20-year journey of design training at Van Lang University

What do you think it takes in these two areas to achieve such a position?

Master of Arts, Artist Phan Quan Dung: This is a process of many design majors at VLU over 20 years, not a story of a day or two.

I am an artist and also a designer. When exposed to foreign open trends, I find there are many new things to learn.

However, I think that the world trend is interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and harmonious, so when we train design, we must integrate art elements into it. Since the establishment of the faculty, we have identified art and design as the core elements in all activities.

At first, teachers were also surprised when graphic design students participated in creative activities that were entirely artistic. But in fact, students participated in the city-level installation art competition and won first prize. Students with artistic qualities in them designed very well, meeting both the functional and aesthetic requirements of the product.

Therefore, I have chosen a strategy of harmoniously blending these elements for training activities. And I think that creates a unique difference, helping these two training areas of the School achieve today's achievements.

Actually, no one told me the way to go, I just went to other countries, felt and learned from them. I saw what I had and I had to bring the best things into the student training program. There was not only knowledge but also spirit and specific values. QS organization evaluated, interviewed and surveyed fairly before giving the ranking results.

But success is not just about having the right strategy, right sir?

Exactly. No one person can do it all alone. When you want to implement a strategy, you always need people to do it. Your activities must become a system and that system must be united to succeed. This is both a difficulty and an advantage if you know how to exploit it.

Almost all of the faculty’s resources are teachers from the arts industry. In terms of design, domestic resources are quite limited. However, lecturers with an artistic bent can adapt, pursue, and work on design. Because we have determined that training is a blend of art and design, the lecturers have done a very good job with the faculty’s strategy.

Of course, everything has its obstacles at first. For example, when sending design students to study ancient capital, some lecturers objected because this is a design major and they study it like an art major.

However, when learning from experience, you take notes, do community design, think about arrangement, application, environment, community, understand what national spiritual culture is, not just to admire a product and then design.

This way of thinking has been widely implemented abroad and we have to show everyone its benefits. The Faculty invited foreign experts who are painters, sculptors and installation artists to Van Lang. They brought very good methods and ways of thinking, so we learned from them and unintentionally created for the teachers an excitement, a new perspective, a new way of thinking, from which the teachers sympathized and accompanied us.

What are the strengths that need to be promoted and what are the limitations that need to be improved?

The Faculty of Fine Arts & Design is probably the first Faculty of the University to register for AUN-QA accreditation since 2015. Graphic Design is also the first AUN-QA accredited major, followed by Fashion Design and Interior Design.

Our Faculty's educational activities are closely related to businesses, so we are highly appreciated by accreditation organizations in this aspect. Almost all student activities and student products have the participation of businesses. Businesses recognize and society recognizes them, which will create prestige and students will have jobs.

But we are also limited in scientific research. Many people still think that artists only create, research is the job of doctors. This thinking needs to be gradually changed. On the path of training, I affirm that theory and practice must always go hand in hand. I think that anyone who thinks that I draw so beautifully that I don't need anything else is wrong. In theory, it is necessary.

Last year we only had 3 papers registered with the school for scientific research but this year alone (not yet finalized), the department has had about 35 papers. We have changed step by step, gradually everything will be good.

Why did the faculty participate in the QS World University Rankings by Subject? Was it to "gain prestige" or for some other purpose?

When ranking, QS asked me "Why did you include the Faculty of Fine Arts & Design when Van Lang University has so many Faculties?". I told them that I wanted to know where we stand, what our strengths are, and what we need to improve to be better.

Many people will not believe us when we say what we have done well or what we have not done well. We need an outside party with an objective perspective to evaluate that. That is why we participate in the assessment and ranking.

Ranking to have an objective view helps us do better what we have done, improve weaknesses to bring better training quality.

Because the goal of training is quality, is the students. High ranking is an honor but also a pressure for all teachers to prepare for the coming years.

Why is the School of Fashion Design highly appreciated by society? Not just designing a set of clothes to wear, our students spread fashion to many ethnic minority groups in remote areas, border areas, showing them what textile effects are like and how the patterns and motifs they draw are. Those effects are no longer design.

According to you, does AI have any impact on school training?

AR technology, virtual reality technology, AI technology is one of the unstoppable trends, it is the technology of the world and we will have to learn. This is like a means to help us complete the project, help our creative process go faster, shorter to reach the goal. Don't be too afraid when something is born.

The education system will have to approach and use technology software, teach in a formal way so that students can understand the positive and negative aspects when using it. Lecturers are the pioneers. Having good orientations, good perspectives but without human resources and people to accompany us, we will fail.

We are proud of "Heavenly time - Earthly advantage - Human harmony" at Van Lang University. Heavenly time: Nowadays, you can access the world very easily, unlike in the past. Earthly advantage: Van Lang always focuses on students' learning experiences, always invests in students' learning, and has very good facilities. Human harmony: We have good school leaders, dedicated teachers, students who come to study, and departments that enthusiastically support us in terms of capacity. With these 3 factors, I cannot help but try. There is no reason for us not to continue on this path.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hanh-trinh-20-nam-dao-tao-thiet-ke-tai-truong-dai-hoc-van-lang-20250314160611837.htm