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Outcome 2: Cultural ownership and design

How do designers evolve culturally appropriate design practices?

The Official Part:

In this area of study, we will:

  • explore the designer’s ethical and legal responsibilities when drawing on knowledge and designs belonging to Indigenous communities from Australia or abroad.

  • learn how to adopt culturally appropriate design practices, including protocols for the creation and commercial use of Indigenous knowledge such as those published in the Australian Indigenous Design Charter.

In particular, you will:

  • develop a deep appreciation for the histories, practices and foundational contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to Australian design identity, while learning about respectful and appropriate representations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture in design. 

We will:

  • apply understandings of ownership, intellectual property and culturally appropriate practices to the design of their own personal iconography.

  • explore both manual and digital methods, together with combinations of design elements and principles to evolve an original graphic icon or suite of symbols that capture elements of their own identity or life story.

  • consider qualities such as clarity and consistency, and the capacity to convey meaning through visual language.

In doing so, students recognise the potential of design to express not only the knowledges, histories and traditions of others, but also their own personal connections to culture, community or place.

This project also introduces students to the fundamental skills of icon design that will be of value when designing an interactive interface in Unit 2, Outcome 3.

(Source: https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/visualcomm/2024VisualCommunicationDesignSD.docx)

 

Outcome 2

On completion of this unit you should be able to:

  • apply culturally appropriate design practices and an understanding of the designer’s ethical and legal responsibilities when designing personal iconography.

To achieve this outcome the student will draw on key knowledge and key skills outlined in Area of Study 2.

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Key knowledge

  • ethical and legal responsibilities impacting the work of the designer, such as issues of ownership and intellectual property

  • protocols for the creation and commercial use of Indigenous knowledge in design, including representations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture

  • culturally appropriate design practices for the creation of personal iconography 

  • characteristics and functions of design elements and principles

  • methods and processes used to generate and present original design solutions

  • terminology used to discuss and evaluate culturally appropriate design practices and solutions.

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Key skills

  • describe the ethical and legal responsibilities of the designer and how issues such as ownership and intellectual property impact design practice

  • describe and apply culturally appropriate design practices

  • analyse the work and practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander designers

  • select and use a range of appropriate manual and digital methods, media, materials and design elements and principles to develop personal iconography

  • use divergent and convergent thinking strategies to generate ideas and resolve design solutions

  • use terminology aligned with culturally appropriate design practice.

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VCD Study Design, p34-35 https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/visualcomm/2024VisualCommunicationDesignSD.docx)

I Can...

Note: the following content requires adapting - it is based on the old study design - I am still working my way through. Thanks for your patience!

What are we actually going to do:

We will be:

working both independently and collaboratively, by looking at ethical and legal responsibilities impacting the work of designers such as:

  • issues of ownership

  • intellectual property

  • copyright, patents and trademarks.

Protocols for Intellectual Property

Intellectual property and copyright

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An essential feature of this study is the development of creative and innovative design solutions that meet specific communication needs. In the development of original ideas, students may find inspiration in the work of others. However, it is important that students understand their legal obligations regarding copyright and trademarks as well as conventions for acknowledging sources of inspiration. Students need to develop an awareness of the legal obligations and risks faced by designers in industry and professional contexts, and to understand how copyright and intellectual property laws apply to their own design work.


Intellectual property is the general term used for property generated through intellectual or creative activity. There are different types of intellectual property, protected in different ways through various pieces of federal legislation and industry codes of practice. Students undertaking this study will most commonly engage with intellectual property forms such as copyright works, trademarks and designs.


The following websites provide up-to-date information on copyright and intellectual property:

Australian Copyright Council

Australian Government: Intellectual Property
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Explore the history, practices and foundational contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to Australian design identity.
As a class, develop a database of Indigenous (both Australian and abroad) and historically marginalised designers.
Select an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander designer and analyse their work and practices in a short report with annotated images.
Investigate culturally appropriate design practices including protocols for the creation and commercial use of Indigenous knowledge such as those published in the Australian Indigenous Design Charter and Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts.

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  1. What type of protocols are in place to protect the IP of Indigenous designers and artists?

  2. What Indigenous works and / or materials are not currently protected by IP laws?

  3. If you wanted to use an Indigenous artwork or design as inspiration, what steps should you take?

  4. As a designer, describe your ethical and legal responsibilities when it comes to using the work of First Nations artists and designers. This could be in reference to using the work as inspiration, using an image as a starting point, or as part of your research.

  5. If a designer wanted to use an Indigenous artwork or design work as inspiration, what steps would they take to ensure their approach was both respectful and appropriate?

