Abstract:

The article identifies the pedagogical significance of plein air practice in the professional training of future designers and demonstrates that it should be regarded as a specially organised form of artistic and practical training based on direct observation and visual analysis of nature in a real environment, as interpreted through three main approaches: artistic-expressive, didactic, and professionally oriented. It has been found that the educational potential of working-from-nature practices lies in developing a set of professionally significant qualities in future designers, including observation, visual perception, imaginative and spatial thinking, compositional vision, colour sensitivity, aesthetic attentiveness, and the ability to analyse, select, and generalise form. It has been established that plein air practice is directly related to the development of students’ visual culture, as it fosters holistic visual perception, the ability to perceive the interrelation of form, colour, light, space, and rhythm, and the capacity for meaningful interpretation of visual images.

The study summarises methodological guidelines for the use of plein air practice in the educational process, in particular the staged organisation of tasks, integration with specialised disciplines, variability of observation objects, and the combination of working from nature with reflection and pedagogical support. It is concluded that such an organisation makes it possible to realise more fully the educational potential of plein air practice in the training of future designers. 

The scientific novelty of the study lies in refining the pedagogical understanding of plein air practice in the training of future designers, characterising the educational potential of workingfrom-nature practices, identifying their connection with the development of students’ visual culture, and generalising methodological guidelines for their use. Prospects for further research are seen in specifying methods for using plein air practice in the training of designers of different specialisations, developing a system of tasks and criteria for assessing the results of working-fromnature practices, and experimentally verifying the effectiveness of the proposed methodological guidelines.

Keywords: plein air practice; professional training of future designers; working-from-nature practices; design education; visual culture; visual perception; imaginative thinking; spatial thinking; artistic and practical training; methodological guidelines.

References:

1. Bohuslavskyi, M. (2024). Vzaiemovplyvy: tekhnolohii, dyzain, vizualna kultura. [Interinfluences: Technologies, design, and visual culture].

2. Brovchenko, A. I., & Tymenko, V. P. (2023). Informatsiini tekhnolohii vizualizatsii u dyzaini. [Information visualization technologies in design].

3. Zhelanova, V. V. (2025). Natsionalni tradytsii khudozhnoho myslennia u konteksti suchasnoi dyzain-osvity. [National traditions of artistic thinking in the context of contemporary design education].

4. Zhuk, A. (2019). Stan ta osoblyvosti rozvytku plenernoho rukhu v Ukraini na suchasnomu etapi. [The state and features of the development of the plein air movement in Ukraine at the present stage]. Ternopil.

5. Zeleniuk, O. (2019). Veb-dyzain v konteksti formuvannia vizualnoi kultury virtualnoho seredovyshcha. [Web design in the context of forming the visual culture of the virtual environment].]

6. Kyrylova, O. S., & Tymenko, V. P. (2019). Plener v systemi artpedahohichnoi pidhotovky maibutnikh dyzaineriv. [Plein air in the system of artpedagogical training of future designers].

7. Kolesova, O. A., Sylenko, Yu. V., & Ivanova, M. S. (2025). Rol shtuchnoho intelektu u rozvytku proiektnoho myslennia u studentiv-dyzaineriv. [The role of artificial intelligence in the development of project thinking in design students].

8. Lokareva, H. (2024). Vizualna kultura maibutnoho dyzainera: teoretychni zasady. [Visual culture of the future designer: Theoretical foundations].

9. Ostrohliad, O., & Churikova, O. (2025). Rol pleneru u formuvanni prostorovoho myslennia ta vizualnoi hramotnosti v arkhitekturnomu rysunku. [The role of plein air in the formation of spatial thinking and visual literacy in architectural drawing].

10. Petrenko, O. O. (2023). Aspekty formuvannia estetychnoi kultury studentiv-dyzaineriv kriz pryzmu dosvidu art-praktyky pleneru. [Aspects of forming the aesthetic culture of design students through the lens of plein air art practice].