This paper investigates the disruptive power of extended reality (XR) technologies, synergistically combined with artificial intelligence (AI), on creative art and design education in South Africa. Informed by an integrative literature review and insights derived from research conducted for the EU-funded Metaverse Academy Project with students and industry representatives, this study demonstrates how these technologies are altering established paradigms within artistic practice and design methodologies.

Graphic design has long been a powerful tool for feminist advocacy, shaping public discourse and challenging societal norms around gender and equality. This research explores how graphic design has amplified feminist narratives, influenced public perceptions, and contributed to social transformation. By examining feminist design movements, campaigns, and the work of influential designers, this study investigates how visual communication functions as a catalyst for activism. Using a qualitative approach, the research analyses advertisements, print media, and illustrations to assess how design elements have been employed to promote inclusivity and female empowerment.

Sustainability has become a defining imperative for brands and consumers in an era of intensifying environmental and social challenges. Organisations increasingly turn to visual storytelling as a strategic communication tool to foster environmental consciousness, drive behavioural change, and shape public perception. This paper investigates the role of visual storytelling in advancing sustainable advertising practices. It explores how such techniques can be integrated into design education to prepare emerging creatives for purpose-driven communication. Grounded in a dual focus on environmental and social responsibility, this study responds to two central questions: (1) How can visual storytelling techniques influence consumer engagement and action toward sustainability?

Using the second phase of a two-year-long project called the Drum Magazine Project as a case study, this paper responds to how we can address cultural pride and preservation of uniqueness in a globalised world. Drawing inspiration from the landmark South African magazine, the project embarked on a process of teaching South African fashion history through archives from this magazine. Building on the first phase’s focus on the 1950s and 1960s, the second phase included students working with theories of translocality (Hughes 2022) and the ‘Afro’ fashion look (Ford 2015) to study 1970s fashion in Johannesburg as an expression of translocal subjectivities.

Global society demands continuous modification and enhancements to traditional teaching and learning to prepare students for the complex 21st century world. Higher education (HE) instructors in South African institutions are faced with unique challenges as the student populace is often culturally, socially, and linguistically diverse and also comes from varying socioeconomic backgrounds. To ensure student success, HE instructors should employ innovative human-centred design (Human-Vogel and Du Plessis 2024) strategies to respond to diverse student needs, improve performance and knowledge retention, and to increase motivation levels.

As architectural education evolves, integrating sustainability demands more than technological solutions; it requires an experiential understanding of physical and spatial design qualities. However, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in architecture has often been shaped by Global North-centric technical approaches, promoting one-size-fits-all solutions. A more holistic understanding, incorporating the cultural and environmental realities of the Global South, remains underexplored. This research investigates how sensory perception, informed by Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and phenomenology, can enhance architectural ESD by fostering contextually grounded design approaches.

Design for social good refers to the application of design knowledge and skills to solve problems to enable a better future. From a fashion perspective, design for social good could refer to the pursuit of environmental sustainability and to uplift communities. Design education, at undergraduate-level aims to encourage students to apply design knowledge to improve the world and potentially introduce research methodology. However, literature concerning pedagogical strategies for design for social good in a South African fashion design higher education context is lacking. To fill this gap, a design for social good teaching and learning project was presented to third year Fashion Diploma students at a South African fashion higher education institution.

Co-design, under the broader scope of human-centred design, refers to an approach, attitude, alternative way of thinking, and engagement with design practice. In an educational context, although limited, scholarship exists around co-design pedagogy, which coincides with the need for future-focused design education, including fashion. However, a research gap exists in terms of student attitudes towards co-design practice. Also, a further gap exists regarding fashion education, in that conventional pedagogies that foster a culture of designer-centeredness and self-expressivity remain at the forefront, with educators reluctant to embrace a co-design pedagogy. Hence, the criticality of fashion education is questionable in terms of its future-focus.

Decolonisation in museums is an urgent and evolving discourse that challenges dominant historical narratives, interrogates Western authority over cultural artefacts, and seeks to restore voice and visibility to marginalised communities. In Britain, museums continue to hold vast collections acquired through imperial extraction. Their displays often obscure these colonial origins, reframing artefacts as universal heritage under a Eurocentric gaze. As Abungu (2019) notes, decolonisation requires structural change, rethinking display, interpretation, and who is authorised to tell these stories. Ahamed-Barke (2024) sharpens this provocation by claiming that “to decolonise is to decontextualise”.

This paper analyses the co-curatorial role in iNgqikithi yokuPhica/Weaving Meanings: Telephone Wire Art from South Africa, an exhibition launched at the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) in Santa Fe in November 2024. It examines how collaborative, dialogical, and multidisciplinary approaches foster engagement in exhibition design, focusing on South African telephone wire art from KwaMashu and Siyanda. The exhibition exemplifies New Museology by embracing collaborative curation and shifting authority to community participation. Its narrative is deeply rooted in Siyanda’s artistic legacy, tracing the evolution of telephone wire art from traditional forms to contemporary creations such as izimbenge (wire baskets).