  6. Identify and describe culturally appropriate design practices when creating personal iconography.

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Acknowledging sources of inspiration and support resources

 

Students are required to acknowledge all sources of inspiration throughout the design process. They can do this by noting specific titles and publication dates of texts and/or magazines, URL addresses for websites and details of social media profiles where images or information have been sourced. For information acquired from a website, acknowledgment typically includes the title of the website, exact URL and retrieval date. For information acquired from a social media platform, acknowledgement should include the username, site name, exact URL and date of post. This information should be located at the point where sourced material is used in the design process.

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First Nation Designers

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  • David Unaipon (Ngarrindjeri) is one of our significant early Australian designers. Investigate his life and work, specifically looking into the lack of recognition of his design work during his lifetime, and issues around the patents of his product designs. Begin your investigation by looking at the Australian fifty dollar note, and the inscription written underneath the illustration of Unaipon.

  • Investigate Australian designer Marcus Lee, specifically his design work for sporting garments such as guernseys. Select a local sporting group and design the graphics for a guernsey. Your graphics need to include icons, patterns and colours that are based on local elements or features of your suburb or community. This might include flora and fauna, natural landmarks such as parks or well known buildings and structures.
    Resources:
    Marcus Lee
    Basketball Melbourne

  • As a class, develop a database of Indigenous (both Australian and abroad) and historically marginalised designers. Commence the database by researching Solid Lines, a First Nations-led illustration agency in Melbourne, supported by the Jacky Winter Group.
    Hold conversations about why the voices of these designers and their communities are absent from eurocentric design histories and narratives, and the impact of this absence on our perceptions of ‘good design’. Choose a designer (from newly developed databases) to profile and share the work as a resource, via a poster or page layout.

  • American graphic designer Susan Kare gained fame in the early 1980s for her work designing interface icons and typefaces for the first Apple Macintosh computer. When designing her icons, Kare worked manually using pencil or pen on grid paper. Using her approach to generating ideas, create a set of four pixel-style icons on graph paper. Choose your own theme for the set of icons or select one of the following: animals, stationery, tools, weather, plant species. Transfer the graph paper designs into a vector editing software program and refine. Present four icons on a concept presentation board.

  • The Aboriginal message stick may be one of the earliest forms of communication between people. Choose or create a story, message, or information to share with someone. Deliberately use the elements and principles of design, communicate the message as a set of six icons.

  • Investigate the use of motifs and icons on contemporary Aboriginal garments. Select a favourite genre / style of music and create a list of words to describe it. Using this word list, generate and develop a concept for an icon that can represent a favourite genre of music. The icon may be abstract, but you need to be able to justify its meaning. Create a lino carving of the icon and print pinto fabric or, alternatively, scan and create a pattern repeat in Illustrator and expose onto a silk screen. Print fabric and create a reusable lunch bag or apply the pattern to a product such as a skateboard.
    Resources:
    Melbourne Fashion Week 2022
    First Nations Fashion and Design

  • Gather together a collection of objects / items that are personally meaningful and represent as an ‘Instagram flat lay’ by arranging objects on a flat surface and photographing them from above. Generate ideas from the photographs for a set of icons.

  • Research individual cultural heritages and integrate elements of them into a set of personal icons, a suite of symbols and / or patterns. Alternatively, determine a place of personal significance and create a series of icons, symbols or patterns to represent the place. Evolve the icons, symbols or patterns into a textile pattern, surface print or wallpaper.

  • Align personal aspects with the design elements and principles. What colours are you drawn to the most? With what shape do you connect more than others? What sort of balance typifies your character? Research historical and cultural meanings and applications of selected elements and principles (for example, the significance or symbolic meaning of colour across communities) to further appreciate their potential to communicate meaning, before creating a personal icon.

  • Apply culturally appropriate design practices and an understanding of the designer’s ethical and legal responsibilities when designing personal iconography.
    Undertake one or more of the following tasks to support further understanding of this area of study:

    • Explore the history, practices and foundational contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to Australian design identity, for example: Read the story of the collaboration of Indigenous artists with Breville.

    • As a class, develop a database of Indigenous (both Australian and abroad) and historically marginalised designers. Facilitate conversations about why the voices of these designers and their communities are absent from eurocentric design histories and narratives, and the impact of this absence on our perceptions of ‘good design’.

    • Select an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander designer and analyse their work and practices in a short report with annotated images.

    • Investigate culturally appropriate design practices including protocols for the creation and commercial use of Indigenous knowledge such as those published in:

    • Read Alison Page’s information booklet for the Australian Government and IP Australia, called Nanga Mai Arung, Dream Shield: A Guide to protecting designs, brands and inventions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.


