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DESIGN RESEARCH NEWS Volume 10 Number 6, Jun 2005 ISSN 1473-3862
DRS Digital Newsletter http://www.designresearchsociety.org
________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
o Editorial
o Bruce Archer 1922-2005
o DRS Symposium: Rising ****
Improving quality in design research
o DRS Annual General Meeting
o Calls
o Announcements
o Web
o The Design Research Society: information
o Electronic Services of the DRS
o Contributing to Design Research News
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Editorial
BRUCE ARCHER
There are details below of the life and achievement of Bruce
Archer who died last month. There are also some reminisences
from people who knew him. The thought occurred to me, in
compiling these reflections from various people who knew Bruce
or his work, that there must be many more people around the
world who might like to similarly offer their thoughts. If you
will send anything further over the next month, I will endeavour
to archive all those thoughts on the DRS website.
RISING STARS SYMPOSIUM
A reminder that the Design Research Society is to hold a day
symposium on 15 July in London. The topic is raising quality in
design research, and includes among its speakers Richard
Buchanan, Ken Friedman, Michael Biggs, Linda Drew, and Bruce
Brown. After the conference there is an optional Annual Dinner
where design awards will be made.
Places are limited and filling fast, so please make your
bookings as soon as possible. Full details are below.
DRS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AND AWARDS DINNER)
For DRS members, the conference will be preceded by the DRS
Annual General Meeting. There is no charge for the AGM, and
there is an arrangement for DRS members to attend the conference
and dinner at a discounted rate. Again, details are below.
Please note the change of time for the AGM, it has been brought
forward to 11am.
COME JOIN THE DRS!
Finally, there has been a significant change on the DRS website
over the past month. It is now possible for individuals to
subscribe as members through the web membership form.
Membership of the Society is open to individuals interested in
any aspect of design research.
Membership currently costs UK pounds 20.00 per year. You may
join the Society at any time during the year.
Membership of DRS provides:
- regular communications about research activities worldwide,
with a members-only quarterly report
- reduced subscription to Design Studies, the international
journal for design research in engineering, architecture,
products and systems. Design Studies is published by Elsevier in
cooperation with DRS
- reduced subscription to a range of other research journals
with whom DRS has negotiated special rates. These include:
Design Issues; Digital Creativity Journal; CoDesign; Information
Design Journal. Discounts vary but are usually between 20% to
over 50%. The saving on one journal is often worth more than a
year's subscription to the DRS
- reduced fees to many DRS sponsored events including major
conferences and symposia
- representation of the design research community and members'
interests
- a means of identifying and contacting other members through
our database of members' interests. Members are able to search
for other members with similar interests and make contact
- an opportunity to contribute to the international design
research community
To join:
http://www.designresearchsociety.org
Go to MEMBERS area, click JOIN DRS in the sidebar. You are
most welcome to join us!
David Durling
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
BRUCE ARCHER 1922-2005
Professor Bruce Archer CBE died on 16 May following some months
of poor health. The funeral was on 1 June in London. Bruce
Archer had a significant influence in establishing systematic
methods for design and research. He was a founding member of
the Design Research Society and its first President. Last year
he was presented with the first DRS Lifetime Achievement Award.
The address given by Sebastian Macmillan, when presenting the
Award, is archived at:
http://www.designresearchsociety.org under INFORMATION>AWARDS
What follows is a set of reflections on Bruce's life and work by
a few of those who knew him:
---
I vividly recall the first day I met Bruce. It was early 1969
and I was there for a job interview. Pauline, Bruce's secretary,
ushered me into his office. I was seriously nervous. As a 23
year old Aussie fresh off the boat, I had read of the hospital
bed project in the colonies and been impressed. More over I had
just spent the last 15 minutes studying what appeared the
definitive design process in the form of a chart stretching the
length of the corridor. The man I was about to see was obviously
the God of Design. I was welcomed by a hearty, friendly voice
coming from what appeared to be an empty office. God, if it be
He, was on his back on the floor behind the desk. In what must
have been acute back pain Bruce regaled me with an account of
the work that was going on in the unit and life in general. Thus
began an experience of a lifetime. Bruce may not have been a God
but he certainly played a large part in determining the future
course of design studies. It was a pleasure and honour to work
with him.
