#design-education

#design-education

Watching how Wilson Smith and Tate Kuebris poured into the next generation of designers was nothing short of inspiring. Having developed the first accredited sneaker design degree in the U.S., SCAD continues to set the bar for how deeply creative education can connect to industry practice. SNKR Culture Week serves as an open door for students to walk directly into the world they dream of joining.

New American Voices is AD's annual list spotlighting the most important emerging names in interior design. For our AD PRO readers, we're pulling back the curtain to see how these talents (comprising nine designers and seven firms) got to where they are today. Their paths vary widely-some trained in formal design programs, others took less traditional routes-but together they offer a candid look at the realities of building a practice.

My day job is a design educator, so for me, this time of year is filled with writing syllabi, planning new classes, and thinking about what the next generation of designers might need to know as they enter an ever-changing field. To do this, I look for the designers, the writers, and the thinkers who challenge my understanding of design and force me to think about what we do in new ways.

We don't need more education but rather, we need different education. We need alternative modes of building and sharing knowledge in order to produce the forms of meaningful knowledge that can engage with these crises.