NASAD Competencies Summary: BFA Fashion Design

NASAD Competencies Summary

Degree: BFA in Fashion Design, a professional undergraduate degree

Essential Note: Items below are excerpts from the NASAD Handbook. Items 1 through 6 indicate the

content and natures of the competencies expected of those graduating with the above degree. Items

7 and 8 indicate recommendations for competency development.

Only the Handbook in its entirety contains all standards and guidelines applicable to and used by all

phases of NASAD membership reviews. In the text below “H.” indicates the location of the excerpted

text in the Handbook; the term “(All)” indicates standards applicable to all professional undergraduate

art/design degrees including fashion design; “(Fashion Design)” indicates specific standards for that

major.

Item 1. (All)

Common Body of Knowledge and Skills (H.VIII.B.)

1. Studio. Studies, practice, and experiences in studio subjects are of prime importance in the

preparation of students for professional careers in art and design. The excellence of the creative

work produced by students is the best determinant of the adequacy of the studio studies offered

by an institution. Creative work includes, but is not limited to, conceptualization, process,

product, and critique.

Irrespective of major or specialization, students must:

a. Gain functional competence with principles of visual organization, including the ability to

work with visual elements in two and three dimensions; color theory and its applications;

and drawing.

b. Present work that demonstrates perceptual acuity, conceptual understanding, and technical

facility at a professional entry level in their chosen field(s).

c. Become familiar with the historical achievements, current major issues, processes, and

directions of their field(s).

d. Be afforded opportunities to exhibit their work and to experience and participate in critiques

and discussions of their work and the work of others.

Studio work normally begins at the freshman level and extends with progressively greater

intensity throughout the degree program.

There should be opportunities for independent study at the advanced level that includes

appropriate supervision and evaluation upon completion.

2. Art/Design History, Theory, and Criticism. Through comprehensive courses in the history of

art/design, students must:

a. Learn to analyze works of art/design from both Western and non-Western cultures

perceptively and to evaluate them critically.

b. Develop an understanding of the common elements and vocabulary of art/design and of the

interaction of these elements, and be able to employ this knowledge in analysis.

c. Acquire the ability to place works of art/design in historical, cultural, and stylistic contexts.

In certain areas of specialization, it is advisable to require that students study the historical

development of works within the specialization.

Normally, studies in art and design history and analysis occupy at least 10% of the total

curriculum.

3. Technology. Students must acquire a working knowledge of technologies and equipment

applicable to their area(s) of specialization.

4. Synthesis. While synthesis is a lifetime process, by the end of undergraduate studies students

should be able to work independently on a variety of art and/or design problems by combining,

as appropriate to the issue, their capabilities in studio, analysis, history, and technology.

Item 2. (All)

Results (H.VIII.C.)

Upon completion of any specific professional undergraduate degree program:

1. Students must demonstrate achievement of professional, entry-level competence in the major

area of specialization, including significant technical mastery, capability to produce work and

solve professional problems independently, and a coherent set of artistic/intellectual goals that

are evident in their work.

2. Students must demonstrate their competence by developing a body of work for evaluation in the

major area of study. A senior project or final presentation in the major area is required.

3. Students must have the ability to form and defend value judgments about art and design and to

communicate art/design ideas, concepts, and requirements to professionals and laypersons

related to the practice of the major field. They are able to work collaboratively as appropriate to

the area(s) of specialization.

Item 3. (Fashion Design)

Essential Competencies, Experiences, and Opportunities (H.X.D.3.)

(in addition to those stated for all professional degree programs in VIII.B and C.):

a. Understanding of how design elements, including color, texture, and pattern, contribute to the

aesthetic, illusionistic, and practical functions of three-dimensional forms, particularly as related

to principles for draping the human body and the design and construction of garments.

Development of this understanding continues throughout the degree program in such areas as

form analysis and integration, color, and design.

b. Knowledge and skills in the use of basic tools, techniques, and processes sufficient to produce

work from draft or specifications to finished product, including skills in portfolio preparation. This

involves functional knowledge of human form and function and awareness of the potentials and

professional capabilities in the uses of current and developing materials, media, and

technologies, including sketching, life drawing, rendering, and computer-assisted design.

c. Ability to determine design priorities and alternatives; research, define and evaluate criteria and

requirements; coordinate project elements; and communicate with involved personnel at all

stages of the design process.

d. Ability to design for a number of markets based on a working knowledge of the characteristics

and organization of those markets.

e. Acquisition of collaborative skills and the ability to work effectively in interdisciplinary or

multidisciplinary teams.