This paper explores how the principles of Cosmopolitan Localism, specifically the Small, Local, Open, and Connected (SLOC) framework, can be operationalised within sustainability-focused fashion design education. Drawing on a practice-based, qualitative research study conducted within an undergraduate fashion design programme at a South African university, the paper analyses a pedagogical intervention aligned with the global Fashion Revolution movement. The intervention included a three-week experiential learning module, the Fashion Revolution Designathon, and a campus-wide clothing swap event to embed ethical awareness, material circularity, and critical design thinking into the student learning experience.

The visibility of the watermelon as a representation of the Palestinian cause has exponentially increased in recent years, particularly on social media. Given the popularity of the watermelon, its use in poster design warrants an in-depth investigation. This paper presents the results of an analysis of Palestine posters that have incorporated the watermelon from 2023 to 2025. The study provides insight into the way the watermelon is used in contemporary Palestine posters and adds to the literature on Palestine posters specifically and liberation graphics more broadly. A sample of 408 posters was drawn from the web-based Palestine Poster Project Archives (PPPA) and subjected to content and semiotic analyses.

Over the years, the standard Indian school curriculum has increasingly marginalised arts, crafts, and design education. This has led to the neglect of interdisciplinary approaches and creative problem-solving skills, which are essential not only in professional fields but also in everyday life. The influence of Western science and technology on design education, along with the shift from local to global perspectives, has also impacted the preservation of indigenous handcrafts, cultural diversity, traditional knowledge systems, identities, and natural resources in craft-rich communities.

While global platforms provide wider recognition for ‘Afrikan’ design, they present challenges such as cultural appropriation and the erosion of indigenous knowledge (Oguibe, 2002). Through an Afrikan-centred and critical design approach, there is the potential to challenge the dominant narrative and foster cultural resilience by grounding creative practices in Rasa principles. Rasa theory is an aesthetic framework derived from classical Indian philosophy (Pandit 2024). This paper addresses the challenge of preserving ‘Afrikan’ cultural identity and fostering societal engagement through design.

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and digital technologies is prompting significant shifts in fashion design education, aligning with global transformations under the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). This paper examines how generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Midjourney and DALL·E are influencing early fashion design ideation and concept formation, especially at the sketch and exploration stages (Särmäkari & Vänskä 2021; Zhou et al. 2023). These tools are reshaping creative workflows by supporting faster visual exploration, expanding conceptual possibilities, and encouraging sustainable practices.

It is inevitable that with the rapid advancement of digital technologies, design education is being influenced greatly, particularly through the expansion of online learning and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI). Within a relatively short timeframe (which included the COVID-19 pandemic) there has been an accelerated transition to digital learning environments, exposing both opportunities and challenges in online graphic design education. While we are constantly shown that online tools offer potential for enhancing collaboration, participation, and feedback, it is important to remember that their effectiveness is dependent on accessibility, digital literacy, and educator preparedness.

The inaccessibility of global cultural heritage limits its potential to shape identities and inform design, a challenge compounded by historical power imbalances in knowledge production. This paper proposes a design education framework integrating Indigenous knowledge systems, critical theory, and human-centred design. It addresses digital cultural heritage preservation in a postcolonial context using a South African case study. Drawing on a Title Sequence Design Module at a South African university in a Digital Design department, we developed a project collaboration with a South African art museum that explores motion-based digital narratives to democratise access to heritage, preserve culture and traditions, disrupt colonial legacies, and cultivate ethical designers.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in design education presents both opportunities and challenges for developing future-ready graduates. This study investigates how final-year interior design students engaged with generative AI tools during a brief that required them to improve a previous submission by working on rendering quality, refining project presentation layouts, with the option of incorporating AI-assisted tools. Students explored platforms such as Midjourney, Photoshop, and Revit, concluding with a written reflection on their process. (Yanhua 2024) posits that “AI can transform interior design, addressing existing gaps and fostering a deeper understanding of the symbiotic relationship between advanced technologies and creative processes”.

Interior design in South Africa has largely been shaped by hegemonic trends from the Global North, resulting in a practice that often prioritises aesthetics and function over cultural relevance. This approach neglects local spatial concerns and fails to incorporate cultural nuances, limiting the discipline’s potential to address societal needs and contribute to cultural preservation within the African context. While "African" design has gained visibility, it remains largely superficial defined by decorative cultural symbols rather than by meaningful cultural practices or spatial traditions. Frequently curated by non-African designers and driven by global visual cultures, these representations reinforce reductive and biased interpretations of African design.

In this paper I discuss opportunities for creative collaboration in sustainability science, more specifically Social-Ecological Systems (SES) – in which social and ecological concerns are treated as having the same weight. These transdisciplinary fields involve ‘non-scientists’ in solution-oriented approaches to sustainability challenges. The purpose of this paper is to highlight for design educators the potential of building stronger networks and partnerships in sustainability science contexts. The deep and attentive focus on nature, systems and communities in sustainability science offers a well of inspiration and purpose for creative practitioners, who in turn offer novel pathways for scientists and communities to imagine and share their work and knowledges.