A short transcript from a recollection by Dan Boyarski on the teaching experience in Basel.
Dan Boyarski studied in Basel for two years, in the Advanced Program for Graphic Design, from 1977 to 1979. He was 30 years old, and had already 5 years of teaching experience. This his how he describes the outcome :
I thought for 10 years in Louisville, followed by 35 years of teaching at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburg.
Teaching both undergraduate and graduate students, and working with my faculty colleagues, and shaping design programs that responded to changes, in the field, in society, and in the world.
Technical changes, societal changes, environmental changes.With my students, we explored the shift from communicating on paper to communicating on a screen.
Similarities and differences we explored between static information and dynamic information.
Between the written word, spoken word and moving word on a screen.
We designed posters about sustainability, websites about health care, and apps with maps for safe biking in the city.
I realize that the most valuable lesson from studying with Hofmann and the other teachers was developing an attitude about design.
Seeing, exploring with the mind, the eye, the hand.
Systematic thinking, through sketching, balanced by intuitive bursts of play.
And then the careful crafting of final solutions.
Each teacher thought in their own way, but were united in that basic approach to visual and conceptual exploration.
Source, on Vimeo: