Theory vs practicality

CS is an interesting subject, as it is Computer Science -- mostly about computer theory. I will tell you from being out of school for 10 years, I have rarely if _ever_ needed any of that algorithms / compiler theory / autonoma / LZW compression algorithm stuff. And if I did need it, all of those concepts transcend languages.

Computer Science isn't there to teach you how to be a good programmer, its there for you to understand programming theory. Computer Science exists so there will be qualified people around to make new compilers. C and other simple languages are there because the concepts transcend the current language du jour.

Take Software Engineering if you want to learn how to develop software.

I asked a friend that does design for a living what he thought of the article. He thought the professor should be fired as well. He was completely unaware of any of those tools and said that if you show up with those on your resume most won't know what to make of it. The graphic design industry is slow to change. They have workflows that work for them and they aren't looking to change them for the sake of change.

Learning theory works for CS because as Eric says it is a theoretical subject. It doesn't apply as much in the art world where people expect to come out of school with industry standard skills.

Hmmm, admittedly I haven't taken art classes since high school, but I would rather work with someone who is creative and has a great eye than someone who knows the tools inside out. When we were interviewing designers at work, the portfolio and the candidates explanations of their designs were much more important than the tools used.

Matt,

Out of curiosity, what tools does the designer(s?) you guys hired use? Are they all OSS?

I also think that there is a gulf between the web market and the print market, with web stuff worrying much less about some of the features PS has.

Matt, you are right on. I am a 2D/3D illustrator and graphic designer, and, no matter how much people tell you that "in CS it's different," they're still wrong. You're *always* best off working with someone who can take even crayon to cardboard and communicate from the get-go.

I've taught Open Source graphics classes before; so have many others, and despite the fears of all these "he should be fired!!!" people, this stuff happens every day and both parents and students are happy with it. I think that's because teachers who use OSS are more likely to have *actual design skills* rather than just a knowledge of software operation.

Sure, as a designer you need to have a good grasp of the industry-standard tools. But that's something that you should have accomplished on your own time, *before* you decided to study Graphic Design. University classes like "Intro to Photoshop" will always be there for you, but they are a *huge* waste of time.

In fact, if you can't step outside the proprietary software circle and pony up some great designs, you are a "software operator," not a designer, even if some of the required skills match up.

The guy that taught the class using Ubuntu certainly knew the bounds he was working in. Give him credit for being resourceful and teaching students about the beautiful Open Source aesthetic. I'm sure they'll be OK. :)

I agree with Marc, if you can't work outside the favourite "packages du jour" of the design industry, you're nothing more than an operator. Indeed, in various countries you can actually find jobs with titles such as "Mac operator", although the twist is that some of them might not actually involve a Mac any more.

Meanwhile, I'd expect colleges and universities to teach the fundamentals, not "which key combinations and plug-ins do what"; those "Intro to Photoshop" courses are for that kind of thing: either familiarising professionals with the tools, or just training operators up for their next gig.

And it's shocking, but not surprising, that the "he should be fired" crowd don't see anything wrong with a status quo where people supposedly have to have proprietary tools exposure in a course because tooling up privately either involves big bucks or illicit sharing of the wares. It's particularly shocking because they don't see how non-proprietary software makes education more accessible, although I'd hardly expect corporate fanboys to see the benefits of that.

John- I believe our designers are not using open source software.

Marc/Paul - Thanks for the support. I was pretty suprised that the audience for the newsforge website would be so anti -open source! I also see it as an enabler. Younger kids can mess around with gimp/inkscape and see if they like design without having to pirate software or make big purchases.

I also talked to a graphics designer (who also happens to teach at a local community college). His feelings were that design skills are important, but you also need to be proficient with a tool. (He also lamented his company forcing him to move from mac to pc back in 1999. Though he's sortof adjusted to pcs now ;) ).

Not that this has much to do with the tools (whether or not one is using open source), but this artical notes that many graphic art graduates are lacking basic drawing skills now

Gotta chime in. I'm a CS teacher who teaches multimedia classes to new media (mainly art) students. (My Masters is in New Media, but I teach Computer Scence) I use almost all open-source tools to illustrate the mathematical and scientific concepts behind the things students are learning in their "real world" classes. Some students gripe, some are thrilled. The people who are most defensive are those who teach "industry standards" and can't understand why I'm insisting on something different.

My CS background taught me exactly why this kind of thinking is what artists need too.

While the industry standard software du jour goes out of style every couple of years, the fundamental concepts have endured for years. They will continue to endure, and will remain useful long after any software package has seen its demise. My students get sick of hearing this, but it's true:

Sometimes the most practical skill of all is some well-applied theory.