Audrey G. Bennett
Co-chair Icograda Design Education Manifesto 2011

If asked to summarise the experience of co-chairing the 2011 Icograda Design Education Manifesto update in one word, I would choose the word change. What kind of change? Design change. The disciplinary and social upheaval of the past decade warranted an updating of the 2000 manifesto, and the new manifesto promises transformation. The word change also illuminates the precise aim of a manifesto — to engender agency in the reader. For instance, design changes the way we communicate, the way we read and the way we live. Design changes _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

As we looked back, we assessed changes that have impacted the way that we learn, teach and practise communication design. On a global scale, we discovered changes resulting from technological development and innovation, economic prosperity in some regions and recession in others, environmental challenges and social networking. Moving forward, the future of communication design — its pedagogy and practice — depends on our ability to transform in order to overcome obstacles. As a discipline we must invent new strategies and find resources that reflect inclusivity, ethics and sustainability, and to nurture growth and cross-cultural harmony. With the insight gained from analysing past occurrences and future expectations, we made substantial changes to the 2000 Icograda Design Education Manifesto. We wrestled with the keywords intent on finding the precise terms to instill understanding and motivate appropriate action in the reader. With contributors from around the world, a transnational problem emerged that we solved with a face-to-face workshop in Jinan, China; a Skype conference call; and tech-mediated, collaborative writing sessions. Thus, on a personal level, we experienced cultural, geographical and technical changes. Our collaboration epitomises the marriage of technology and creative production that has occurred over the past decade and will become even more prevalent, and perhaps more refined, in the future as new communication technologies emerge and connect one to many for creative action.

I am honoured to have been a part of the writing of a text that elevates the designer to an agent of change — culturally, socially, politically, economically and environmentally. With confidence and zeal we can now claim a position alongside politicians, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs and economists who make crucial, potentially life-altering, decisions. The Icograda Design Education Manifesto 2011 update and accompanying essays represent the unified message of a collective that aims to instill new values and methods, and to motivate responsible action in the classroom and beyond. Yet, what the manifesto aspires to change and what it will enable over the next decade remains to be seen. What politics of inclusion will emerge as designers embrace collaboration with users and other disciplinary stakeholders? Will we continue to maintain professional autonomy? How will designers fare in a research arena that includes quantitative methods? How will existing practitioners attain training in research approaches and ethical standards? How will the communication design process change to accommodate emerging intersensory and multimodal contexts, environmental values and accountability? What form will our future outcomes take? How will they function?

The updated Icograda Design Education Manifesto - including supporting essays and this introduction - is available for download [PDF - 10.77 MB]. To obtain a printed copy of the book for a nominal fee, please contact the .