Thursday, February 27, 2025 - Sunday, March 2, 2025
About this Event
50 Pullen Rd., Raleigh, NC 27695
https://design.ncsu.edu/ncbds40/The National Conference on the Beginning Design Student (NCBDS) is a national peer-reviewed scholarly gathering dedicated to the study and practice of beginning design education. For 40 years, the NCBDS has provided a forum for design educators to present papers and projects and to hold discussions related to introductory design issues.
The conference welcomes new faculty to attend and participate. This event provides opportunities for mentorship, collaboration, networking, and presentation of research and pedagogical methods within an inclusive environment.
This year's conference is hosted by the NC State University College of Design in Raleigh, NC. For more information, visit https://design.ncsu.edu/ncbds40/.
2025 Theme: TOOL(ING)
Tools, their processes, and the media they shape intrinsically impact how we conceive design problems, generate alternatives, produce solutions, and test results. Therefore, immersion in diverse tool types and exploration of myriad creative processes they facilitate is a foundational component to beginning design education. Today more than ever, designers are responsible for navigating a wide array of tool types in order to forge and command their creative endeavors. This navigation spans traditional analog tools, emerging digital processes, iterative design procedures, and critical research methods. In contrast to seeing tools as a means to an end, this conference will explore the reciprocal relationship that tools have with their human users.
NCBDS40 seeks to explore what belongs in our design education toolbox towards equipping the next generation of designers to be creative, resilient, skilled, engaged, and empowered to tackle the wicked challenges of tomorrow.