DESIGN WORKSHOPS
As part of an initiative run by the IADT Teaching and Learning committee Nicola has developed and run workshops on design for educators, academics and non-designers. The workshops involve learning about a variety of basic design tools through practical exercises that can help with designing teaching and presentation materials that communicate effectively and engagingly. The workshops can be geared towards designing teaching and learning materials with an emphasis on Universal Design to provide for all students including those with learning and other difficulties, or the workshops can be aimed at researchers designing academic posters, anyone who produces presentation materials and other other products that are visual in nature.
Poster design for academics – three half days or one full day practical hands on course.
Basic design principles, practical tools for layout, how to design a poster.
Designing teaching materials – half day or full day practical course.
Basic design principles, practical tools for layout, consideration of students with learning difficulties.
Designing presentations – half day or full day practical course.
Basic design principles, practical tools for layout, consideration of audience.
These workshops can be easily adapted for a variety of audiences – and one of them was recently incorporated into a training day for researchers and medical practitioners on data visualisation run by IADT for the RCPI.
Nicola has designed a number of shorter presentations which provide a brief but informative introduction to design principles and practical applications of them. These have been run for the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) Division of Teachers and Researchers, the PSI Student Affairs Group, and in IADT for both students and staff.
Nicola has also run a day long data visualisation workshop with other IADT staff members for the RCPI, which includes design basics elements.