I got an email from Halley , one of the 3 year MID students joining us in Fall, with some some questions she had.So iam posting my reply to her, so everyone can see and/or contribute to it.
I am sure returning MIDers would have something to say :) gimme what you got!
questions in bold and answers in regular font follow..
Generally speaking (since i do not know what academic background you come from) the biggest challenge for the 3 year MID students is to understand that ID as a field , does not have a specific way of teaching, a standardized curriculum ,or a "right" way of practicing it (as with other fields such as science,engineering, business or law).
While there are books that teach you to understand and appreciate good design, I believe there are no textbooks for learning ID.
But there is (are) a "design" way(s) of thinking.
In your classes ,you will be exposed to some of the successful ones and encouraged and helped to possibly come up with your own. The idea is to refine and integrate this way of thinking with your design skills (sketching , model-making..etc) and non design skills (from your undergraduate) to solve problems .
In this process ,by nature of the exercise and your own diversity of backgrounds , your class will come up with multiple "right" solutions.
But being in design school, every solution will be critiqued for its good and bad which could be challenging to some of you.
So the very first thing i recommend is to enter ID with an open and inquisitive mind.
Be prepared for heated arguments and comments :) and not-so-smooth teamwork. Its all good.
The graduate program is different from the undergraduate program ,in a way that you will learn a lot by collaborating your classmates. Thats what lies at the very heart of it.
So embrace it.One stands only to gain from the experience.
so much for the sermon, :)
The second thing you could do before you start is to keep sketching, drawing and writing your thoughts on design.
Have a design notebook or a blog, whichever is more comfortable (i would have a notebook if i were you) , where you scribble down your ideas and thoughts on design and rough sketch your products.
Never stop expressing your ideas and opinions on design.
Also read all the books you can lay your hands on.
A good one to start would be The design of everyday things by Donald Norman , or A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink.
Those of you interested in graphic design would also wanna read Thoughts on design OR Conversations with Students by Paul Rand (look him up :))
also read the answers to students section of stefan sagmeister's website.(he's a graphic designer)
Could answer some of your concerns as a grad student of with no background in design.
heres the link "http://www.sagmeister.com/students5.html"
I was also wondering if other graduate students find time to hold down part-time jobs
This is a tough one to answer.As far as i can remember (and i may be wrong), Most of my classmates did not have a job in fall .But by the end of the year , most of us did (some on-campus and some off of it) I personally would say that your first semester would be the most hectic, which would leave little energy and time for a job.The hours you put in at school can be odd and long ,when you have a presentation or a critique almost every monday or tuesday.Expect a few all nighters :)..So i would recommend against it . But If you really need a job to sustain yourself (which is usually the case with all grad students ) I'd still ask you to wait until you start your classes before you commit to one,so you can effectively balance both school and the job.
Have any questions or answers!!...post them here or email them to me.
Cya around.
Sri
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