GCE Lab School Learns About The Design Process
Global Citizenship Experience Lab School (GCE) class came to visit our studio again this year to get an in-depth look at how designers work at Beyond Design and how our team thrives on a day to day basis. The class is lead by Adam Cohen-Leadholm, STEM instructor for GCE, and the group has been visiting different studios and firms to kick off the 2018 school year. Please read here for more on their visit and watch a highlight video below.
GCE is the prestigious private school located in Lincoln Park that offers their students the unique high school experience of direct involvement with the community and local businesses. Their studies focus on integrating science, technology, engineering, arts and math. Visiting over 200 “real world” companies like Beyond Design gives the students the opportunity to collaborate in new environments and glean exactly what it means to be a designer, among other professions, post high school and college. Because of this nontraditional approach to education, 100% of GCE’s graduates have gained admission to top-tier universities and 80% of these students have earned merit-based scholarships. The original graduating class of GCE had 39 of their first graduates earning more than $3.6 million in merit aid.
Juniors in the Design & Engineering class met with Michael Prince, the president of Beyond Design. In this STEAM course, students are investigating what it means to be a designer. Through this investigation, students have learned that being a designer is far more than conceptualizing and designing a new product. Being a designer requires empathy, compassion, patience, expertise, and a whole lot more. This was confirmed by our visit with Mr. Prince. He shared stories about the trials and tribulations of starting his own design firm. He stressed the importance of empathizing with his clients, working with a diverse team, and embracing the iterative nature of the design process.
It was a unique and eye-opening experience to get a behind-the-scenes look at a successful design firm.
Why?
This term we are studying design, and how to make things better. The purpose of this FE is to introduce the class to professional designers and to get them to think like designers.
How?
Students talked to designer Michael Prince and toured Beyond Design to understand the work of a designer.
The Lincoln Park campus provides open concept space (seen above) allowing students the freedom to work collaboratively.
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