A Classroom with a View

A Classroom with a View — Utah State University Graphic Design Students Study Internationally

Providing hands-on experience is the goal of many educational programs and many accomplish just that. Unique or unusual elements give some of these programs an advantage. Many add a beautiful environment and a dash of international experience. But add Switzerland and the program reaches one-of-a-kind educational heights.

That experience is what a group of 45 graphic design students from Utah State University got this summer. The students, along with program leader and professor Robert Winward, participated in the 2003 Utah State University Summer Design Program in Switzerland. The six-week study abroad program was loaded with hands-on experience, intense study, travel and contact with industry insiders and corporate executives.

This is the second year the program has been offered by the Department of Art in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Utah State.

The students and Winward left for Switzerland shortly after Utah State's commencement and returned to the United States June 22. The unique program allows students to study Swiss design and European visual culture.

(Below: students look at historic poster originals with guest presenter Liz Mifflin Schmid at the Zurich Museum of Design.)

"Historically, Swiss designers have had a huge influence on the graphic design profession and continue to be a major force in the direction of international visual communications," Winward said. "The Utah State students were able to take advantage of studying a rich and diverse visual culture in a compact geographic area in the heart of Europe. By its nature, design takes place in a cultural context. Students of design and visual communications have much to gain from understanding the visual history and traditions of cultures outside their own. Having on-site Swiss academic experience is a valuable resume credential."

During the program in Switzerland the students began each day with a culture class taught by an English-speaking village local, professor Robert Taylor, who happens to be Welsh. They learn cultural norms, survival French, Swiss history and folklore. Taylor (right) took the students on excursions to the dungeons of Chateau de Chillon on Lake Geneva and provided a theatrical reading of Lord Byron's Prisoner of Chillon.

Courses are supplemented with visits from local guest speakers, as well as studio visits to important design studios.

Among the many experiences, the students made an impressive professional contact when they spent an afternoon at headquarters of the Swatch Corporation in Biel, Switzerland, Winward said. The group met with Michele Sofisti, international president of Swatch Corporation, and George Georgiou, director of Swatch new product development.

"The Utah State students were greeted at Swatch Corporation with a refreshment reception," Winward said. "Mr. Sofisti and Mr. Georgiou presented the history and philosophy of Swatch to the students and then spent time one-on-one and with groups of students touring the Swatch corporate headquarters and showroom."

The experience included a discussion of the important role graphic designers play in the timepiece industry, Winward continued. "They were generous with advice to the students interested in pursuing careers as designers in fashion watch design."

"It was so inspiring," said Utah State senior Steve Lutes. "I can't believe that a man of his caliber and style would spend his valuable time talking to students."

This, however, is an important element of the study program, Winward emphasized. Students receive broad exposure to ideas and corporate philosophy that moves well beyond the classroom experience. It is, he emphasized, real-world experience at an international level.

During the day the students were allowed to walk through a new prototype, digitally "smart" Swatch retail store dubbed The Jellyfish, Winward said. They were even allowed — without their cameras — into the "secure room" to see the yet-to-be-released designs for the 2004 Swatch collection.

"I found it astonishing that the president of a multimillion-dollar corporation would spend an entire afternoon with 45 students from Utah," Winward said. "Mr. Sofisti and Mr. Georgiou were gracious and generally interested in our program and our students. They even offered to partner with Utah State University students on a watch design project."

The visit to Swatch headquarters paid off in other ways as well — at the end of the presentation and tour each student received a Swatch gift package, including a new Swatch SKIN.beat watch. This new innovation provided the Utah State students another example of progressive, forward-thinking product development and design, Winward said. The watch is part of a new line of ultra-thin ".beat" watches that display both regular and internet time, a new universal time developed by Swatch that is the same all over the world.

"Our visit to Swatch Corporation was a highlight of the 2003 Utah State Summer Design Program," Winward said. "The students got to see top corporate philosophy in action, and the Swatch Corporation provided excellent examples. Our students gained remarkable insights thanks to our visit."

In Switzerland, the Utah State program home base is Leysin, a small pre-Alps village.

"It's a hidden treasure of a village and over the course of the six weeks the students come to call it their European home," Winward said. "The innkeepers where our students are housed, Dominique and Josiane Delasoie, love the Utah State students. Students are provided buffet breakfasts and three-course candle-lit dinners. Dominique and Josiane see to it that student birthdays are celebrated and they also arrange special cultural excursions."

This year, for instance, they arranged a concert and dinner atop a rotating restaurant in the Alps as well as an excursion to the great St. Bernard Pass and Monastery.

While the scenery is beautiful and the excursions are important, class work is the foundation of the Utah State design academy in Switzerland. Courses include European visual culture (3 credits), Swiss posters (3 credits), drawing for illustration (3 credits) and corporate identity (3 credits). The course work includes lectures, research, presentations and environmental drawing.

"While it’s important for students to have on-site experimental research experience, it’s also important that students have the opportunity to broaden their world view," Winward said. "Graphic design students eventually work in a world of commerce. Since they live and work in a global economy, it’s as important for them to have international experience as it is for an MBA student."

Winward said he knows of no other graphic design program in the United States that allows the same unique and enriching program that Utah State’s Switzerland program provides.

"This program is a unique study abroad experience," he said. “Essentially, we set up a mini branch campus of Utah State University in Switzerland for 40 days each summer. Students spend time traveling but have a stable base to come home to each night. They have unlimited internet access, as well as classroom and studio space."

The Utah State students participate in organized and self-initiated experimental research daily. And, Winward concluded, 40 days is long enough for a true cultural immersion experience. And yes, the scenery was pretty great.

(Photos supplied by Robert Winward)

Contact: Robert Winward (435) 797-1394 [winwardr@hass.usu.edu]
Writer: Patrick Williams (435) 797-1354 [patrick.williams@usu.edu]