Students and young professionals often do not have a full understanding of how branding and design work together in the professional world—providing value for people, companies, products and services—now and into the future.
In addition to cooperative education and other experiential learning experiences, I believe that further emphasis on the development of a strategic design+branding curriculum will provide new opportunities for students and professionals to gain knowledge and experience through existing interdisciplinary methods. This initiative could pioneer new areas of academic research and principles, linking consumer perception and market needs with the evaluation and development of brands. Additionally, an innovative program would provide further sources of revenue, recognition and recruitment for an academic institution.
A new series of classes, combined with a selection of existing cross-college courses, would create opportunities for new types of undergraduate and graduate level learning. A cross-disciplinary undergraduate minor track, as well as graduate courses, could be structured to complement existing curriculum. These courses would look to the future, and how design+branding strategy could be leveraged across disciplines in practice.
Finally, an avenue could be developed for professional growth, through executive learning, faculty development, continuing educational programs or other ongoing professional studies. Professionals could be involved in the curriculum as students, as well as experienced resources and even instructors.
A curriculum linking design and branding will help equip and empower the next generation of learners to lead business through a principled and strategic approach, to not only theory, but also interdisciplinary design+branding practice.