Design Education Talks ep. 68 – Justus Theinert

Lefteris Heretakis

Jan Kubasiewicz on Teaching Design as a System of Meaning – Design Education Talks

Our guest today is Jan Kubasiewicz, Professor of Design at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and one of the most influential figures in the development of dynamic media and motion design education. Born and educated in Poland, Jan has spent decades working at the intersection of visual language, time, information, and systems. He is the founder and long-time coordinator of the Dynamic Media Institute at MassArt, a programme that helped define how motion, interaction, and data could be taught as core design literacies rather than technical specialisms. Alongside his academic work, Jan’s practice spans exhibition making, research, and authorship, with his work exhibited internationally across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Beyond the classroom, Jan has played a crucial role in shaping design discourse through lectures, publications, and curatorial projects at institutions including Harvard University, where he serves as an affiliate of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and curator of the Giedrojć Gallery. His writing on motion literacy, information design, and dynamic media pedagogy has become foundational reading for design educators worldwide. In this conversation, we explore how design functions as a language over time, why research is inseparable from practice, and what it means to educate designers for complexity, responsibility, and meaning in a world increasingly defined by motion and data.Since its inception in 2019, Design Education Talks podcast has served as a dynamic platform for the exchange of insights and ideas within the realm of art and design education. This initiative sprang from a culmination of nearly a decade of extensive research conducted by Lefteris Heretakis. His rich background, intertwining academia, industry, and student engagement, laid the foundation for a podcast that goes beyond the conventional boundaries of educational discourse.See all of our work on on https://linktr.ee/thenewartschoolFollow us on twitter at @newartschoolRead our latest articles at https://newartschool.education/and https://heretakis.medium.com/Equipment used to produce the podcast:Rodcaster pro IIRode NT1 5th generationElgato Low profile Microphone ArmMonster Prolink Studio Pro microphone cableThe rest of the equipment is here 👉https://kit.co/heretakis/podcasting
  1. Jan Kubasiewicz on Teaching Design as a System of Meaning
  2. Nikolaus Hafermaas – Berlin Unplugged: Design, Education, and the Courage to Disrupt
  3. The Future of Learning with Christian Dominique: AI, Neuroscience and the Art of Wellness in Education
  4. Design in Motion: James Grady on Creative Process and Emerging Technologies
  5. The Second Mountain: John McFaul’s Search for Purpose in Design

After graduating as Industrial Designer Justus Theinert carried out a one year field inquiry on “Methodology and didactics in European design education”, visiting the leading design schools in Europe. Later he participated as Research Fellow in the project “Design quality of engineer-buildings” at the University Stuttgart, investigating the phenomenon of Gestalt-quality in engineer buildings. He then became an Assistant Professor at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart where he was in charge of the development and establishment of the “Master of European Design” program and project manager within the design network “Four Motors for Europe” (Baden-Wurttemberg, Catalunya, Lombardy, Rhône-Alpes). At the same time he became Senior Designer and Partner in the studio “Prof. Wulf Schneider & Partner” with focus on the development of office furniture, interior and transportation design. In 1996 he founded the “Studio for innovation-management and product development.” After several projects for Mercedes-Benz, he was offered the position of Senior Designer at corporate design studio of DaimlerChrysler AG, where he was responsible for three dimensional aspects of corporate design such as POS furniture, accessories as well as brand strategy. In 2001 Theinert was appointed Full Professor for Industrial Design and Design Theory at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences where he managed the faculty as Dean from 2007 to 2010. 2004 consultant for design promotion and design education development in Jordan in collaboration with Yarmouk University, Irbid and the German Research Foundation (DFG). International teaching and consultancy in design didactics in Europe, Egypt, Taiwan and at more than 30 Chinese universities. Various visiting professorships and publications on aesthetic education and design didactics. 2014 Justus Theinert was nominated DeTao Master at DeTao Masters Academy Shanghai.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/prof-justus-theinert-27577b50/

https://design.h-da.de/justus-theinert

Support the show

Follow us on twitter at @newartschool
Visits us on https://linktr.ee/thenewartschool
Read our latest articles at https://heretakis.wordpress.com/
and https://heretakis.medium.com/

Unknown's avatar

Published by Lefteris Heretakis

Navigating you through the disruption in #art, #design and #designeducation.

Leave a comment