How to teach Graphic Design (For Beginners) Part 1

When I first started at PCTV I was introduced to a number of very broad and ominous projects that I was to be filling my time with. Of course these project overlapped the skills I had acquired in school to some degree, but plenty of them fell outside of my knowledge.

One of these large projects was to create a new visual identity for PCTV. In the past things had been made as they came up and were not quite coherent. This of course was well within my skill set, having graduated with a degree in graphic design. Without realizing it I was jumping into the real world of graphic design. For those who are not a part of this cult like group of artists who don't make art, there is a major difference between what happens in academic design and what is made for the real world. In academic design things happen, they don't get made. Concepts, images, colors, typefaces are all great but if they are not put together to make a real thing which serves a real purpose they become convoluted quickly.

Enough about this academic / real world clash. I found myself trying to design the identity for an organization which has existed for 14 years and currently has 5 programs running. PCTV does everything in media with everyone. Worst of all the make media with youth. Youth are not an easy target, of course if you selling them shoes or something it is a different game. So how could I make PCTV attractive to youth, eureka, I will simply gather some youth to do it for me. That is how I decided to start a Graphic Design workshop at PCTV. My hope was that in exchange for teaching the youth about graphic design, I could get out of them designs which would speak to their peers. When I say this to myself sometimes I feel like a villain tricking some kids into my scheme, but my intentions are good I assure you.