SFSU Design Working Group

The Design Working Group is small and selective class of students working intensively and collaboratively as a design studio that designs materials in print and digital formats for the SF State University community. Clients have included: The Schools of Theatre and Dance, Music, Cinema; English, History Departments; Fine Arts Gallery; Division of Undergraduate Studies, Office of Sustainability; College of Liberal and Creative Arts; Institute of Civic and Community Engagement; SF Build; to name only a few. The Design Working Group is a different model of class that simulates (and in many ways certainly is) a typical professional client/agency relationship, where the "client" is the SF State Community; department, faculty, staff, student group. The Design Working Group is a extremely beneficial opportunity for students to extend their education beyond the traditional classroom environment and work on real projects with real deadlines and the real design constraints of time, budget, and resources. Students work directly with design stakeholders developing original designs of promotional materials for on and off campus contexts. Students work on projects both individually and in teams better preparing them for the collaborative nature of professional practice. The class is demanding and students are expected to produce a significant amount of work including design briefs, exploratory work and multiple iterations, participate in critiques (both in person and online), and produce final work with a level of professional excellence. The Design Working Group students complete their semester with strong skills, new confidence, and professional experience in preparing them for their professional careers.