineering Department; and California College of Arts and Crafts.

Assigned Projects:

(1) Institute on Disability, SFSU Visual Identity System: Logo Design
(2) Mountain Lion Signage Project
(3) User-Friendly Packaging
(4) Recycling Redesign/Re-use
(5) Eco-Packaging - development of an environmentally-responsive package
(6) SFSU Recycling Center sponsored a "Desktop Recycling Container Competition"
(7) Universal Street Furniture - addresses the issue of public domain, accessibility,
flexibility and durability in functional objects
(8) Personal Portable Furniture - addresses the issue of individuality, culture and identity
in personal material objects
(9) Design Center for Global Needs sponsored a "Logo Design Competition"
(10) Environmental Graphic Signage for the College of Creative Arts, "Building without
Boundaries," Building Opening/Reception
(11) Design of an "Infant Activity Toy"- addresses the issue of developing a safe, fun and durable interactive toy for an infant.

DAI 410 Product Design 2
A three unit six hours per week lecture laboratory course. The course is structured as an intermediary design course that is sequential to DAI 300 and prepares students for
DAI 505. Students are required to understand and incorporate the methodologies and procedures of the "Product Line Management System" in the development and documentation of their projects.

The format of the course has been revised and expanded to address some of the more prevalent issues in the design, product development and manufacturing, such as:
"Universal Design," "Design for the Aging/Transgenerational Design" and "Design for the Environment."

The course has included consultation, visiting lectures and critiques by internationally recognized designers in the field of design for the aging and disabled, such as Patricia Moore, president of Guynes Design; and Ralf Hotchkiss, Whirlwind Wheelchair International. The resultant projects in this course have received outstanding praise and recognition from national and international experts in the field of design for persons with disabilities.

Student projects generated in this course, along with other research, undergraduate and graduate student projects, have been annually submitted to national and international design competitions. These competitions include: The National Houseware Manufacturers Association Student Design Competition; the Handitec International Design Competition for Persons with Disabilities in Paris, France; The Design for the Aging Society Competition; The East Meets West Environmental Global Design Competition.

Assigned Projects:
(1) Hand-Held Kitchen/Bath Utensils, or Appliances
(2) Kitchen/Bath Faucet Design
(3) Eco-Design Household Consumer Products (Lighting; Furniture)

DAI 505: Research & Development
The objectives of this three unit six hours per week lecture/laboratory serve as the senior level capstone experience for Design and Industry majors. Students develop and apply design research and development methodology skills.

Beginning in the Fall semester of 1997, DAI 505, in conjunction with the SFSU Office of Community Service Learning sponsored "Design For The Community Program." Students were asked to research and develop projects that addressed the needs of Bay Area community organizations and development agencies. Students benefited by learning how to develop creative, practical solutions that satisfy the needs of real world clients. Through this direct experience students discovered how design can make a positive contribution to community and social development.

DAI 800 Graduate Design Seminar in Industrial Practices:
"Global Design & Cultural Identity"/"Design for Society"
This seminar is integral to the efforts of the DAI department to address and enhance the implementation of multi-cultural curricula issues into the framework of the department's philosophy and practicum. The seminar explores the design process to determine its potential as a catalyst or determinant to positive social change in the global community.

The objective of the seminar is to familiarize the student with the cultural identity, association and influence of design in our global marketplace and social community. The seminar's focus is to establish a "global design consciousness" that is environmentally responsive and user-friendly in its attempt to improve our general livelihood. The seminar assesses the prospect of both nationalism and globalism in design. It examines the question of how cultural influences can, or should, contribute to product form, function and social development in the product marketplace and built environment.

The seminar is facilitated by the participation of visiting lectures from local, as well as international guest speakers. The diverse backgrounds of the speakers include: architecture, universal design, environmental responsibility, community development, urban planning and design, rural health care delivery, gender-issues, economics, small-scale manufacturing, product, graphic design and information technology.

DAI 576 Practical Experience: Internships/Research Assistantships
The independent study course with the Design Center for Global Needs is structured to provide students academic recognition and credit for internships and supervised experience relative to their practical experience in the profession of their discipline.

Community-Outreach Design Services
Urban Institute/Visitacion Valley Community Revitalization Project
University community liaison and design consultant in the Visitation Valley Community Revitalization Project in conjunction with the Mayor's Office of Youth and Community Development, as well as various Community-Based Organizations.

Mentoring/Skills Development Program
Development of Skills Development Program for African-American & Latino Youth -
the establishment of a curriculum and skill development program for African-American, Latino and other underrepresented into the field of design.

Global Design Project Application:
Design Center for Global Needs/Mobile Disaster Relief Unit Project
Final development of the interior layout and specifications for the Mobile Disaster Relief Project.