f. Foundational knowledge of the history of fashion design including, but not limited to the

influences of works and ideas on the evolution of fashion design study and practice over time

and across cultures.

g. Functional knowledge of professional design practices and processes including, but not limited to

professional and ethical behaviors and intellectual property issues such as patents, trademarks,

and copyrights.

h. Functional knowledge of basic business practices including, but not limited to entrepreneurship,

marketing, accounting, and manufacturing; and basic practices associated with the overall

business of fashion such as ethics, intellectual property, labor issues, and decisions associated

with ecological and social responsibility and sustainability.

i. Opportunities to develop a balanced orientation to the practical and theoretical aspects of

fashion design, including understanding of the profession’s connection with other design fields.

j. Easy access to studios and libraries with appropriate fashion design resources.

k. Experience in applying design knowledge and skills beyond the classroom is essential.

Opportunities for field research and experience, internships, collaborative programs with

professional and industry groups, and international experiences are strongly recommended. Such

opportunities to become oriented to the working profession should be supported through strong

advising.

Item 4. (All Professional Design)

Common Curricular Elements Incorporated in All Specific Professional Undergraduate

Degrees in Design (H.X.A.6.)

Common critical elements in the strategic environment for design impact, are reflected, and are

integrated differently in the work of various design specializations, and thus, in the realization of

curricular programs to develop the student competencies required to begin professional practice in

those specializations.

Specific detailed competency development decisions regarding these common elements are the

prerogatives of institutions. However, to maintain fundamental curricular currency with

developments in each field, each professional undergraduate program in design is expected to

prepare students to understand and work with the following in terms of their area of specialization or

focus.

1. Context. The role of the designer is not only to achieve the goodness of fit between form and

context, but also to determine how much of the surrounding context will be considered as a

specific design problem is addressed and solved. Basic competence in both framing and solving

design problems is essential for graduates. In all design specializations, this competence includes

knowledge of and ability to address the following:

a. Usefulness. The value of communication, objects, environments, or services to persons and

society.

b. Usability. The cognitive or physical ease, efficiency, and satisfaction of people as they learn

and use communication, objects, products, environments, systems, or services.

c. Desirability. The perceived emotional, social, or cultural benefits of communication, objects,

products, environments, systems, or services.

d. Sustainability. The consequences of design in interdependent systems, lifespan of designed

objects, and use and disposal of resources.

e. Feasibility. The technological ability to produce and/or disseminate and/or distribute

communication, objects, environments, or services.

f. Viability. The economic potential and consequences, for example, for return on investment,

economic sustainability, and growth.

2. Complexity. The context for design problem solving is increasingly complex and design activity is

typically nested within a web of interconnected systems. Basic understanding of how such

complexity is addressed and expressed in design practice is essential. Competencies include

familiarity with:

a. Trans-disciplinary/interdisciplinary collaboration. Basic understanding of the nature, content,

and process of trans/interdisciplinary work, including experiences working in trans-

disciplinary teams toward the solution of design problems. To address critical aspects of the

content component, where possible, curricula and courses should facilitate understanding of

the relevance of knowledge in a variety of fields associated with addressing complex design

issues and problems. Fields include the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and business,

and other fields associated with various areas of specialization.

b. Designing at the level of systems. Basic knowledge of means for considering, evaluating, and

anticipating the consequences of design action in a variety of systems, even when working at

the level of products and components. This competence is normally developed through

studio and other studies and activities.

c. Geographic dispersal of effort. Basic understanding of the management and labor structures

and issues associated with the design, production, dissemination, and distribution of

communication, goods, and services in the global context. Students should be encouraged to

gain work experience in settings that represent a variety of economic and social

opportunities.

d. Issues of lifespan and sustainability. Ability to justify the use of resources and identify

long-term consequences of design action in their solutions to problems.

3. Designing for and with People. Contemporary design practice addresses varying levels of

responsibility between designers and users. For example, control for design decisions can shift

proportionally from project to project and purpose to purpose. Knowledge and skills to

understand and begin to work in this environment are essential. Competencies include the ability

to:

a. Choose and apply research and other methods for understanding various users’ wants,

needs, and patterns of behavior.

b. Recognize social, cultural, ability, and perspective differences on scales ranging from

individual to global.

c. Consider and evaluate strategies for addressing or resolving competing values in the process

of finding design solutions.

d. Work with issues and projects associated with participatory design and its processes.

