Improving undergraduate visual communication design education in South Korea

Abstract

Graduate designers inevitably face tremendous challenges in adjusting to society when entering the workforce. Visual designers frequently experience difficulties, particularly in the brand development process, when working with strategists and clients, often as a result of gaps in linguistic and cognitive understanding. In response to these issues, this paper aims to propose a module guideline for teach branding theories, which can be integrated into visual identity design modules from an interdisciplinary perspective. To develop the new guideline with an objective standard and prove its validity a number of branding, pedagogy, and design theories are reviewed, accompanied by an analysis of existing identity design modules from three countries and the opinions and suggestions of four stakeholder groups. The final guideline proposes suitable branding theories, integrated into a course of instruction appropriate to the identity design development process, and is intended to help students better develop strategic designs and provide educators with a guide for their classes on identity design development.