Douglas Tomkin
---
My first secretarial job was working for Bruce Archer at Michael
Farr (Design Integration) Ltd, above a fish shop in Jermyn
Street. I remember going to Fortnum and Mason to buy the office
biscuits and the quaint wind-up telephone switchboard I had to
operate. In 1963, Bruce asked me to join him as Secretary to
his small Industrial Design Research Unit at the RCA. I think he
paid me out of his own money at first, but eventually I was put
on the College payroll. Bruce's design theories were a mystery
to me (and still are, really!). I vividly recall the
consultation exercise on the hospital bed, conducted live on
Panorama, which didn't quite turn out as planned! Bruce Archer
was driven with infectious enthusiasm, devoted to his family.
He had a wonderful sense of humour and the best thing about him
was that he never made me feel small or foolish. ID(E)RU was a
happy place to work. I still have the generous reference he
gave me when I left in 1969.
Pauline Benington
---
I was an architecture student in the 1960s, at the Architectural
Association School in London. There could scarcely have been any
situation more likely to support wild thinking and idealism.
Some of this was wonderful, some insanely misguided. I enjoyed
both.
In this world, Bruce Archer and the DRS came as a voice of
rigour and reason, at a time when Archigram's Cities walked and
I designed walls that listened and, though a process of
remixing, created an anecdotal history broadcast back into their
community, the precision and sanity of (for instance) the
hospital bed project shone a particular, and often bright,
light.
There was another light that shone, for me, at that time:
cybernetics. In the end I found cybernetics gave me more rigour,
and a better insight into design, than early, post Ulm, design
research gave me. I lost track of Bruce Archer and empathised
with the radical change in position of John Chris Jones...
For me, the sort of research into design that was carried out at
the RCA under Bruce Archer never managed to recapture my
enthusiasm or commitment. Yet I owe to it my initial interest, a
certain optimisation about our ability to be precise, and the
discovery of what rigour and rationality I have. And to Bruce
Archer, himself, I owe many insights and the fact that there is
a world based in design to operate in.
Ranulph Glanville
---
Bruce was a main speaker at the ICSID 1969 Congress in the new
hi-tech WIFI Institute in Vienna. He discussed the Unit's work
and its interface with the hospital service and the Ministry,
the bed project , the design, prototyping and trials. it was a
dense text with masses of slides and three projectors. Typically
he had rehearsed the entire presentation with separate timed
scripts for each of the Austrian projectionists. It went off
faultlessly, the slides rippling across an entire wall of
screens behind him perfectly in step with his delivery,
projectionists in headphones, peering at their scripts, working
like metronomes until the final clack with the last three images
appearing simultaneously with their edges exactly matched. The
point is that it all worked. Typical Bruce, unsparing of his
audience, unsparing of himself, meticulous in preparation.
Bruce in Senate, winning points because he had prepared his
information so much more thoroughly than anyone including the
chairman.
The finishing of an early large scale commissioned study
comfortably inside Budget - with Bruce handing back the balance
of the money to the utterly astonished client corporation.
In the early days when we had coffee breaks together we
experienced his histrionic powers - the parachutist who found he
was tethered to the tail of the aeroplane and had to land with
it. Bruce gave a vivid demonstration of a man trying to run at
seventy-five miles an hour.
In Army training, on sentry, he bayoneted the Scots Guards CSM
who had failed to give the password. The bandaged sergeant major
appeared at the court of enquiry and had to explain that Archer
had carried out Company standing orders exactly and literally.
When the TSR2 super bomber project was abandoned by the
Government there was Bruce at an aeroplane factory in Prestwick,
blithely explaining to the jig engineers that their next job was
to build twenty of our hospital bed prototypes.
Kenneth Agnew
---
Whenever a logical, clear-headed and insightful analysis was
needed Bruce was always there. The Royal College of Art could
not have developed a research culture without him
Penny Sparke
---
I will refer to Bruce Archer's personal qualities: If there was
a person who was intelligent, productive, enterprising and
sophisticated, yet modest, at the same time, it was Bruce
Archer. (He used to get angry only when he could not stand some
injustice, or impertinence, done to the institutions or projects
he was involved in - such as the closure of his DDR, and the
imminent scrapping of the Route Master buses). Otherwise, he had
calm and calming manners, and understated ways of referring to
his enormous achievements and popularity. He had an artistic and
poetic side too. I remember him reading a poem by Cavafy at his
beloved Joanna's memorial service as the most fitting tribute to
her.
