THE STRUCTURE OF VISUAL DESIGN FOR SECONDARY LEVEL INDUSTRIAL ARTS: A CRITIQUE AND A PROPOSAL

The central problem of this study is the need for a structure of visual design for secondary level industrial arts. This problem is founded on two major assumptions, both of which are based on the writer's personal observations of the field of industrial arts: first; that little visual design is being taught in industrial arts, secondly; that this condition of a lack of instruction in visual design in industrial arts might be improved if industrial arts students and their teachers were better able to understand the complex relationships between the principles of visual design. Inherent within the latter assumption are a number of even more basic or fundamental assumptions. These fundamental assumptions are: that a number of cognitive systems or frameworks could exist which would explain the complex relationships between the principles of visual design; that the best and most useful cognitive systems have certain natural properties of structure; and that these natural properties of structure are desirable in the educational setting.;Because of the strong possibility that many secondary level industrial arts students may not have previous training in visual design, the proposed structure of visual design is comprehensive. That is to say; the assumption is not made that the student has a familiarity with pre-operational visual design concepts such as the basic elements of design.;Based upon these assumptions the writer has developed a structure for the concepts of visual design. An effort was made in the development of this structure of visual design to be respectful of the current and historical influences effecting the structure of visual design. An effort was also made to be consistent with the terminology generally used in the field of industrial arts.