SchoolArts - October 2008

Elementary Studio Lesson

Design with the World in Mind

Erica Kabbeko

Good design brings the Carefully Planned Images excitement of the Olym- All nations that enter the host arena pic Games into the visual hire artists such as fashion designers realm of public media. who make their teams look their fin-This is a place where billions of est upon their entrance, during their people all over the world watch their performances, and at other times respective countries with pride and during the events. A well-composed anticipation. The Olympic Games team can offer an image of unity, unite nations while displaying the confidence, and perfection—an image uniqueness of each country. They that plays a large role in the mental foster national pride and patriotism performance brought to each event by as viewers watch athletes from their the participating athletes. countries engage in a competition In addition, every Olympic event that requires strength, dedication, seen on television (including the talent, and respect design of the tele-for their oppo- At the Olympics, artists and vision program ^nents. designers are the solution ^itself) ^is ^care-

The host coun- fully planned and try has a great ^to ^providing ^universally designed to provide sense of pride in understood images. a specific experi-showing what ence for viewers. their home has to offer as they wel- Sponsors advertise their products via come the world. To do this, they must this international event with both provide a visually stimulating envi- great specificity and intent. ronment as well as a smoothly run program. At the Olympics, artists and designers are the solution to providing universally understood images, products, fashion, multimedia programs, and other event experiences.

Fashion Forward

All of these factors concerning the Olympics led me to develop the lesson I call Fashion Forward, one part of a unit called Design with the World in Mind, which is based on the enduring idea that visual images are powerful communication tools. It was taught to ninth and tenth graders in four fifty-minute classes.

Overview

We began with a discussion on the Olympic Games and its host coun-

try for 200 8, Beijing, China. Students were provided with examples of the work of several athletic apparel designers. Students also viewed previous designs used for American and other countries in the Olympic Games.

Next, students were assigned to an athletic company to work on America’s largest advertising campaign, apparel for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Designers from Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Champion, Asics, and Converse competed by submitting clothing designs for the games in hopes of sponsoring America’s athletes.

Each student team created a single unisex design for the team warm-ups as well as four designs for other events—two female events and two male events. Students had to consider colors and fabrics, as well as any athletic objects used in their chosen events such as shoes, balls, sticks, goggles, etc. Students had to provide detailed information with their designs and write a brief description about the design decisions made and what they conveyed about the American team. The top designer won the campaign for their company and got to sponsor the 2008 Olympic team.