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The VCFA MFA in Graphic Design Program Blog

Modes of Criticism #5 – Design Systems

December 13, 2019

VCFA MFA in Graphic Design faculty member Ian Lynam has a new essay called “Anything With A Shape Cannot Be Broken” in Modes of Criticism no. 5. The theme for the issue is “Design Systems”. The essay explores the imperialist suprematist ideologies behind pre-WW2 Mingei crafts of Japan and how those ideologies are linked to culturally suprematist ideologies lurking beneath the seemingly anonymously designed surfaces of MUJI products.

The essay also explores links between fascism in both European and Japanese Modernism, implicitly/explicitly exploring how “less is more” and “problem-solving” are the rhetoric of genocide. One can obtain a copy of MOC5 here: https://www.onomatopee.net/exhibition/modes-of-criticism/#publication_10381Sports Shoes | Yeezy Boost 350 Trainers

The Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design is one of the nation’s first low-residency programs in graphic design that is built around a student’s individual interests and goals.

The MFA in Graphic Design is an immersive two-year graduate program that synthesizes five intense, one-week residencies with four six-month semesters of independent study with a range of faculty mentors. We educate students towards the broader context of design in order to investigate and reveal relationships. We see Graphic Design as a social tool and design education as a process of social transformation.

Our innovative, highly effective pedagogical model has its roots in the progressive educational philosophies of John Dewey. Our student-centered approach allows students to develop individualized study plans, addressing design issues that support their particular interests, values, and goals.

MFA students in our Graphic Design program will develop skills in form, content and craft, deepen and expand critical ability, build fluency in contemporary design discourse, and expand their ability to drive content with their work.

Graduates emerge with new research methods, critical acumen, and a body of design work that is personal and relevant; one which enhances their professional and academic path. They will have learned to continuously rethink design by considering cultural context, relationships between designers and their work, and the nature of education within design.