Game design education is often framed around theoretical frameworks or technical skill development, frequently separating academic knowledge from industry practice. This paper challenges that separation by exploring the cyclical knowledge exchange that occurs when a practitioner actively engages in both teaching and game development. Through a co-authored autoethnographic reflection, the paper examines how the ongoing development of an independent digital game has shaped one educator’s teaching approach, while classroom experiences have simultaneously refined his professional design practice.

In exploring the significance of metropolitan open space systems in building meaningful city brands, the researcher utilised Visual Narrative Inquiry to explore the opinions, perceptions and lived experiences of Durban residents and its’ metropolitan open space system. As a design-based practitioner, the researcher grappled with finding suitable ‘meaning-making’ methodologies that would answer to both the academic rigour required of a master’s dissertation as well as their own needs to visually make sense of the ideas, theories, models, and metrices.