  • Investigate the history of playing cards icons: spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. Redesign a new set of four icons that are based upon personal interests.
    These interests may include:

    • Favourite animal, bird, insect

    • Favourite food

    • Favourite type of music

    • Favourite plant

Task 4

Design a set of personal icons for a theme such as: a place of personal significance, favourite animals, birds, insects, food or music.

In groups, identify and define what represents a good icon.

  1. Research existing icons and brainstorm ideas including icon graphic styles.

  2. Create a mood board based upon research and brainstorming of ideas that includes potential styles of graphics for their set of icons. For example, icons based around pixels, flat shapes, lines, including outlines, isometric, hand drawn or even animated.

  3. Using visualisation drawing, create ideations for each icon, using divergent thinking strategies such as ‘What if…’, SCAMPER and Word Associations.

  4. When generating and developing ideas, consider design elements and principles that could be used to create a unified set of icons such as shape, colour, line, figure-ground, balance, cropping and scale.

  5. To further extend ideas, explore manual methods such as collage with paper, drawing icons on grid paper or creating watercolour icons that can be scanned and edited digitally. At this stage, students are encouraged to think about a concept that sits behind their icon design, using a visual language to connect their four icons.

  6. Students refine their icon designs using digital methods and test their designs on peers to establish their effectiveness in communicating the appropriate message. Students then respond to feedback and adjust their designs prior to final presentation.

  7. Students submit their visual diary along with the four icon designs, as four Ace Card designs at a scale of 2:1, as a digital presentation or printed and submitted on a presentation board.

Detailed example

Playing card icons have cultural significance as they reflect the values and symbols of the regions where they were created and have been adapted over time to different cultures.

Investigate the history of playing card icons and the way they have been used in different cultures. In contrast, investigate the icon and symbol design work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander designers and the way that their design work responds to Country.

Prepare a presentation that describes the ways that you can as a student designer, apply culturally appropriate design practices when designing your own set of icons or symbols. Your presentation needs to address the differences between ethical and legal responsibilities when using the work of others.

Written task

Prepare a presentation that describes the ways that, as a student designer, you can apply culturally appropriate design practices when designing your own set of icons or symbols. Your presentation needs to address the differences between ethical and legal responsibilities when using the work of others.

Practical task

Re-design the icons used to represent the four suits in a set of playing cards. The icons are to be based upon one of the following:

  • your cultural heritage

  • a place of personal significance

  • animals, birds, insects, food or music.

Constraints

  • Use a limited colour palette.

  • Include a specific aesthetic style; for example, icons based on the use of outlines and solid colours or figure-ground.

  • Final icons are to be presented on an Ace card at a scale of 2:1.

  • Final presentation is to be digital.

Activities

Identify and define the key design considerations and factors of an icon in a group discussion using devices to analyse existing icons and the visual language that these visual communications employ. This is a form of unpacking the brief and is the analytical thinking that forms the basis of research for understanding this task.

After selecting a direction for this project, brainstorm ideas for the four icons including options for the icons and icon graphic style. Create a mood board based upon research and brainstorming of ideas that includes potential styles of graphics for the set of icons. Reference sources for each image within the mood board using appropriate referencing. This research for inspiration may draw on historical references for iconography, including Indigenous examples, and contemporary examples found in app design for mobile devices and computer gaming graphics references.

Create visualisation drawings for each icon, using divergent thinking strategies such as ‘What if…’, ‘SCAMPER’ and ‘Word Associations’. When generating and developing ideas, consider design elements and principles that could be used to create a unified set of icons such as shape, colour, line, figure-ground, balance, cropping and scale.

To further extend ideas, develop personal icons by exploring manual methods such as collage with paper, drawing icons on grid paper or creating watercolour icons that can be scanned and edited digitally. At this stage, think about a concept that sits behind the icon design, using a visual language to connect the suit. The style of the icons may be based around pixels, flat shapes, lines, including outlines, isometric, hand drawn or even animated.

The design development and refinement is then produced using digital methods. The stylised nature of the icons lends itself to vector graphics; however, some styles may need more rendered and tonal effects for their designs. In this case, raster graphics may be the more preferred media. At this point, decide if the final presentation will be digital or printed as this will affect the file set up. Learn about setting up digital files including, RGB and CYMK, pixels, grids and file types.

Test the icons on peers to establish their effectiveness in communicating the appropriate message, and then respond to feedback by adjusting designs prior to final presentation.

The four icon designs are submitted as four Ace Card designs at a scale of 2:1, as a digital presentation or printed and submitted on a presentation board.

An extension task can be to animate each icon as a moving gif.

Teachers are also encouraged to refer to resources such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples when developing coursework for Unit 2 Area of Study 2.

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