Redesigning Teachers: Inside the Design Studio

Studio 360 Redesign

Friday, January 13, 2012

Julia Vakser Zeltser and Deroy Peraza of the Hyperakt design team (Josh Rogosin)

Every so often, Studio 360 finds some ubiquitous design or cultural object to redesign.

We recently heard from some teachers who hate the old-fashioned iconography that haunts their profession: blackboards, apples, chalkboards. They called it, “apple crapple.” The task, then, is to rebrand educators for the 21st century. Studio 360 selected Hyperakt, a New York design firm that’s done projects for UNICEF and GOOD magazine, among others.

At a recent brainstorming session, former public school teacher Jenna Shapiro summed up the concern of her colleagues: “The visual language associated with the word teacher is so sort of limited and dated. There is no little red schoolhouse. The concept of classroom is changing. What we know about the way kids learn and where kids learn is changing.”

“Why is it that the word ‘teacher’ doesn’t have that reverence that other professions have?” asks Deroy Peraza, who founded Hyperakt with Julia Vakser Zeltser. “Doctors have ‘M.D.’ in the end of their names,” Vakser Zeltser suggests. “Maybe we could get ‘Jenna Shapiro, E.’ for Educator.”

“And that’s sort of our biggest challenge,” Peraza explains. “To elevate the profession to its rightful place of importance in our society.”

Hyperakt will present its new look for educators on next week’s show.

Produced by:

Michele Siegel

Comments [2]

Shawn from Utah

In order to rebrand the title teacher American society has to make a total shift towards education and give it the rightful respect it deserves. Look at countries that do well on the PISA: every one of them respects teachers and values education above all else, only accepting the top entries into teacher preparation programs; parents are involved in their children's education and read to them and expect the children to do the work to be the best students they can be. In the US we have sub par teacher preparation programs putting out educators that can't compete and are ill prepared for the classroom and we have parents that aren't parenting their children and preparing them for school! Americans love to point fingers and place blame elsewhere for their children's failures. I love the idea of rebranding the title teacher, but I would love even more for American universities to limit students that enter into teacher education programs to be the best students and not go for numbers!

Jan. 16 2012 12:30 PM

Feature this Comment Moderate

Mickey Waring from New Jersey

As a teacher, I am delighted to hear about your effort to resign the branding of teachers.
The image of a pomegranite came to me- "appleish", yes, maybe, but so rich in symbolism of our beliefs and desires throughout the ages in art, the humanities, myth and religion.

I also can envison a tree-- a "Tree of Life", growing upwards towards infinity and downwards to our most basic roots.

Yes, I am tired of being associated with chalk and boards...Thanks for undertaking this project, and I look forward to what you come up with.

Jan. 13 2012 12:51 PM

Feature this Comment Moderate

Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.