Epilogue

Edgar González

“The field of design has evolved from a simple focus on product to include a more complex concentration on strategy”. (Bruce Nussbaum)

Creativity can be trained; it is a fact. This constitutes the main purpose of the Bachelor in Design: to prepare designers to take on the world’s complex, fast changing, and unpredictable challenges. In order to accomplish this goal, students have to be educated not only in knowledge and skills but also in developing a collaborative spirit and a critical mind-set. Our program aims to train the best designers who are ready for the challenges of the globalized, hyper connected, and hybrid world we live in.

Designers usually respond to questions. Nevertheless, sometimes the designer’s role comes prior to that. The designer plants those questions in order to push the limits of what is possible

even further. It is urgent that we ensure the emergence of such intelligent design, and this can be only accomplished through a practice of design that is characterised by fierce and rigorous critical thinking. Designers should not only reflect upon how designed objects best fulfil the desires of the users, but also on the implications of what is being designed and how it can effect society.

Design is something that starts in the designer’s head, hence the word ‘project’. It refers to the projection of an idea from the head of the designer in to the world. This is why the theoretical production of designers is as important as the physical counter part. This has, however, been relegated from the spotlight, throughout history.

The objective of of the Bachelor in Design’s Annual Journal is to focus the spotlight again on the critical and theoretical frameworks that sustain the designer’s thinking process. The magazine showcases the written production of our students, the intellectual debates and production of thoughts that do not have a physical representation in our annual exhibitions. Besides, it is the start of archive of the concerns and reflections of our theoretical classes.

The publication is created by a team of students and professors. These essays, written during the first and second year of the bachelor, show an example of our understanding of design; of how ‘written design’ can produce new values in today’s society. They demonstrate how design can function as a place holder for questions; how designers do not only produce objects or solutions but also participate in critical thinking, which will push our boundaries forward.

Enjoy our second issue, Breaking the Grid: a place to discover the curious, critical and constructive written words of our students!