education should be different, then education of design should be even more different!
As practitioners and educators of visual culture, we grew up in Taiwan during its transition from the agricultural period to the industrial and even post-industrial periods. We are now in the globalized era of internet technology. How are we going to respond to the world that is now evolving rapidly not just by the month or the day but by the minute or even the second? How are we going to see through the smokescreen of already known formalism and cliches? Should we wait for the smokescreen to dissipate on its own or evaporate it with our passion and vigor? The reality we are facing now is actually more challenging than we have expected and, under the current circumstances, we cannot afford to lax our efforts or circumscribe ourselves to the past. Instead, we must keep up with the times and take actions to explore the unknown and set new frontiers. More importantly, we must not forget what design is originally about and for in our “exploration” and “discovery” of what contemporary design and design education should be like….
Understanding and learning about the unknown is a daily task not only for students but also for teachers. In addition to improving our competencies, enriching our inner world, broadening our professional horizons, and forging close connections with the design industry, we must also have international mindset and better connect with the world…. We must also reflect upon ourselves and upon our living environment, using our sense and sensibility as designers in our closer interactions with the land and in our experience development and actual practice of design on this land. While developing keen design thinking and sensory acuity as well as learning from others’ experiences, we must not become blind followers of trends but trendsetters so that our design education and research will be further rewarded and nourished by our constant innovation and self-challenging exploration.
Our department boasts a high-quality and well-equipped environment; more importantly, we have faculty members and students driven by passion for design education and creation. In this big family full of high energy of design creativity, let’s not only fulfill our ideal of vision of innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship through teaching and learning but also live a bright life as “designers”!
The “Basic Qualities” hereby refer to the qualities Ku Shan University has planned to equip its students with before they graduate. Through their learning in the courses of general education, our students are expected to develop these qualities.
According the General Education Center of Kun Shan University, the Basic Qualities of a KSU student are: “Humanistic Concern, Civil Ethics, Global Vision, Teamwork, Verbal Communication, Information Processing, and Application of Innovation”.
Leaders of Experiments, Innovation, and R&D
● Multidimensional Image Integration Center
The first lab that integrates laser holography and 3D image design in Taiwan.
● Optical Construction Lab
The largest and most well-equipped lab that explores design and dynamic media presentation in Taiwan, mainly focusing on the connections between design and technology, design and materials, and design and art.
● Industrial Innovation Lab
A lab for the R&D on connecting systems of visual perception, brain science, and multiple perceptions.
● Audiovisual Interactive Media Lab
A lab focusing on the integration of audio engineering and audiovisual design based on “new technology”, “new art” and “new media” in response to the trends of art and media technology.
● Animation Lab
Introducing 3D animation and high-tech media for the training of animation expression.
●Character Design Lab
A lab that adds values to brands with originality at the core by creating ideal virtual characters.
●Print Media Lab
Not only focusing on the output of practical experiences, visual design planning and design, creative product development, and brand strategy/marketing but also cultivating students’ design acuity and creativity through partnership programs with the design industry.
