Bruce Cadle - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Bruce Cadle

Vulindlela, making new pathways: Conference Proceedings, 2023

Starting in the 1990s in South Africa, according to Sauthoff, designers in general and graphic de... more Starting in the 1990s in South Africa, according to Sauthoff, designers in general and graphic designers in particular have sought to create an inimitable design style that is imbued with a recognisable (South) Afrikan cultural identity. This is in reaction to the entrenched hegemonic influence of Euro-American design practices. Names like Saki Mafundikwa, Karabo Poppy, Garth Walker, and Sindiso Nyoni are on the influential list of designers bracketing a so-called African design aesthetic. How is this 'aesthetic' related to design that is culturally significant, according to Twigger Holroyd, and that lends authenticity to an artefact, positioning it as representative of Afrikanness? This paper considers whether the notions of Afrikanness in design can be included in the learning and teaching processes of graphic design. The intention is not to suggest that there is a formulaic approach to designing that results in an Afrikan 'feel'. Rather, that the methodology employs Afronowism as an attitude to design that considers several ways of knowing Afrikanness, and consequently, embedding that in ways of doing. This is achieved by seeking to identify the 'essence' of cultural identity that embodies an Afrikan sensibility and acknowledges cultural diversity. The methodology includes a multivalent approach that uses Rose's "Visual Methodologies", Hall's "negotiated reading", and Pauwel's arguments for visual analysis and selective sampling that recognise the importance of the author/designer's subjectivity in understanding the sample and analysing it. The findings allow for the development of criteria, which can then be used as a teaching strategy for a design brief and engage in a design process that is culturally sensitive, ethically aware, and humanistic. Together with visual and cultural studies, this approach to designing artefacts and visual communication creates a space of criticality and questioning for students that centres on recognition of the diverse aspects of visual culture underpinning Afrikanness. Although, in this paper, graphic design and visual communication are posited as the vehicles of learning, the methodology was conceived with broader design disciplines in mind and so serves all streams as a method.

Visual Studies, 2024

Notions of the visible and the invisible: visualising the otherness of women with invisible (gyna... more Notions of the visible and the invisible: visualising the otherness of women with invisible (gynaecological) illness, Visual Studies,

Africa Today, Sep 1, 2022

In the South African context, since 2011, Laduma Ngxokolo has been a standout example of the prec... more In the South African context, since 2011, Laduma Ngxokolo has been a standout example of the precept of Afrikanness, garnering numerous national and international awards and accolades for his Afroluxe design ethos. As founder of the fashion brand MaXhosa Africa, he has transitioned from enfant terrible to respected international fashion and textile design visionary, constantly producing evocative and compelling looks that mine his Xhosa traditions and histories in the pursuit of producing culturally significant work for a cosmopolitan audience. He imbues his work with references to Xhosa beading and symbols and the ("secret") messaging embedded therein, the influence of bold traditional color combinations, brave pattern contrasts, and contemporized garment silhouettes that mix Afrikan and Western sensibility. The essence of Afrika and the alluring mysteries surrounding cultural production that are embodied in tradition, histories, language, rites and rituals, symbols, and mythologies have become a signature aspect of contemporary Afrikan design. Across the continent, designers in general, and fashion designers in particular, are proudly infusing their work with ideas emanating from these issues, definitive of their individual groupings and ethnicities but also broadly encompassing of their Afrikanness.[ 9] Ngxokolo's most recent collection, Lindelwa (We are the ones they have been waiting for), shown in part at Rakuten Fashion Week in September 2021, signals a collaboration with Japan's Tokyo Knit combine. Curious about the new trajectory, I engage the designer on this hybrid venture, his thoughts on Afrikanness, and the future of South Afrikan fashion design.