4. Technology. A rapidly evolving technological context presents both challenges and opportunities

for design education. While the resources of institutions may limit how quickly programs can

respond to industry changes in specific software and hardware, overarching knowledge and skills

for working with the impact of technology on design are essential. Competencies include the

ability to:

a. Learn how to learn technology. Because change will be a constant, students’ technological

studies and experiences need to prepare them to learn new technologies on an ongoing

basis.

b. Make critical choices among different technologies. Through various curricular studies and

experiences, students are expected to become critical users of technology, able to match

technological choices to specific problems and their respective contexts.

c. Design tools and systems. The democratization of technology places a greater burden on

designers in certain specializations to invent the systems through which users create their

own experiences. For students majoring in those specializations, competencies include basic

understanding of the development of such systems and of the fundamental relationships

between the invention of systems and the invention of technology. Experience in projects

associated with the invention of technology, as well as its use, is strongly recommended.

5. Research. Research is an integral component in designing for and with people in a context that

encompasses complexity and technology. Research sensibilities and comprehensive capabilities

are gained through study and practice over a lifetime. At the undergraduate professional degree

level, basic understanding of research methods, and the ability to read and use findings in studio

projects are essential. This competence includes basic knowledge and skills to develop research-

supported design decisions for specific circumstances that address:

a. What people want and need.

b. What is needed that does not exist.

c. How people learn and know.

d. What particular contexts demand.

e. How things get planned, produced, and distributed.

f. The effects of design action on people, communities, the environment, and the future.

g. Tools, theories, and methods for exploring these issues.

Item 5. (All Professional Design)

Common Essential Resource-based Opportunities and Experiences for All Students

Enrolled in Professional Undergraduate Design Degrees (H.X.B.)

Institutions must provide the following in terms of each specific specialization or field of design it

offers.

1. Easy access to studios appropriately equipped for teaching, learning, and work (see Standards for

Accreditation II.F.).

2. Easy access to libraries with (a) appropriate design collections in the field of specialization,

(b) resources that are current and appropriate to the specific curricula being offered, and

(see Standards for Accreditation II.G.).

3. Easy access to tutorials that develop software and other technical capabilities (see Standards for

Accreditation IV.B.1.).

4. Easy access to appropriately equipped labs and technological support necessary for the

execution of design solutions (see Standards for Accreditation II.F.).

5. Continuous regular access to instruction and critique under faculty with educational and

professional backgrounds in the area of design specialization. Instruction for the number of

students enrolled, and sufficient numbers of qualified faculty to provide the diversity of expertise

required for a comprehensive current education in the field of specialization (see Standards for

Accreditation II.E.).

Item 6. (All)

General Studies Competencies (H.VIII.A.6.)

a. Competencies. Specific competency expectations are determined by the institution. Normally,

students holding a professional undergraduate degree in art and/or design are expected to have:

(1) The ability to think, speak, and write clearly and effectively, and to communicate with

precision, cogency, and rhetorical force.

(2) An informed acquaintance with the mathematical and experimental methods of the physical

and biological sciences and with the main forms of analysis and the historical and

quantitative techniques needed for investigating the workings and developments of modern

society.

(3) An ability to address culture and history from a variety of perspectives.

(4) Understanding of, and experience in thinking about, moral and ethical problems.

(5) The ability to respect, understand, and evaluate work in a variety of disciplines.

(6) The capacity to explain and defend views effectively and rationally.

(7) Understanding of and experience in art forms other than the visual arts and design.

Item 7. (Fashion Design)

Recommendations for General Studies (H.IX.D.2.)

(See VIII.A.6.). Studies related to anthropology, business, psychology, and sociology are particularly

useful for fashion designers.

Item 8. (All)

Recommendations for Professional Studies (H.VIII.D.)

Students engaged in professional undergraduate degrees in art/design should have opportunities to:

1. Gain a basic understanding of the nature of professional work in their major field. Examples are:

organizational structures and working patterns; artistic, intellectual, economic, technological,

and political contexts; and development potential.

2. Acquire the skills necessary to assist in the development and advancement of their careers,

normally including the development of competencies in communication, presentation, business

and leadership skills necessary to engage in professional practice in their major field.

3. Develop teaching skills, particularly as related to their major area of study.

4. Explore areas of individual interest related to art/design in general or to the major. Among the

many possible examples are: aesthetics, theory, specialized topics in art/design history, analysis,

and technology.

5. Explore multidisciplinary issues that include art and design.

6. Practice synthesis of a broad range of art/design knowledge and skills, particularly through

learning activities that involve a minimum of faculty guidance, where the emphasis is on

evaluation at completion (see Standards for Accreditation III.G.).

Please Note:

For specific information regarding curricular structure, see H.IX.D.1. Normally,

approximately 65% of a 120 semester hour program is in art/design studies to ensure

that time is available to develop the requisite competencies.

For a table of contents for all standards, see NASAD Handbook.