I was inspired to create a badge for Instructional Designers after thinking about these elements:
Fundamentals, not fashionable learning theories, of instructional design.
To represent the solid process and hard work of instructional design, I decided to include the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) model into the badge. Although ADDIE isn’t universally used, it’s easily the most popular design methodology. Plus, I think it fairly represents an aspirational and idealized process for many instructional designers, even when that process doesn’t necessarily carry the formal name or structure of ADDIE.
Keywords from a seminal instructional design article.
In 1966, an article entitled “Reclaiming Instructional Design” was published in the journal Educational Technology (pdf link). The publication reads like a manifesto. The authors eschewed philosophical relativism in instructional design, and favored empirical science. This passage really caught my eye:
“Instructional design is a technology which incorporates known and verified learning strategies into instructional experiences which make the acquisition of knowledge and skill more efficient, effective, and appealing”
That elegant summation of exceptional instruction design gave me the three keywords (bolded) for my badge.
Iconography from the Lamp of Knowledge.
Also called the Lamp of Learning (or in medical academics, the Lamp of Life), this lamp often symbolizes higher education. The lamp therefore would fit well as the central image of my badge.
Vintage-style badges by the user “Kanate” (Kanate Chainapong) on Shutterstock.
His illustrations inspired me to sketch some ideas, then to build the best ones in Adobe Illustrator as mockups. I emailed my sketches to Kanate Chainapong, who gave me a very reasonable estimate for his services. After a few days, I had a vector illustration of my instructional design badge.
An enthusiasm for typography and design elements.
I have purchased so many fonts and Web page templates (for my hobbies) that these have become almost guilty pleasures! Still, this means the final product badge has benefitted from a few extra tweaks that I made, using the fonts that Kanate had had selected (Copperplate Gothic Bold Regular, Gloucester MT Extra Condensed, Alfredo Regular).
The benefits of free, open-source media.
Instructional Designers are continually cognizant of copyright, and I’m a supporter of Wikipedia and other crowdsourcing platforms. Therefore, I wanted the finished badge to be free to anyone, with no attribution required. Enjoy!