The International Journal of Social, Political and Community Agendas in the Arts, 2023

For many of the world’s nations, one thing stands out: extreme sociopolitical devotion to a Leade... more For many of the world’s nations, one thing stands out: extreme sociopolitical devotion to a Leader. This research seeks to show that cults of personality develop through identifiable mechanisms. Moreover, the modalities of visual communication employed to entrench the ideologies and omnipresence of the Leader can be defined by specific values that progress from a state of “emergence” to one of “entrenchment.” This process is illustrated by the Value Progression Model, a nonempirical way of showing the cult of personality establishment, and the role played by cultural artifacts in maintaining visual saturation, and hence, perceptions of the Leader’s omnipotence.

The International Journal of the Humanities: Annual Review, 2012

The demand for graduates with more competencies, more knowledge, a broader world view and value s... more The demand for graduates with more competencies, more knowledge, a broader world view and value system, liberated minds and rapidly evolving job descriptions and competitiveness in the marketplace, plus internationalisation in education and competition for status, students and funding at universities, should inform curriculum development in the 21st century. The pursuit of best-practice in teaching and learning is thus paramount to successful higher education and concomitantly it should inform curriculum development. Pursuant to the views of educational theorists and the author’s practice, this paper will present a visualisation of a framework for an ‘Ideal Curriculum’. The model thus presented is a flowchart intended for use as a tool for reviewing learning programmes to establish whether they have best practice credentials, but is also intended for use as a guideline for developing curricula that are a balance of modalities: formal and hidden learning, with vocational and academic tracks. The model has particular resonance to the visual arts programmes from former polytechnic-type universities, where emphasis has traditionally been on hand skills and vocational outcomes, but has since shifted on to encompass critical discourse, cultural awareness, social responsibility, environmental sensitivity and globalism, as these universities became subsumed into the broader tertiary network.

The International Journal of Designed Objects, 2022

Abstract: The phenomenon referred to as “Afro-now-ism” is a response to the popularization of the... more Abstract: The phenomenon referred to as “Afro-now-ism” is a response to the popularization of the term
“Afrofuturism,” coined by diasporic Africans in the United States and largely applied to musical, literary, and artistic
practice that “imagines” a future or fantasy space where the Black voice exists outside of Eurocentric, modernist
thinking, and creative practices. This article considers Afro-now-ism in relation to Afrikanness and cultural production
in design and visual communication and argues for ownership of culturally significant production by continental
Afrikans. Because an empirical analysis is insufficient to determine the “essence” or “feel” of artifacts, Hall’s
“negotiated reading” visual methodology and Pauwels’ visual analysis model are used to make the case for design that
embodies tradition, culture, history, and appropriation, to express this Afrikanness—the essence of Afro-now-ism.
Keywords: Afrofuturism, Afro-now-ism, Afrika, Afrikanness, Design, Culture, Production

South African Journal of Art History, 2015

Design occupies a position of ambivalence bestriding the concerns of culture and capital, yet it ... more Design occupies a position of ambivalence bestriding the concerns of culture and capital, yet it accounts for a great deal of personal and economic meaning. In The Culture of Design, Guy Julier introduces design culture as a ubiquitous signifier of modernity: defining it as the study of the shifting interrelationships between producers, designers and consumers. When exploring how these agents interrelate both a material and symbolic understanding of the world of consumption becomes apparent. Design begins to account for more than economic markets, including the more intangible production of values and ideas. According to Bourdieu, producing, designing and consuming, pivots on competition. Bourdieu's sociological field model when applied to this study suggests that design culture can be allocated to two symbolic fields of competitive struggle located in cultural and commercial hierarchies. Design is problematised by the criticisms of Theodor Adorno and Hal Foster, who believe tha...

