The MakersLab is a new creative space within a leading South African design education institution. The space encourages creative intersections to bridge the 4IR knowledge gap with sustainable development goals, 4IR and explorative making. Over the past year, the development and integration of the MakersLab have been integral in establishing educator/student relationships. The development of the MakersLab is seen as an ‘incubator’ for change whilst navigating current socio-economic and gender development gaps. Here, the space aims to foster user needs, develop new ways of thinking, and engage with the community. The fast development of technology means that educators learn from students as much as students learn from educators.

Design thinking (DT) has recently re-emerged as an essential mindset and skillshift for modern organisations seeking to improve innovation performance in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). However, despite recent popularity and success especially in the tech industry, DT has lacked critical academic engagement and scholarly enquiry especially in Africa. Hence, this paper sets out to provide empirical evidence on how DT can help create opportunities and innovation in an AI/Algorithm-driven 4IR era, and why the design curriculum in higher education should be updated to include DT competencies.

Emerging technology is developing at an exponential rate and has a direct impact on design education. This boom in innovation has been dubbed the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). This economic initiative was framed at the 2015 World Economic Forum by Klaus Schwab and has been echoed since 2016 by South African politicians as a government and education policy transformation catalyst to South Africa’s struggling economy. Academic scholars are critical about these objectives against the face of high unemployment, poor education and developing foundational skills in South Africa. Educators are confronted with very little support to address this technological development, often leaving design educators with scepticism.

In this paper, we do three things. First we discuss the concept of the 3Rs in the anglophone world in the 20th century. Second, we briefly view 3Rs in the context of environmental concerns. Third, we elucidate the three Rs in design education and practice, a concept which we have originated without reference to preliminary models other than Reading, Writing and ‘Rithmetic and Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle. We strive to remain a theoretical as we promote the consideration and inclusion of the full range of technologies in our teaching from the simplest to the more complex, plus the ancient to the most recent of materials, tools and processes for designers. Within each range we look to development of the broadest possible material and skills Repertoire for each designer.

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.

A program of non-prescriptive design in a culture of innovation

In our understanding the Innovation is a space defined by the conceptual innovation and her implementation tools: technical innovation and formal expression. They are together the coordinates of this SPACE of INTEGRAL INNOVATION.

In this perception the dynamic axle, which is major in developing the space, the “z” coordinate is the conceptual innovation. This ability of creating genuine ideas is the most important asset of humanity and the reason of our overwhelming adaptability to change. From this point of view, educating the integral innovation is of high relevance.

Conventional design education does not prepare a designer fully for the 21st Century context of globalizing societies, dynamic marketplaces, and complex political structures. A young designer now needs an awareness and understanding of a context’s inner relationships to be able to contribute design strategies that are appropriate for the more complex situations we face. This insight must also be supported by skills of observation, research, analysis, mapping, and knowledge management in order for a designer to contribute significantly to multi-disciplinary teams that are increasingly becoming necessary to address the “wicked” (indeterminate) problems needing a leadership through design for policy institutions, business enterprises, and social organizations.

Full Title: Design opportunity mapping for the small scale sector - bringing real life scenario into classroom education

Although the semi organized sector consisting of a large number of small scale industries and craft clusters in India together comprise a huge section in terms of both human resource and economy, it has been largely neglected. They face typical issues and problems not traditionally dealt with by industrial designers.

This paper is based on research conducted for a PhD (completed in 2006) that aimed to develop a methodology for the systematic and strategic fostering of creativity in graphic design education at university or college level.

Tool 1: The Big Six technique
Tool 2: The Random technique
Tool 3: The Mind-map technique
Tool 4: The Visual Thinking technique
Tool 5: The Trigger technique
Tool 6: The Metaphor technique
Tool 7: The Five Senses technique
Tool 8: The Cross-connect technique

The methodology incorporated three main strategies for enhancing creativity in an educational context, namely the teaching of

Whilst the world is indeed in flux, the purpose of design – to address human needs – remains constant. The concept ‘Human needs’ is multifaceted, and needs clarification, This paper is concerned with the relationship between ‘human needs’ and design education.

Firstly, to be a good designer is to be an aware designer. Awareness improves the end product and feeds the process of concept generation. But awareness also engenders positive outcomes beyond the scope of objects. Design informed by awareness enriches the user, as well as the designer and maker.

A major challenge for industry in Africa is to innovate: initiate, or adapt fast enough to changes in the economic and commercial business environment. Doing this in a sustainable way means catering to human needs while maintaining the environmental and natural resources and local communities as a long term pre-condition for human societies.

The relevance of successful and flexible innovative capabilities among industry, knowledge institutes, non-governmental organisations and governments is directly related to this challenge. Key topics are product innovation, process innovation and organizational innovation.