Full Title: A reflexive account of developing community health care material through the use of pre-testing methods and visual persuasion techniques

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a congenital syndrome caused by excessive consumption of alcohol by a mother during pregnancy. It is characterized by retardation of mental development and physical growth, particularly of the skull and face of the infant. FAS is a growing problem in South Africa, with it being rife in the townships and rural areas. The lack of public information and intervention is one of the reasons why the syndrome persists in these communities and this was also the motivation for this study.

Contemporary design practice (and theory) is growing up. There is evidence to support the emergence of a new breed of designer who is able to reflect on her or his role in society, and to be critical of what they make and what the resultant consequences of that may be.

Design is often used as a vehicle to criticise and comment on issues, highlight problems and shortcomings in society, and present views and perspectives. This suggests that design is at a distance and impartial, but the truth is otherwise. Design is ideological and an expression of the values mediated by the designer and commissioned by others. This is the status quo: affirmative design. When design steps away from this position and critiques itself, critical design is the result.

The paper reports on a number of human-­‐centred design projects completed as part of the  undergraduate  graphic design programme at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT). The value of projects rooted  in participatory design practice and social responsibility is discussed in the context of the  multidisciplinary nature of graphic design and the opportunity provided by the Higher Education  Qualification Framework (HEQF) to re-­‐ design existing programmes at Higher Education Institutions  (HEIs) in South Africa.

The world exists and is driven by need and yet the notion of education remains static. The new dispensation of Universities of Technology (UoT) in 2004 created a sense of anxiety and exhilaration simultaneously. UoT as a centre of educational delivery has implications for the new role which Higher Education will play. This also impacts on Departments of Visual arts and design within such institutions. The South African context of education is layered with social issues which impact on a broad spectrum of its development.

The paper considers culture as a collection of meanings which are produced and consumed by a given social group. Thus, the generation of meaning would be analogous to the generation of culture. In the investigation of architectural (built) artefacts it is unusual to identify a representative sample; instead research focus is on the in-­depth precedent study. The purpose of this paper is to identify selection criteria for such a broad corpus of interior design artefacts (which may be studied from a semiotic perspective) as grounded theory requires a large and broad data sample. This is a novel application.

Qualitative research techniques lend themselves to research activities in the design disciplines  due to their  strategies to extract data that contain intangibles such as emotions, aesthetics, perceptions,  embedded  cultural practices, artistic and creative activities. The engagement with subjects that hold this  data is guided by ethical codes of conduct and is governed by ethics committees that provide  approval for such research engagement within a university environment.

Nevertheless (and inevitably) design research in the creative disciplines has moved into ethnography where the  Eurocentric process of collecting data and the associated ethical guidelines and approval process  may no longer be relevant, fair and appropriate.

The design options in the contemporary computerised era, lead to the digitised manipulation of proposed reality. Green screen is a technique used within film/television and permits compositing and manipulation of the proposed reality. This allows the filmmaker and the virtual designers to substitute the green screen area with whatever designed ‘environment’ the filmmaker desires.

A.W. Sprin’s definition of landscape as a process of the “mutual shaping of people and places” implies that the inhabitants of any space are implicated in, but also susceptible to, the shaping of their surroundings. This paper examines such interactions by theorising landscape as embodied, individuated experience of place in relation to representations of landscape. The Vaal Metropolitan area is reflected on in terms of the researcher’s experience of place, where experience of place refers to the consideration of direct (multi-­‐sensory) perception, memories and prior knowledge as well as imaginings of place. This understanding of experience of place is based on a combination of theories of place from the writings of Edward Casey, J.B.

The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  discuss  the  benefits  of  embracing  constructivism  as  a conceptual  basis  for  the practice of teaching and learning in interior design degree programmes;  namely Bachelor of Technology,  and BA Honours offered at many of the institutions in South Africa.
 
Deliberation  is  given  to  using  a  constructivist  approach  to  both  teaching  and  learning, and  as  a  research paradigm to better align the research and practical components of these traditionally vocationally-­orientated, project-based design programmes.   
 

Considerable  criticism  has  been  levelled  at  problematic  visual  portrayals  of  women  in  consumer  and  popular media.  Current  Western  media  landscapes  feature  images  of  women  that  engender  problematic  ‘narrow’ identity constructs – marginalising agency and intellect, promoting physical idealisation, sexual objectification, and commodification  – and, as such,  reproduce  patriarchal  discourse.  Despite  the rise of feminism  and the resultant  increased  awareness   of  and  advances  in  the  area  of  gender  equality,  stereotyped   images  of sexualised,  objectified  and  idealised  women  seem  to  persist  globally  and  in  South  Africa.  Images  exert discursive power and have the ability to shape people’s identities, beliefs, and behaviour.

Internationally, design incubators have emerged as a result of clustering. These design incubators serve as artist studios, or as design centers providing opportunities for young emerging entrepreneurs to acquire studio workspaces located within a cluster of similar economic activities.

In South Africa,  design incubators, particularly fashion design incubators, have emerged in the Johannesburg Fashion District, situated within the central business district of Johannesburg. Research conducted in 2006 established that there were a number of emerging fashion designers located within the Johannesburg Fashion District design incubators. However, interviews conducted in 2012 revealed that the number of fashion designers positioned within these design incubators had declined.

This paper investigates the demise of design and related programmes within the public Further Education and Training (FET) system of South Africa.

Policy documents regulating the provision of these programmes were interrogated and the various changes which have occurred in the FET system, especially in terms of restructuring, will be highlighted. These changes have had adverse implications on design education, evidenced in the introduction of the National Curriculum Vocational (NCV) programmes and the unclear status of the ‘old’ Nated programmes. The paper concludes by advocating for non-­‐formal education as a possible antidote for the poor availability of design and related programmes within the 50 public FET colleges.

The South African government has invested in skills development ever since 1995 in an effort to facilitate more opportunities for small business and micro business (SMME) owners. Skills development programs offered in South Africa include the development of technical skills like apparel construction. At least 129 active apparel SMMEs were operating in the Pretoria region of Gauteng province during between 2001 and 2013. Most of these SMMEs provide custom‐made apparel for their individual customers and the owner‐designers of these businesses are involved in the design process of the custom‐made apparel, but also play an imperative role in the business functions that directly relate to the design process.