Design Edu Today

MiHyun Kim, Assistant Professor of Communication Design at Texas State University, joins Gary Rozanc to share her own questions about teaching interactive design. The questions MiHyun Kim suggested lead to an in-depth conversation about non-traditional ways of introducing coding concepts such as computer games to make learning languages like HTML, CSS, and much easier. MiHyun Kim also shares how she teaches app, user experience, and responsive web design across three courses. Finally, the conversation wraps up with a discussion about dynamic data visualization and if it’s appropriate for undergraduate students.

Yana Sakellion, Associate Professor at the American University in Washington D.C., joins Gary Rozanc to discuss the Student Web Awards and why in an open source industry with a lot of self taught professionals, the there is such a lack of sharing of course material and student work amongst interactive and web design educators. Yana also shares her perspective on the elusive balance of visual design and front-end development training in design programs. Finally, Yana also discusses a variety of ideas including the value of using WordPress templates, where to introduce portfolio courses, and approaches to web design in the classroom.

I’m taking a different approach in the form of a round table discussion between an industry professional and interactive design educators. The reason for the departure in this episode stems from the opportunity of having two interactive design educators presenting at the annual SECAC, formerly the Southeastern College Art Conference, in the same room with an actual practicing designer at a real life agency in Columbus, Ohio. Coincidentally, at the same time, the AIGA Design Educators Community just released a draft version of their Designer of 2025 and I think it’s great to get everybody in the room at the same time and talk about the report If you’ve been listening to the podcast, it’s basically been about what I think we should be teaching and me asking professionals or educators to get their feedback. I think this format gives me a great chance to get somebody else talking about what they think should be taught and then getting interactive design educators and professionals together to say, “Yeah, these are the things we really need to target immediately!”, or “These things aren’t really relevant to us on a day to day basis.”, and follow up from the education perspective, on how do we incorporate that?

In part two of episode 51 RJ Thompson, Assistant Professor specializing in Graphic & Interactive Design at Youngstown State University, joins Gary Rozanc to discuss the four interactive courses in YSU’s BFA design program. RJ goes into specifics on how each course builds off each other and even empowers students by giving them entrepreneurial skills. RJ also shares how he leverages grants and grant writing to create real world scenarios for student projects.

In part one of episode 51 RJ Thompson, Assistant Professor specializing in Graphic & Interactive Design at Youngstown State University, joins Gary Rozanc to discuss the four interactive courses in YSU’s BFA design program. RJ goes into specifics on how each course builds off each other and even empowers students by giving them entrepreneurial skills. RJ also shares how he leverages grants and grant writing to create real world scenarios for student projects.

Tim Hykes, User Experience Designer at Wells Fargo Advisor, joins Gary Rozanc to discuss the differences between User Experience Design, Interactive Design, and Print Design. The conversation goes into specific details on the common thread between the three distinct professions and how print design educators can bring User Experience Design into the classroom. Tim also shares his insights on how the design industry has radically changed in the past twenty years and that change’s effect on skills like craft and file management.

Gary Rozanc reflects on what he has learned from hosting the Design Edu Today podcast on its two-year anniversary by revealing his top five takeaways including the right amount of HTML and CSS for designers, the new tools for interactive designers, what designers are actually making today, design being a team sport again, and a contemporary process that includes design systems.

In part two of episode 48 Mike Joosse, Partner and Community Director at DESIGNATION, joins Gary Rozanc to discuss the ins and outs of UX and UI bootcamps vs. traditional 4 year graphic design programs, and the similar struggles that both face when training emerging designers. The discussion goes in depth on the ideal students for bootcamps, working with real clients on real projects, and built in assessments to keep the curriculum cutting edge.

In part one of episode 48 Mike Joosse, Partner and Community Director at DESIGNATION, joins Gary Rozanc to discuss the ins and outs of UX and UI bootcamps vs. traditional 4 year graphic design programs, and the similar struggles that both face when training emerging designers. The discussion goes in depth on the ideal students for bootcamps, working with real clients on real projects, and built in assessments to keep the curriculum cutting edge.

Lauren Meranda Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Judson University joins Gary Rozanc to discuss the different approaches to teaching web and interactive design within a traditional graphic design program. We go into specifics on the difficulties of finding the right balance between teaching visual design, front-end development, and user experience within a limited number of credits and finish up the conversation discussing just how many classes would be ideal to teach the three distinct, but interrelated disciplines.