This paper deals with the gap in undergraduate graphic design student prepress knowledge, and how addressing the shortfalls can lead to reduced waste through graduating designers that practice more informed reproduction. This paper follows the research for my master’s thesis (Lottering 2017) which emerged as a result of being required to teach prepress theory and finding that the amount of theory needed to be covered in the classroom was far too much and far too complex for students to fully understand given the available time allotted to teaching and learning on the topic. On an exchange trip to Sweden in 2014, my students were given the opportunity to print milk carton packs on an actual, industry standard flexographic press. The prepress lecturer at the Swedish vocational college deliberately allowed obvious reproduction errors to go to print on the press so that the students would have the opportunity to learn from these visible errors. After this, I realised that teaching reproduction to graphic design students would be a potential topic for inclusion in my master’s thesis.

The study aimed to pinpoint optimal prepress themes suitable for graphic design teaching and learning with a view towards sustainability and environmental responsibility in design. Goals included identifying industry accepted reproduction methods for sustainable design-for-print; comparing syllabus content of South African and European institutions; assessing the transfer of syllabus content to the professional environment and compiling a list of must-have reproduction themes for a graphic design syllabus at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, now Nelson Mandela University (NMU). The terms ‘prepress’ or ‘reproduction’, hereafter referred to as ‘repro’ encompass a wide range of design activities, and this poses difficulties for graphic design educators. Educators must consider the environmental impact of sending graduates into the industry without adequate repro knowledge. Responding to this consideration, my master’s dissertation provides recommended repro topics for local higher education graphic design teaching and learning, with special consideration for environmentally responsible graphic design. The list, compiled with input from local industry experts, specifies how each topic should be integrated into a second-year syllabus. The study also benchmarked three higher education institutions, two South African and one European, and examined how each topic is addressed in each institutions’ syllabi against industry-required competencies. Findings indicate a need for holistic repro education that benefits South African institutions, students, the local industry, and the future of our environment (Lottering 2017).

An action research method was used to achieve the study's aims and objectives. The way participants were chosen and the cooperative approach taken throughout the research process was constructed to improve repro instruction, meeting the needs of the local industry. A combination of research strategies was employed, integrating quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and data from interviews and questionnaires were analysed and reported. The continuous action research cycle also allows for ongoing improvements so that the recommended repro themes will continue to advance and challenge current repro syllabi content, align with local industry needs, equip graduates to reduce wasted resources through repro best practices, promote an earth stewardship mindset in students and the local industry, and assist those engaged in graphic design teaching and learning (Lottering 2017).