BY FAN WANG
MURPHY NEWS SERVICE
Different people have different views about design, but for Professor Brad Hokanson, design is akin to playing with puzzles.
“Probably, when you start putting them [puzzles] together, you don’t know how’s gonna fit together, but you know it’s gonna fit together,” said Hokanson, associate dean for research and outreach at the University of Minnesota College of Design.
“It’s fun. And you know you will eventually get there,” Hokanson, 63, said as he sat at his neat and tidy desk.
Hokanson, who joined the U faculty full-time in 1993, worked as an architect before he became a graphic designer. The south Minneapolis native said he just made really small turns and kept following a different idea—everything happens steps by steps for him.
“So for an architect, you have to do drawings. I worked on that,” Hokanson said. “And you have to do presentations. I worked on that too. And I liked that a lot. And someone said you should be a graphic designer.”
So, later on he became a computer graphic designer.
At the time Hokanson was one of the few people who could do graphic designs on computers when he was hired in 1992 to teach graphic design at the College of Associated Arts in St. Paul.
Hokanson now teaches a course, Creative Problem Solving, to help students understand creativity and to increase their ability.
He said there might be a slight difference between being a designer and being a professor. But he really enjoys working with students in his professorial role.
“Everybody in the class is doing your designs [assignments]. So, you will have 20 different designs at once. It’s going a lot faster [compared with only one person doing the design].” Hokanson said. “And you learn something [from these students] every year, every class. Something new comes out [every time]. That was interesting.”
Hokanson’s theory on creativity works something like this: People should first believe they are creative. Period
“Then, the next thing will be [that] you have to build habits to help you be creative.” Hokanson said. “Like, changing your environment, or trying things that are challenging to you, or keeping your notebook with you all the time to write down ideas you come up with.”
His philosophy, he said, influences his students who have worked with him.
Lettie Wen, a first-year graduate student majoring in graphic design, has worked as a teaching assistant with Hokanson for his Creative Problem Solving course for two semesters.
She said it was an excellent experience and that she feels lucky to work with Hokanson.
“He is really a nice person and excellent instructor. I appreciate the opportunity to know more about his research theory and some study methods.” Wen said. “As an international student, I have a language barrier and sometimes I need more explanation about the course arrangement. And he is very patient and kind, I really appreciate [it].”
Designers can at times run out of creative ideas. Hokanson said he is no different, but added that he has his own way to break through creative blocks.
“You can just say, ‘I can’t think of anything to make it [design] better, what could I do to make it worse?’” he said. “Also, when somebody says you can’t do that. That usually really helps me a lot to make that ‘impossible’ into ‘possible.’”
Hokanson offered his Creative Problem Solving course online this spring semester through Coursera.org, a digital platform for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Students of any age, from any part of the world, with access to a computer can enroll his course.
He said he wanted to use MOOC technology to teach classes within the university. The course on Coursera.org was a test run of sorts before Hokanson put the online version of the course at the U. He said the online class turned out well and he received the added benefit of being inspired by students from all over the world.
“People did really good work. [It is] very interesting to see people doing the same assignments [overseas].” Hokanson said, with smile on his face. “A couple of people also said they got new jobs and promotions because of this class.”
Pano Liao, a second-year graduate student majoring in comparative international development education, is taking Hokanson’s course online through Coursera.org. He said it helped him switch into another innovative way of thinking about the things around him.
“I find it [the course] helps me get rid of my previous rigid thinking pattern. And I have learned from him that it’s necessary to apply or try my ideas with practical experiments. It’s inspiring.” Liao said.
Hokanson will teach his class again in the fall via Coursera.org. He said it’s important to find the correct and most effective ways to teach creativity in the world of design.
‘“It’s like you have to do things couple times to figure out how to do it right.” Hokanson said.
Fan Wang is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.