Design Documentation in Education:
AUK Student Projects Preserving Regional Visual Culture and Beyond
This research adopts a qualitative, descriptive case-study approach, grounded in practice-based inquiry. The method was chosen because it allows for in-depth exploration of creative projects as both design outputs and forms of cultural documentation. Rather than relying on quantitative metrics, the analysis emphasizes interpretive understanding, examining how student work embodies cultural, aesthetic, and educational significance.
2.1 Research Design
The study draws upon seven capstone projects produced by final-year Graphic Design students at the American University of Kuwait between 2020 and 2024. These projects were selected because they explicitly engaged with themes of cultural preservation, visual documentation, or reinterpretation of local heritage. Each project was developed within the framework of AUK’s capstone course, where students are encouraged to integrate research, visual experimentation, and contextual awareness into their final outcomes.
2.2 Data Sources
Primary data consisted of student process books, final design artifacts, and faculty documentation (including project proposals, exhibition materials, and reflective essays). These materials were analyzed to identify how each project documented cultural content, what methodologies students employed (e.g., interviews, photography, illustration, digital reconstruction), and how design choices communicated aspects of heritage.
Secondary sources included institutional publications and relevant literature on design pedagogy and cultural heritage education (e.g., Schön, 1983; Singh & Dutta, 2021; Chen, 2024).
2.3 Analytical Approach
The analysis followed a thematic case-study model, in which each project was examined through three lenses:
Cultural documentation – How does the work record or preserve aspects of heritage (e.g., oral history, crafts, language, folklore)?
Design translation – How does the student convert cultural material into visual, interactive, or narrative form?
Educational impact – What does the project reveal about the pedagogical value of integrating heritage into design learning?
Through this tri-layered analysis, the study identifies patterns of creative documentation and discusses how these practices contribute to both cultural sustainability and student development.
2.4 Scope and Limitations
The scope of this study is limited to AUK’s Graphic Design program and therefore does not represent all forms of cultural documentation in the region. The projects analyzed are qualitative case examples rather than statistically representative samples. Furthermore, the analysis is interpretive; it relies on textual and visual materials rather than formal interviews or surveys. However, the selected cases provide a sufficiently rich cross-section to illustrate broader pedagogical trends in the Gulf context.
2.5 Ethical Considerations
Because the projects discussed are academic in nature, permissions for use were granted by the students and faculty involved. Ethical engagement with cultural content was also emphasized during production: students were required to credit oral sources, seek permissions when photographing or recording, and avoid stereotypical or appropriated imagery. This aligns with the principles outlined in the International Indigenous Design Charter (2017), which promotes respectful representation and collaboration when working with cultural heritage.
2.6 Methodological Rationale
This approach reflects the epistemology of practice-based research, in which design practice itself is a form of inquiry. As Archer (1995) and Cross (2006) argue, design generates knowledge not only through outcomes but through the reflective process of making. By documenting how students researched and created their projects, this study contributes to understanding how design education can operate as both a pedagogical and preservationist practice.
In short, the methodology treats each student project as both artifact and evidence, a record of local culture and an indicator of how design education can respond to the global challenge of cultural loss.