Welcome to the Studio: What Is a Design Agency?

🎯 Essential Question

• How does a real design studio operate, and how will our classroom studio be organized?

📈 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson (1 Day), students will be able to:

1. Identify typical design studio roles: project/creative manager, designer, production lead.
2. Explain how our classroom studio will be organized (rotating roles, or fixed roles per job).
3. Preview the resources available to the studio: large-format printers, photo printers, 3D printers, and cameras.

📐 Standards Alignment

CDOS (Career Development & Occupational Studies)

• CDOS 1 — Career Development -- students will be able to explain the range of career choices, and identify personal interests, skills, and aptitudes that relate to those choices.
• CDOS 2 — Integrated Learning -- students will demonstrate how academic knowledge and skills are applied in the workplace and other settings.
• CDOS 3a — Universal Foundation Skills -- basic literacy, communication, and problem-solving skills required for a career.
• CDOS 3b — Career Majors -- knowledge and skills required for success within a specific career pathway (here, Digital Design).

📚 Key Vocabulary

Design Studio / Agency

A team of designers who take on client work as their business.

Creative/Project Manager

The role that keeps a job on schedule and communicates with the client.

Production Lead

The role responsible for actually printing, 3D printing, or exporting the final deliverable.

🧰 Materials & Tools

• Notebook/journal
• A real studio's "about" page or portfolio site (teacher-provided example)

🧠 Do Now (Warm-Up)

If you were hiring a 3-person design team, what 3 roles would you want on it, and why?

📋 Main Workshop / Lesson Sequence

1. Mini-lesson: how a real design studio is organized and how ours will run this semester (15 min).
2. Resource tour: walk through the studio's actual equipment -- large-format printer, photo printer, 3D printer, cameras -- and what each is good for (15 min).
3. Discussion + sign-up: students identify which role(s) they're most drawn to for the semester ahead (15 min).

✅ Assessment & Exit Ticket

Informal check: every student can name the studio's available production resources and at least one role they want to try.

Exit Ticket: Which studio role are you most excited to take on first, and why?

📊 Pull up the anonymous Class Check-In for students to fill out before they go.

🧩 Differentiation & Accommodations

English Language Learners: model every step live, then check in one-on-one; provide translated materials and vocabulary support as needed. Students with IEPs: apply the accommodations and modifications listed in each student's plan (examples include extended time, graphic organizers, speech-to-text tools, chunked instructions, and visual schedules). Students with attention-related needs: break tasks into short, checklist-driven steps and provide brief movement or focus breaks. Students ready for a challenge: take on a leadership role critiquing peers' work, extend the project with a second iteration, or research how today's skill is used professionally in the field.

🔗 Resources & References

• None beyond this lesson's materials.