Where SwârtAd becomes SwârtEd
Design Education with Agency Perspective
Project-based learning and interdisciplinary integration enable students from a wide range of professions to leverage conceptual communication theories and techniques in their work. The composition of our cohorts underscores the importance of international cooperation and appreciation for one another's commonalities, as well as respect for our individuality.
Alex Swart offers a perspective on the creative process to international students at their California State University Northridge culmination ceremony.
Applied Design Thinking & Storytelling
Our 17-hour lecture/studio course module (the post-graduate and international college at CSU Northridge) takes a different track than current DT orthodoxies. In this fast-paced class, students orchestrate words and images to develop their creativity and understanding of the design process within business culture.
In the first week of Design Thinking, Professor Alex Swart challenged us to create a new slogan for Coca-Cola. Getting opinions and praise from Alex was really gratifying. Definitely a new POV and area of interest that I will bring to my professional work.
—Caroline, Design Thinking student
Communication, Design, & Innovation
Our 17-hour lecture/studio course module (at Tseng College, CSU Northridge), this class focuses on working effectively with creative teams (communicating in) and approaches to branding (communicating out). In CDI, students learn to leverage conceptual design to position their products, causes and services in new and original ways.
It's one thing to be consistently great in a field, and it is another thing to be a consistently brilliant educator. Thank you, Alex Swart, for being both.
—Tamar, Communication, Design & Innovation student
Entertainment Advertising Design
Alex Swart wrote the class Entertainment Advertising Design to teach students how to employ a genre-based approach to attract audiences. Over a 15-year period, Swart taught and evolved the class at Cal State LA and at CSU Northridge. Swart's students consistently secured positions in the entertainment industry.
