The Future of Education

Visual literacy empowers designers to critically engage with visual content, fosters cultural awareness, and enhances creativity and communication [1]. This paper presents a pedagogical approach that incorporates a visual method assessment to develop visual literacy within a Design History course for undergraduate product design students. The course introduced a graphic exercise in which students created research-based information posters about iconic product design artefacts. By integrating visual literacy, visual thinking, and design history through a structured, practice-based assignment, the approach aimed to strengthen students’ visual analytical skills while deepening their understanding of historical design contexts. Over four weeks, students investigated an iconic design product, identifying key historical events, technological developments, and socio-cultural influences, and critically synthesised and organised the collected data into a clear, hierarchical structure to construct a coherent visual narrative for their posters. The creative process involved image selection, diagrammatic representation, typography decisions, and the organisation of information hierarchy, fostering skills in visual analysis, synthesis, and narrative sequencing. Final posters were presented in a “speed-date” critique session to stimulate peer discussion and reflective learning. Assessment included rubric-based evaluation and in-class critiques, both grounded in communication design principles, with a focus on visual clarity, information organisation, conceptual depth, and critical engagement. Students showed improved ability to integrate visual and textual information and to connect formal design features with broader cultural and technological contexts. While some students encountered difficulties in organising information hierarchically and synthesising visuals effectively, the structured development of information posters appears to be a promising strategy for embedding visual literacy in product design curricula and fostering analytical skills.