Preparing design students for the market: an initial investigation on the required knowledge and skills for graphic designers in Brazil

Abstract

How design professionals are trained-knowledge and skills acquiredaffects directly the contribution provided for companies. In this paper, we report an initial investigation in how academics (students and teachers) and market (companies) value different skills in graphic design professionals. Through a survey with students, teachers and companies in Brazil, we unveil the relevance of 25 skills for both students, teachers and companies. Then, we compared those groups to find differences in how the skills were rated. Our contribution aims both design educators and practitioners: for the former, the skills highly valued by companies should be addressed through design education practices in order to improve employability chances for students; for the latter, professionals looking to improve their skills and position in the market can use our findings as a possible guide for self-development as a design professional.

Requests from Companies and Requirements for Design Education in Brazil: where do they meet?

“…For example, references to knowledge in 'Business', 'Problem solving' and 'User Experience' were present in less than five percent of the advertisements in our data set. The results of our study are similar to the outcome of the survey by Dziobczenski and Galeotti (2017) in which Brazilian companies reported to value the tactical and operational skills of designers (i.e. software and layout skills), while more strategic design skills such as business and leadership were found less valued.…”

“…The authors also found that design graduates were seen to hold adequate skills in areas such as design and visual methodology, software and ergonomics. Similarly, in assessing how Brazilian academics (students and teachers) and companies value different design skills, Dziobczenski and Galeotti (2017) found that designers are highly valued for their tactical and operational skills (i.e. software and layout skills), while more strategic design skills, such as business and leadership skills, were less valued by companies.…”

Identifying competencies for future graphic design graduates in Malaysia: A Delphi study

“…Incompetent performance of graduates in the workforce is believed to be the main cause of this conflict (Bridges, 2013;Cheung, 2011). Previous studies exemplified that both parties have different expectations when it comes to what types of knowledge, skills, and abilities should be possessed by GD graduates to perform effectively in the industry (e.g., Cheung, 2016;Dziobczenski & Galeotti, 2017;Wang, 2006). Nevertheless, it is not wise to isolate the industry's expectations from design education or vice versa (Butler, 1995).…”

“…Although a number of studies had been conducted to identify the knowledge, skills, traits, and abilities required by GD graduates in different geographical regions (e.g., Bridges, 2013;Cheung, 2016;Dharavath, 2003;Dziobczenski & Galeotti, 2017;Hsieh, Guan & Wu, 2010;Wang, 2006;Wilson, 2014), ethics and values are being paid relatively less explicit attention in these studies. However, design scholars (e.g., Berman, 2009;Heller & Vienne, 2003;McCollam, 2014;Perkins, 2011) and design associations (e.g., AIGA, 2010;wREGA, 2012;International Council of Design (ico-D), 2011;GDC, 2012) have highlighted their significance to professional practice and development in the GD field.…”

Portfolio Literacy and the Transition to Work for Graphic Design Graduates

“…Cranmer 2006; Doloswala et al . 2013; Dziobczenski & Galeotti 2017; Tymon 2013). A branch of this research examines job advertisements to establish what skills, capacities and attributes employers expect, including in architecture (Salleh et al .…”