DAI 576: Practical Experiences: Internship - Examples of DCGN Research Projects

* indicates Graduate Student

Student Title of Project
1. Heidi Tsai* Universal Design Bathtub for Asia Market (Thesis Development)
2. Judith Lichtman* Comparative Analysis of Three Diverse Global Designers (Thesis Development)
3. Alicia An* Visual Identity System for "The Village" (Thesis)
4. John Kennedy* Sustainable Product Development (M.S. EngineeringThesis)
5. Marcie Nishioka* Virtual Museum Web Site (M.A. Musuem Studies Thesis)
6. Jennifer Mason Universal Design Symposium
7. Alicia An Design for Community Projects Brochure Development
8. Humberto Tam SFUI Quarterly Publication & Urban Institute Logo design
9. Jonas Furberg* Universal Design Symposium & UCLA/Harper's Exhibit
10. Chris Stern * Design of Bike Storage System for BART (Thesis)
11. Maria Moscato * Sustainable Development of Southern Italian Village (Thesis)
12. Patricia Necklas* International Expo Design for the Dominican Republic (Thesis Development)
13. Amy Valentine * Analysis of Portable Storage for Museum Displays (M.A. Museum Studies Thesis)
14. Alan Quiros Research Assistant on Mobile Disaster Relief Unit
15. Brigado Grove Research Assistant on Universal Design Education Project
16. Paul O'Neil Assessment of Design Applications for Community Service Organizations
17. Chris Twilling Development of Environmental Signage for A&I Building

Universal Design in the DAI department at SFSU:

The integrated approach of universal design principles into the curriculum development in DAI has been consistent with the mission of the department. This mission has been to promote an interdisciplinary educational program. An inclusive program that provides, to an ethnically diverse and multicultural student population, an opportunity to develop an individualized course of study in the areas of product design, graphic design /visual communications, manufacturing, and technology education. The department advocates a design program that is both inclusive and responsive in its representation of community-based needs, and services, as well as, the mainstream professional business and manufacturing sector needs.

The integrated approach to universal design in the DAI department is very holistic. It addresses the physical, as well as the social parameters of universal design. Its approach is both quantitative and qualitative. It is as interdisciplinary as it is inclusive. It is an approach that is socially and ethnically diverse, in its attempt addresses barriers of economic disparity, gender bias, or racial and cultural difference in mainstream society.

Since 1992, in conjunction with the Design Center for Global Needs, universal design has steadily become an integral and pervasive element within the undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the Department of Design and Industry. Professors teaching in the area of product design and development received a seed grant from the Universal Design Education Project to develop strategies for teaching lifespan issues to future designers - the students in DAI department and the university community at large.

Universal Design Symposium and Workshop
In October of 1996, the department conducted a "Universal Design Symposium and Workshop" at San Francisco State University. This public interdisciplinary seminar and workshop consisted of DAI students, as well as design students from other Bay Area design programs, faculty, designers and disability advocates from across the U.S. and abroad. This event featured some of the leading universal designers, disability-user advocates and policy makers such as: John Saleman, Universal Designers & Consultants; Molly Story, from the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University; Abir Mullick from the IDEA at State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo; Susan Goltsman, principle, Moore, Iacafano & Goltsman; Barry Atwood, president of Accessible Environments; Ralf Hotchkiss, Director of the Whirlwind Wheelchair International (WWI); Dr. Paul Longmore, SFSU, Disability Rights Historian and Policy Maker; and Dr. Mario Marino from the Center for Industrial Design Research at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Applications of Universal Design in Curricular Development:

In the DAI 300: Design 1 course, the curriculum instruction focuses on involving the students in real world problems such as: "User-Environmentally Friendly Packaging Design Seminar/Workshop"; Design for the Aging; Design for the Environment. This packaging design workshop, which was sponsored by the Institute On Disabilities at SFSU, was conducted in conjunction with Ellen Lieber, president of AccessAbilities; the design office of Primo Angeli in San Francisco; as well as faculty from San Jose State University, Packaging Engineering Department; and California College of Arts and Crafts.

In the DAI 410: Design 2 course has focused on the applications of products and environments that address the principles of Universal Design. In addition, the course has included consultation, visiting lectures and critiques by internationally recognized designers in the field of design for the aging and disabled, such as Patricia Moore, president of Guynes Design; and Ralf Hotchkiss, Whirlwind Wheelchair International. The resultant projects in this course have received outstanding praise and recognition from national and international experts in the field of design for persons with disabilities.

In 1997, one of our students, Roberto Antonio, received national recognition from the National Housewares Manufacturers Association (NHMA) Student Design Competition. Roberto was recognized for his award winning universal design concept, "Scnife," that was developed in the DAI 400: Design2 course.

DAI 800: Graduate Design Seminar in Industrial Practices - "Design for Society"
The objective of the seminar is to familiarize the student with the cultural identity, association and influence of design in our global marketplace and social community. The seminar's focus is to establish a "global design consciousness" that is environmentally responsive and user-friendly in its attempt to improve our general livelihood. The seminar assesses the prospect of both nationalism and globalism in design. It examines the question of how cultural influences can, or should, contribute to product form, function and social development in the product marketplace and built environment.