I PROFESS:
The graphic design manifesto

Edward Tufte uses the term ‘self-exemplifying’ to describe something that is simply an example of itself. As graphic design educators, we each have a philosophy at the core of our teaching practice. That philosophy is implicit in our syllabi, critiques, and grading criteria. But how often is it at the forefront of teaching practice itself? 

We invited design educators around the world to design a poster that embodies their teaching philosophy. We asked that they actively engage an audience of multidisciplinary students and colleagues in intelligent, provocative dialogue about your most fundamental beliefs regarding graphic design in its current pedagogical, creative, and research practices. Design your manifesto!

The premise of the first I Profess exhibit organized by Chris Corneal and Maya Drozdz was based on a need to make explicit the beliefs that (often implicitly) permeate the myriad aspects of our teaching practice. We based a new call for entries on the premise that the porous boundaries of our teaching practices put us in constant dialogue with other cultural, philosophical, and disciplinary beliefs and practices. To that end, we solicited current college graphic design instructors to submit posters in response to the theme for peer-review.

The exhibit showcases various viewpoints and pedagogical and ideological priorities and aim to inspire and be starting points for cross-cultural dialogue among students, faculty, graphic designers, and other expert communities. With this exhibit, the curators aim to encourage cross/disciplinary debate and to provoke the next generation of graphic designers to actively shape the future of our profession.

The physical work will travel internationally to exhibition sites affiliated with schools of art and design beginning at Portland State University on February 5. A didactic beside each poster will explain the designer’s intent and further articulate their philosophy. An online/virtual exhibit accompanies the travelling exhibition at Baohouse (pronounced Bauhaus), an immaterial and motile space directed by Audrey G. Bennett that engages stakeholders locally and remotely with socially and environmentally transformative images that can yield cognitive and behavioural changes toward attaining equity and justice.

I Profess: The Graphic Design Manifesto, 20th Anniversary Travelling Exhibition is a collaboration between Chris Corneal, Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Michigan State University, and Audrey G. Bennett, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.