The Byproducts of a Graphic Design Education: An Ethnographic Case Study

Abstract

This paper shares empirical insights gathered on the byproducts of a graphic design education. The term byproducts refer to the soft skills in communication, collaboration, and reflection developed by students studying graphic design. The data was gathered using ethnographic methods during field research for a doctoral project on transnational design education. The research explores the value of a British design education in Sri Lanka, a country with a different social, economic, and cultural context using the example of a transnational franchise partnership between a university in England and a private design institute in Sri Lanka. Upon reflection, design graduates at the Sri Lankan design institute deemed their soft skills as vital in equipping them with the resilience to navigate their local industry where academic qualifications in the field of design are not particularly valued. Accounts of professional experiences of graduates in England compared to examples of contextually specific challenges faced by graphic design students and graduates in Sri Lanka illustrate how their soft skills helped develop a sense of professional agency. The aim is to provoke considerations for contextually appropriate curricular development for transnational graphic design programs by borrowing from the essence a liberal education.