The International Journal of Visual Design

2013 DEFSA Conference Proceedings, Dec 2013

Contemporary design practice (and theory) is growing up. There is evidence to support the emergen... more Contemporary design practice (and theory) is growing up. There is evidence to support the emergence of a new breed of designer who is able to reflect on her or his role in society, and to be critical of what they make and what the resultant consequences of that may be. Design is often used as a vehicle to criticise and comment on issues, highlight problems and shortcomings in society, and present views and perspectives. This suggests that design is at a distance and impartial, but the truth is otherwise. Design is ideological and an expression of the values mediated by the designer and commissioned by others. This is the status quo: affirmative design. When design steps away from this position and critiques itself, critical design is the result. Presenting alternative perspectives and reflecting on the role of design is its purpose. This paper will address this emerging phenomenon that originated in product design, and the discourse extant to the work of Dunne and Raby. By identifying the characteristics of critical design and visualising the pathways, processes and consequences that distinguish it from affirmative design, the paper will argue that design practices, other than product design, can be scrutinised according to this model. Furthermore the virtues of the designer’s authorial voice will be extolled as reflexive of this and necessary to establishing a culture of design critique, and to positioning critical design as an integral, important and necessary part of design discourse.

This paper is the detailed (and unpublished) version of the paper titled "The Pursuit of Best Pra... more This paper is the detailed (and unpublished) version of the paper titled "The Pursuit of Best Practice in Teaching and Learning: Visualisation of a Framework for an Ideal Curriculum". It presents a practical and methodical approach for dealing with the complexities of curriculum design from the perspective of an academic with a non-formal pedagogical background.

The International Journal of the Humanities Volume 9, Issue 8, pp.195-206, Apr 2012

2011 DEFSA Conference Proceedings, Sep 2011

The diverse tautology applied to graphic design means different things depending on the perspecti... more The diverse tautology applied to graphic design means different things depending on the perspective from which it is viewed and has become the topic for much debate in recent times. This is of particular relevance to the tertiary educational arena in South Africa, where universities (including Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) which provides the context for this paper) are faced with the dual spectres of programme re-curriculation and Higher Education Qualifications Framework (HEQF)1 level compliancy in the near future and graphic design programmes will have to reconsider their relevance in a changing/changed educational and business paradigm. Determining what graphic design is and reflecting on its role in society is a critical aspect of this imminent, and important process.

This paper will attempt to define the "new model" graphic designer by identifying the qualities, skills, values, content and contexts that best describe the practice and the practitioner; as this should also inform educational best practice, and will present a list of values and characteristics that embody the essence of graphic design for the 21st century.

These characteristics can then become the basis for the development or evaluation of a best practice curriculum that is credible, relevant and vital for the future.

The author contends that responding to the "definition" will allow teaching and learning to become more relevant as the designer‘s identity is clarified, a broader world view is encouraged and curricula evolve to accommodate the present and future realities of graphic design communication

2009 DEFSA Conference Proceedings, Nov 2009

"South African education systems straddle the developed/developing world schism, an old-school-st... more "South African education systems straddle the developed/developing world schism, an old-school-style Eurocentric view has long tussled with an Africanist dialectic. Educators struggle with access and upliftment issues whilst implementing outcomes-based learning programmes and simultaneously maintaining academic standards. At Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), conscious of the need to build future capacity, innovation in teaching and learning is paramount and the issues identified above are constantly under debate. Experimentation is an ongoing aspect of teaching methodology.

This innovation is especially necessary in teaching the design disciplines. The secondary school system makes little or no provision for the visual arts and even less for design. Students enter university with essentially no contextual reference point for design. So begins the complex process of creating literate, informed, socially conscious designers.

This paper will contextualise the situation facing design education in South Africa by citing examples where attempts are underway to bridge the gaps between the disciplines of Fashion Design, Graphic Design, Textile Design and Photography; by arguing the case for Trans-disciplinary Design as a possible solution to building design capacity in South Africa; and lastly to emphasise the importance, in a developing economy of the artisanal, the notion of crafting, and the sense of pride and achievement that results from mastery of hand skills as the keystone to the creative process – the place where design and art meet.

It attempts to present and clarify the context faced by many design educators in South Africa and highlights some of the innovative practice educators have to apply to encourage learning, grow African content and broaden design sensibility. "