Design Connection
Design Connection (formerly WashUCity) is a design partnership that was initiated in 2002 between the Sam Fox School and University City High School, a nearby public high school.
Sam Fox School students, many of whom are undergraduates majoring in communication design, teach within the Advanced Graphics class at UCHS over the course of several planned visits during the semester. During these special sessions, the college students develop workshops, share their own design work and interests, and teach key design and graphics skills one-on-one to the UCHS students. They also organize tours of Sam Fox School studios as well as local design firms to help the UCHS students visualize a potential design education and/or career after high school.
The partnership’s goals for Sam Fox School students are to:
- engage with the surrounding community by developing relationships with UCHS faculty and students
- learn to integrate the design strategies and techniques they learn through course work with the skills of teaching and developing projects
The partnership’s goals for UCHS students are to:
- introduce them to other student designers just a few years ahead of them, whom they can relate to and learn from
- provide them with additional critical thinking and design tools
- encourage their pursuit of design and the visual arts as a valid career path