Imitation or Creation: The Effects of Visual Material in Basic Design Education

Design education can be described as a means to enhance certain visual skills in a prospective designer. Among the courses offered in the curriculum, basic design appears to be the foundation course which aim to develop creative talent with visualization skills. Throughout the first year, the students are introduced with materials and techniques for 2D and 3D visualization together with basic principles of design. However the students’ reconciliation of these principles with the design work is often observed to be a hard process. Although visual course material can be used as a guide to demonstrate the students the proper answers to a design problem, it can have an impact on student works which can result in replication and imitation. The aim of the study is to trace how basic design students are affected by the visual information given at the beginning of a problem solving act.