Abstract:

Teaching a discipline's history is one possible way of gradually introducing students to a phylogenetic path that presents its basics and the relationships and implications from its origins to the present day. When looking at the history of more practice-oriented disciplines thus, and specifically design, editorial production is scarce, and considering the sub-sectors of graphic design and digital communication, they represent a niche compared to publications in the field.

Nevertheless, they are a significant observer in highlighting specific patterns that emerge, such as the lack of gender balance and inclusion in the educational environment. History, in fact, opens the perspective on the development of a knowledge field and shows its evolution through time, the milestones or the main turning points where new ideas, discoveries, or perceptions toward the world changed. Furthermore, it presents outstanding figures – often as heroes and stars – according to an individualistic approach to the narrative that ignores or shadows, when not intentionally erasing blurred phenomena, pioneers not well-known and antecedents, telling a very limited and partial story.

In particular, it shows the imbalance between the presence of female students applying and graduating in the field of design disciplines and the female personalities mentioned in books and manuals. Not to mention that, according to the AlmaLaurea annual survey and assessment of Italian universities, women represent more than 60% of the whole student population, and the percentage has constantly increased over the last ten years. It is also necessary to discuss the imbalance and generational gap in the distribution and position of faculties, which affects the culture and context of teaching.

The research presented and discussed here is part of a broader investigation into the historicisation of graphic and digital design in the Italian context in relation to international historical and professional developments in both fields.

The research maps the textbooks on the history of design, with a particular focus on the field of graphic and visual communication design, adopted in bachelor and master degree courses and specific courses on the history of design or media culture, analysing them according to two main parameters. On the one hand, the presence/mention of female protagonists is used to assess criteria as a) frequency and b) recurrence within the different books. On the other hand, the space devoted to the individual figures, biographies, and projects is "measured" according to the criteria of a) length of text, b) number of projects included as examples, c) size of project images, and d) whether colour or black and white, according to the methodology proposed by Martha Scotford (1991) and recently revived and updated by Laura Franz (2022).

The results are discussed to highlight the limits and contradictions of an educational system that, on the one hand, remains profoundly exclusionary. On the other, it points to critical aspects of interest that risk being limited to a superficial and "hype" interest or interpretation of a deeper and structural phenomenon. Finally, the research identifies emerging experiences, strategies, and initiatives that, if not filling the gaps in the traditional education system, are at least complementing it.

Keywords:

Graphic Design History, Gender balanced Education, Women in Graphic Design History, Canon in Graphic Design History.