Sue Vial: Design Central

by David Cushman
form:substance

Sue Vial has been a key member of New Britain’s Central Connecticut State University for over 22 years. She has spent her entire teaching career at Central, joining the faculty as a member of the art department and coordinator of the graphic design specialization. She was instrumental in establishing the university’s undergraduate and graduate degree programs — prior to February 1998, the graphic design department was a subset of the CCSU art program. Today, it is one of the only freestanding departments of design in New England.

conncreatives.com talked to Sue about design, education, and her programs at CCSU.

How do you define design?
Design is a plan that solves a problem. Good design is a plan that solves the problem with efficiency, beauty and civility.

What drew you to design education versus being a practicing professional?
I do both. I do not believe that you can successfully separate education and professional practice.

How do you keep your teaching fresh?
I re-invent, tell stories, relate the teaching to professional practice, and never forget that the students are hearing the lecture for the first time. If I am bored, they will be, too.

What (text)book should every designer read?
The Art of War.

Why should someone interested in pursuing a career in design choose CCSU?
We are a highly effective elite program at a State School price. We hand select 30-36 students each year and provide a top-notch opportunity to study real-world design. Our undergraduate degree program is a Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic/Information Design — not a Fine Arts degree with a specialization made up of three or four courses in Design.

The Graphic/Information Design degree program at CCSU is specifically designed to provide comprehensive professional Graphic and Information Design training. We require eleven courses in design with, most students graduating with 12 - 13 courses. Also, our three department computer labs are at the cutting edge and dedicated only to design education. These labs house a complete 2-D and 3-D and interactive software collection and are staffed 6 days (and nights) a week.

How much emphasis do you place on technology in your curriculum?
Technology is extremely important, because it saves time that can be devoted to the research and actual design.

Do you teach software in the classroom setting, or is that up to the student?
Software is taught for the first 2.5 weeks of each Studio Design course. After that period, the student is expected to continue to advance the study of the software on their own.

How much emphasis do you place on business in your curriculum?
The study of various aspects of business is important to the success of the design student. Without the understanding of the role and value of design as an element of commerce, the designer is at the mercy of the marketplace. We require course work in Marketing, Computer Science and Communications as part of our undergraduate Design major. Course work in Marketing and Management is required as part of our Graduate Information Design Program.

Central Design (the student-operated design firm course) has one student function as Business Manager. This student oversees all costing issues, management of project work-flow and management of the clients. The Central Design students see numerous projects through from initial client meetings to final print production and delivery. Our interns are required to observe the business functions of the agency as well as the creative functions.

What is the concept behind Central Design?
Select the top four seniors (by portfolio and character), provide them with a studio and a highly-experienced instructor, bring in non-profit clients with a problem to solve and a budget for production, and let the research and design begin. It should be noted that the possibility of a future seat in Central Design also serves as a motivator for the students, especially during their junior year. Most selected students serve only one semester as a member of Central Design which allows us to offer the opportunity to roughly 8 students a year.

What types of projects has Central Design done?
We do largely print design. Projects range from branding and corporate identity to the design of an award-winning, 144-page hardbound book. We do a lot of poster, brochure, advertising and identity work for clients that include the Connecticut State University System, The CT Multicultural Leadership Institute, The CT Department of Agriculture, The CT Council on Problem Gambling, Hartford Hospital and many, many more.

Are clients pursued, or do they come to you?
We have never advertised or pursued any particular client. Word of mouth (client to potential client) has always kept us busy. We usually complete 5 - 10 projects in the Fall semester, and 10 - 16 in the Spring.

How and how much does CCSU help place their graduates in jobs?
Our department internship course is our best job placement tool, followed by the Central Design course and our Design alumni network. The students are selected to participate when their portfolios are ready to go in their senior year. This process insures that the agencies receive highly-skilled, useful students, rather than students who are simply interested in the field. The Central Design graduates are often hired by Central Design alumni directly out of school. Our alumni are spread all across the country and around the world and they love to hire “their own.” We receive calls every week from successful alumni who are looking for hard working designers that they know they can count on.

How are CCSU graduates uniquely qualified for the real world?
Central students, in general, are uniquely qualified for the real world by virtue of the fact that most of them are working while in school and know the value of an hour and a dollar. The Design graduates have received four years of relentless faculty critiques of their work (usually every other day of the semester) as well as the benefit of a full general education (Math, Science, Literature, History, etc).

What do you see succeed more in design, talent or hard work?
Hard work every time.

What do you look for in your professors? What makes a good design professor versus a good designer?
A good professor: Passion for design, kindness, and the willingness to put the students’ futures first by providing them honest — and sometimes painful — critique and direction. A good designer: substitute the word “clients” for “students.”

Who are your design heroes?
Armin Hofmann and Bill Wondriska.

Who are your design education heroes?
Eleanor Thornton (who could teach a dog Photoshop).