NOVELTY

So now that the novelty of going to school in a foreign country has worn off, I feel like maybe I can be a bit more objective about my education here, vs back home.

Have I been too hard on KCAI?
In some ways yes. But in others, I don't think so. While our school is far from a bad place to learn about design, it has its faults. While I think that my experience abroad has in many ways validated the standard of education that I feel like I'm receiving at KCAI, it's raised some important questions - many of which I've posted here as a means of comparison -- as a way for me to evaluate how each program succeeds / fails. At the same time, I'm a student and probably don't know whats best for me. I can only give feedback based on the way that I learn & create, and how each program either fosters or rejects that.

I've been through a few more projects and crits. I believe that for the most part, the University of Brighton relies on its name and student talent to keep it as good as it is. The quality of student work is really quite high, and I think all of us feel challenged by each other and by the tutors - as their standards are high. But aside from that, there is absolutely no structure. Classes and lectures can be randomly cancelled, briefs are sometimes only partly explained, and meeting time with the tutors is few and far between. An aspect of the KCAI community that I miss is the one on one time with the professors. I don't think I realized just how much time the teachers spent with us until I came here and experienced the English status quo. Even if a teacher isn't giving feedback, it is still helpful to have them handy to talk through a project, to discuss ideas, and to talk more broadly about design.

The crits are different as well. Student discussion is not nearly as high as it was at KCAI. I miss the amount of dialogue we had at home, whether it was forced or not. While the quality of the work is higher, most students capacity to articulate themselves is not as high as at KCAI, and really isn't cultivated as much. While the crits are most definitely more relaxed, they can become tangential and at times completely unhelpful. I think because I'm American, the tutors feel like they have to be nicer to me? Or perhaps don't know me as well and because of that can't give good feedback. In any case, I feel like my critiques go by way too fast, and most times are just pats on the back, or don't make sense.

One of the biggest things I miss are academic courses. I miss writing papers! (*gasp*). Here I have a studio course and an extension study (which is also design related). So, I really don't have any academic endeavours. At first, it was a nice break. But as the semester has moved forward, I've realized how nice it is to choose academic classes that sync nicely with studio practice.

Perhaps the thing that I miss most is the studio culture at KCAI. It simply doesn't exist here. While I dont think one should live in studio, it is nice to be able to go to a space where there are other people from your course who you can discuss briefs with. I think I've realized how much I learn from my peers.

I do enjoy the projects in comparison, though. I feel like they're a lot more fun, and allow for the student to be a lot more creative. In some ways I felt like the briefs at KCAI were at times over designed, cramming way too many objectives in, and too structured. They were also designed in a way that the student doesn't have a grasp of what the end product will be, only the next task at hand -- so at times it felt a bit myopic. In comparison though, there aren't any stated learning objectives here -- so demonstrating and articulating what we've learned is only apparent through the work, which is probably a good and bad thing. It goes back to the "sink or float" dogma of the real world, it either works or it doesn't, and because interim crits are much fewer here, a student's self editing skills have to be much sharper. So while this curriculum hasn't told me upfront what its taught me, I have learned a lot.

So maybe I should apologize? I feel like coming to Brighton was something I needed. At last years' end, I was fed up with KCAI and completely ready to leave the country. I needed another program to put KCAI in perspective and either reinforce my experience there or negate it. I've found that Brighton has done both, in different ways. While being here has been a nice break, and has allowed me to experience another culture, I think that when the time's up, I'll be ready to return home.

I will miss the facilities though. They have a bookbinding workshop and letterpress workshop that you guys would DROOL over. Its amazing. They also have two tutors specifically for each workshop that help with any technical questions. And materials like book cloth, binding thread, matt board, all for sale in the workshop. But I guess it is a University though. Yay government funding.

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The current brief is called "Distinctively Odd". Our task is to design book covers for three different books, all of which are on Penguin Books' "Oddest Book Title" list. Titles include: 'How to Avoid Huge Ships', 'The Joys of Owning a Chicken', and 'Bombproofing Your Horse'. The challenge is to make each jacket look distinct, while considering the overall theme of the three jackets. In some ways its a branding project, in others its about differentiation.

I'll post more as the project develops.