In GSMD 550 Directed Studies for the Information Futures Stream, you will work on self-directed projects tailored to your academic and research exploration. These projects may involve developing practices and skills, research methods, or serving as part of your broader research and thesis components.

For my independent project in GSMD 550 Directed Studies (Information Futures Stream), I am developing a publishable lesson plan for the Bloomsbury Design Library. This lesson plan, titled Art Direction as Care: Systems Thinking, Visual Storytelling, and Poetic Practice, is intended to support undergraduate design students across disciplines in rethinking art direction not only as a visual or commercial practice, but as an ethical, reflective, and systems-aware mode of design.

The project is rooted in my current research methodologies, slowness, observation, poetic inquiry, and material sensitivity and draws conceptually from my MDes thesis work. However, the focus of this lesson plan is not fashion-specific; rather, it translates the values and approaches from my thesis (e.g. care, emotional resonance, and ecological awareness) into an accessible, modular learning resource for design educators and students.

This independent project serves both as a professional publication opportunity and a framework for translating research values into curriculum design. It will include a fully developed 2,000-word lesson plan with an abstract, learning objectives, suggested readings, and weekly assignments, formatted to meet Bloomsbury’s submission guidelines.

This lesson plan reimagines art direction as a thoughtful and intentional design practice grounded in care, observation, and systems thinking. Rather than focusing solely on aesthetics or advertising outcomes, this approach invites students to explore the relational and ethical dimensions of visual storytelling considering not only what they design, but how and why. Students will engage with the full arc of art direction: from conceptual development and audience positioning to moodboarding, image-making, and campaign assembly. Along the way, they’ll be guided to slow down, reflect on their own visual instincts, and consider the social and ecological systems their work is part of.

Inspired by research methods such as poetic inquiry, material exploration, journaling, and nature-connected reflection, this course nurtures a deeper awareness of the emotional and cultural weight that visual communication carries. Students will build a personal visual lexicon, learn how to position the viewer within a story, and practice designing campaigns that are resonant, clear, and culturally responsible. Whether their focus is graphic design, illustration, product, or interaction, students will be invited to take pause, listen, and allow meaning to emerge in their process, developing work that is not only visually compelling, but deeply felt.

At its core, this course proposes that art direction is not just about directing images. It’s about holding space for meaning, for systems, and for others. By working across methods that value care, multiplicity, and slowness, students will leave with a more holistic understanding of what it means to lead visually, ethically, and creatively.

This lesson plan is intended for undergraduate design students across all disciplines; graphic, product, interior, and interaction design. It is equally suited to studio and theory-based modules and encourages students to bring their own lived experiences and identities into their creative process.

1. Understand art direction as a conceptual, ethical, and visual leadership role in design.

2. Develop a personal visual lexicon that reflects their way of seeing, sensing, and interpreting the world.

3. Apply systems thinking to visual storytelling, recognizing the interconnections between content, audience, and context

4. Practice care-based methods: journaling, observation, slowness, poetic inquiry as design tools.

5. Critically reflect on the emotional, cultural, and ecological dimensions of visual campaigns.

6. Build an art direction project that responds to a real-world issue with thoughtful visual clarity and layered meaning.

Texts to read before class, Discussion questions, Optional prompts for journaling and observation, Outcomes tailored for both theory-based and studio-based learning

Texts:  Lupton, E. Design Is Storytelling (Ch. 1: Visual Storytelling) | Rawsthorn, A. Design as an Attitude | Relevant BDL Encyclopedia entry on Art Direction

1. What is the role of an art director? What responsibilities extend beyond visual outcomes?

2. What does it mean to hold a message with care?

3. How do personal values influence what and how we direct visually?

Create a one-page "visual values manifesto" a collage or layout of the principles, textures, imagery, or colors that reflect what you value most in design.

Texts: Pallasmaa, J. The Thinking Hand (excerpts) | Alexander, C. A Pattern Language (select patterns)

1. How can observation, slowness, walking, looking—feed the creative process?

2. What materials, forms, or textures are you naturally drawn to, and why?

3. What does your environment teach you about composition, light, or rhythm?

Homework Prompt: Begin a visual lexicon journal: spend time outdoors or in a familiar space and collect imagery, sketches, textures, or colors you observe. Reflect on how they speak to your sense of structure, care, or meaning.

Texts: Thackara, J. In the Bubble (Ch. 2: Lightness and Systems) | Lupton, E. Design Is Storytelling (Ch. 4: Empathy)

1. How do systems (social, ecological, political) shape the stories we tell through design?

2. What role does an art director play in reinforcing or disrupting systems of power or consumption?

3. How can slowness and awareness become strategies in fast-paced creative environments?

Homework Prompt: Map a system you interact with regularly (e.g. public transport, waste, social media, fashion, food). What are the parts? What stories are embedded in them? How might design reframe one small part?

Texts: Chimero, F. The Shape of Design (excerpts) | Review 2–3 art direction case studies from BDL archives

1. What makes a visual campaign resonate emotionally or ethically?

2. How do visual elements work together to “hold” a message?

3. What does it mean to approach a brief with curiosity rather than control?

Homework Prompt: Draft a moodboard for a campaign based on a value or issue you care about, something meaningful to your experience or community. Think about tone, message, rhythm, and materiality.

Studio Outcome: Present your campaign direction as a series of visuals, storyboards, or objects. Share your visual lexicon and explain how your process evolved.

Theory Outcome: Submit a reflection journal (2,500–3,000 words) tracing your process and ideas throughout the five lessons, including sketches, collages, written reflections, and system maps.

1. What surprised you in this process?

2. What felt intuitive, and what felt difficult?

3. What will you carry forward in your design practice about care, systems, and storytelling?

A Pattern Language – Christopher Alexander | Nature-Centered Leadership – Mojave Publishing | Biomimicry – Janine Benyus | Short audio or video journaling exercises | Interview with a systems designer or creative director