The Shift Deck

Design, Research

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Thesis Statement

Tomorrow’s design leaders will need to be resilient in the face of tumultuous change. Today’s students are ready to take on the environmental challenges of their time, and their design education must reflect that. The Shift Deck empowers educators to spark change through a practical framework of small but powerful shifts towards climate resilient design techniques that enrich student projects, empowering the next generation of designers to lead the transformation our world needs.

Abstract

A growing cadre of designers are advocating for circular economies, responsible design choices, and life-centered design models. Students of design feel a disconnect between the skills they are taught and the complexity of problems facing the planet, and are not often aware of climate resilient design methodology until well after they have entered the workforce. This creates a gap in action that the design industry cannot afford.

To design climate resilience into our companies, communities, and governments designers need to be aware of the ideas and methods available to them to understand the complexity and interdependence of the large problems we face. The first phase of research was an exploration of what designing sustainably and responsibly can mean for designers, design educators, and design students. This included an extensive literature review; a student and educator survey; a critical analysis of current Visual Communication BA/BFA Learning Outcomes in the United States; an analysis of the priorities of modern design practices, approaches, and advocacy organizations; and semi-structured interviews with 24 visual communication design students, professors, and professional designers with varying degrees of ecological sustainability experience. Analysis of this data indicated that climate resilient design methodology is not often taught as a part of visual communication curricula for a variety of reasons: Visual communication design is not substantially physical in nature. Climate resilience is considered academically separate from design. Professors often see these ideas as too niche to be part of established curricula, and often worry they need more training to teach them.The data from phase one was synthesized into three frameworks for making sense of sustainability and climate resilience in design education. An homage to Dieter Rams’ 10 Principles of Good Design, the 7 Mindsets of Climate Resilient Designers are written as learning objectives and define multifaceted knowledge and practices necessary to build climate resilience. In addition, the different ways professors currently incorporate concepts of sustainability in their course assignments have been organized into 5 Levels of Sustainability Pedagogy in Design Education. Finally, the project’s design guidelines are based on qualitative data from professor interviews.

These frameworks informed the development of The Shift Deck: a deck of 27 cards that present small steps–or Shifts–educators can take to weave climate resilient strategies into their existing assignments. Each Shift includes a rationale for its climate resilience and a learning objective that states what students should know and be able to do as a result of incorporating the Shift into their work. This bottom up approach allows educators to advocate for climate resilient design practices in the classroom without completely overhauling their pedagogy.

The Shift Deck has been refined through an interactive prototyping process, including a co-design activity with ten visual communication design educators and two in-class workshops with students. With continued refinement and co-design, these shifts have the potential to cultivate a generation of designers whose work is creative, thoughtful, and resilient.

Download a copy of the instruction booklet and full deck.

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Cindy Raspiller