i+D - September/October 2021 - 43

Balancing Act - By Diana Mosher
Through a variety
of programs, Pratt
offers art and
design education
opportunities
for all ages-from
kindergartners
through advanced
degree students.
(Image: Courtesy
of Pratt Institute)
The Creative Process
The New School has long been known as a champion of social
justice and climate, according to Yu Nong Khew, director of the
BFA Interior Design program and assistant professor of interior
design at Parsons School of Design, The New School, and a
design partner at Studio Khew Cornelius. " Both sustainability and
wellness have always been at the forefront. " This generation of
Parsons students are becoming very involved in the climate crisis.
Design as activism is surfacing among students and faculty as well.
Parsons notes the pandemic has
fostered resilience among students
that will lead to a generation
of design professionals ready to
take on challenges.
(Image: Courtesy of Parsons School of
Design/The New School)
The educators at Parsons recognize that design education
influences industry and vice versa. Khew adds that there has been
a huge shift during the last decade in terms of the technology
and hardware available to students. Designers have gone from
understanding how code is used to actually doing their own coding.
" We are moving away from drafting by hand to using technology, "
says Khew. " This shift in education reflects a shift in the industry.
Nobody draws in the office by hand with a drafting table. "
She has noticed in the last two or three years that students are still
drawing, but the hand-mind connection is more sketching based
than drafting based. The new crop of designers is still making
the hand-mind connection, but that connection doesn't have
to be technical-it's more of an expression, more of a process,
according to Khew.
" Then, when we get to the drafting, it can be done by the
computer. The thinking and the processing have been done by
hand. And by hand, I actually mean by iPad. A lot of students use
iPad with a stylus. It looks almost like a hand sketch except that it's
digitized immediately, " she says.
" I don't see hand drawing ever going away, " Khew explains. " The
pen-brain connection is very important in design education because
that's how designers think. Sometimes we think and draw and
make at the same time. For our programs the hand-drawing aspect
is in the process-in the sketching and ideating-not so much in
the technical drafting aspect. "
In addition to creativity, skills, and passion, the next
generation of designers also possesses remarkable flexibility
and adaptability, according to Khew. " Because of the pandemic
and the hand they were dealt during their educational career,
they have learned to pick themselves up and take life on
regardless of hard knocks. " This resilience will serve them-
and their employers-well in the workplace.
Yu Nong Khew
(Image: Chieko Kato)
i+D - September/October 2021
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i+D - September/October 2021

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