salt – the next step in the evolution of design education

Did you check the news recently? If you have, you may realize that we’ve become observers to globally networked crises in need of creative and innovative strategies. And you might agree that the sturdy “best-practice” increasingly lacks traction, and a transition towards more networked approaches becomes inevitable. In fact, the call for inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to replace siloed disciplines is getting louder—and rightly so. When faced with contemporary complexity and uncertainty, practices harnessing diversity show greater adaptability and resilience. But, sadly, there is no one-fits-all blueprint for that. Both development and implementation of strategies for co-creation and participation require decisive designing.

Design—inherently situated at the intersection of inquiry, procedural knowledge generation, and application—is capable of systematic and inclusive change-induction when transforming conditions and constraints into novel and variable spaces of opportunity, choice, and negotiation. But in order to reach that potential, designers, be they institutionally educated or not, need a conceptual understanding of the practical and theoretical underpinnings of design.

Despite design educations best efforts to provide opportunities for such learnings on all levels, many enthusiasts, prospects, young designers, and practitioners don’t feel confident when confronted with uncertainty and complexity. They are either assigned to predefined disciplines and practices, provided with limited resources and support, or left to fend on their own without any guidance. A sense of unease, low self-efficacy, and limited agency is therefore characteristic to especially lower stages of expertise.

As a result, not all are living up to their full potential and being able to control a design process is not a given. In my opinion, that means we are currently out of sync with our audience and desperately need to recalibrate – not only from a practical perspective, but from a theoretical one, too. We need to find new theories of design, new ways of teaching, and new dimensions for the design practice that resonate with 21st century challenges. In essence, we need to abandon the “best-practice” and create resources that can guide the development of a “new-practice.” This is such an attempt:

To enable the development of a personal methodology based on sound interdisciplinary practice I am presenting you with salt – strategies, actions, lessons, and thoughts of reflection for designing.

Salt is a meta-study of years of research into design and our design behavior, manifesting as three offerings – a publication, a kit, and a tutorial:

The publication lets students experience, contemplate, and practice basics of design, introduces conceptual understanding of process design, and therefore shapes strategic thinking.

The kit facilitates process design by providing frameworks, strategies, and activities rooted in strategy development through backcasting, so students have a reference to continuously relate, compare, and contrast a process to during execution.

And the tutorial is a way of investigating the tools and impact of strategy execution, solidifying knowledge from the publication and kit, as well as offering customizability through learning packages that can be tailored to specific needs or demands tied to real-world challenges of individuals or collectives.

All together they enhance design education by offering multiple channels and approaches to learning, by adding salt.

About the author:

Lukas G. Böckelmann is a 3rd generation Strategic Designer. He and his family of Design Professionals & Educators have been shaping the design term since the 1950s. His practice is deeply purpose-driven, focussing on local intervention based on global strategy. He is dedicated to preserving habitat earth and future-proofing humanity through transdisciplinarity and coordinated action, and to that end he focuses on five goals:

1. To facilitate innovative approaches,
2. to integrate performance with interspecies inclusion,
3. to cultivate hybrid creativity,
4. to advance co-creation,
5. and to build lasting partnerships and true connections.

For further information on projects, practice, and product or to inquire about professional and voluntary engagements, you can contact him through the attached project link.