The Importance Of Art And Design In Education

Good design and observational skills are worth developing even if you are thinking of moving in a direction not considered part of the `Creative Industries`.

At school ,the importance and awareness of good layouts for presentations,being able to produce clear maps in geography,sketches in history,biology,not to mention being able to develop and work on ideas in technology subjects are all developed through an art and design education.Once one moves into the world of work those skills can used in so many ways Pleasure,satisfaction and the sheer joy in the process

Unfortunately the arts subjects are often `dropped` as their value is not always obvious.One example,there are studies which show correlations between students who have strong spatial awareness and great abilities in Mathematics.There are many more. Sadly these talents are often neglected as subject choices dictate directions very early in young peoples careers.The satisfaction of `just sketching`is just a dream for many.Colour,design appreciation,developing ones own visual tastes are neglected .

The advantage of having a drawing skill which can be developed along with an awareness of design and the visual world is priceless and it gives the added bonus of enhancing pleasure of so many areas of our lives.Drawing is a skill and with application and encouragement talents do emerge.

Its still a joy (and challenge!)for me to draw and create and I now enjoy passing on my skills,ideas and enthusiasm to my students.