Nec Teymur
---
One of my most treasured possessions is a copy of Bruce Archer's
doctoral thesis which was given to me by a colleague when I was
working at Sunderland College of Art in the late sixties, and
just beginning my research into information design. The thesis
had a profound influence on me, and its spirit has continued to
inspire me over the years. Thank you Bruce.
David Sless
---
I first met Bruce Archer back in 1989, as a young student of the
MA Industrial Design at Central Saint Martin's. His lectures,
where he spoke of research methods and different types of
research, were apocalyptic and opened up a whole new world for
us students. During the same period, I was learning more about
his work through my friend Gulay Hasdogan, who was being
supervised by him to produce what I believe was the first PhD to
be awarded by the London Institute. I met him again in 1994 at
an international product design symposium in Ankara, together
with his wife JoAnn, and enjoyed their company. Bruce Archer
will be remembered by many generations of researchers who were
positively influenced by his work.
Artemis Yagou
---
I interviewed Bruce when I was collating information on design
methods for the i~design project, he was so helpful, bright and
sparky and pleased to be able to share his knowledge. We had
lunch in the senior common room at the RCA and he regaled me
with wonderful stories of his days there, the fight for
recognition of design research as an activity, the fun he'd had
working with the team on the Kings fund bed. Interestingly he
said he felt that he'd be much more flexible in his methods for
design research if he were starting out again and thought that
what we were doing at HHRC was very valuable and creative. He
was also really pleased that young people (like me!!! - his
words) were still interested in what eh and the team had done in
the 60s. As a founding father where would we have been without
him?
Cherie Lebbon
---
Thank you for letting me know the sad news of Bruce Archer's
passing.
I have just returned from a hospital operation and was treated
in one of the hospital beds which Bruce researched and designed.
I was thinking about this most notable work of his while i was
there. He told me recently that the bed is still used in 85% of
British hospitals.
Although Bruce and I followed similar careers we seldom met and
did not always agree about how design research should be done.
It was only at the ceremony when we were both given lifetime
achievement awards by the Design Research Society that i
realised we had so much in common. I was very glad to share
memories with him when i vistited his house to exchange awards
(for each of us had somehow taken home the other's!).
This is a sad moment - for a great spirit has left us - but it
is also the moment to think of his extensive influence which
will live in the memories and lives of the many people whom he
served and inspired... One of his ex-students wrote to me
recently of his exceptional kindness.
john chris jones
p.s. in the last few days. while in hospital and after, i found
myself writing of Bruce and his work - you can read what i wrote
on my digital diary (click on successive links from Bruce's name
and you will see three entries to do with his work and his life
and our shared aspirations):
http://www.softopia.demon.co.uk/2.2/digital_diary_05.05.18.html
---
I am very sorry to learn of Bruce Archer's passing. The
conversation we had in London a while back was a warm and
substantive reminder of his important role in the field.
Richard Buchanan
---
I remember a particular discussion with Bruce some years ago at
a DRS AGM. He was telling me about things he was involved in,
and giving me some typically insightful advice. He was so clear
in his thinking, and so active still, I must have thought he was
younger and not yet retired. He said " I AM seventy-five". I
said with incredulity "are you sure...?" and we both laughed.
David Durling
---
We mustn't say its the end of an era, because the whole idea is
that we pick up the baton and carry on. His work was a great
foundation to the whole field of Design Research.
Naomi Gornick
---
Bruce Archer's life and work spanned and mirrored the
development of design research in the twentieth century. He
contributed to every stage in the growth of our field, from a
time when there was no design research to a time when we had
blossomed to become a global community. His work mirrored the
development of the field in great part because he helped to
create it. When the Design Research Society established an award
for lifetime achievement, Bruce Archer and John Chris Jones were
the first to be honored. Sebastian Macmillan's award tribute
gave the reason: Bruce Archer stands for many as the founder of
our discipline.
The central role we attribute to Bruce is as much a tribute to
his ability to generate a community as it is a tribute to his
personal research contribution. By enrolling colleagues in
shared projects, by consistently communicating a vision of
design research, by articulating the importance of rigorous
research to effective practice, Bruce helped to build a broader
and deeper understanding of our field and what it can be.
Bruce and I met only a few times with a few telephone
conversations and emails in between. I know him through those
who knew him better than I did. What stands out in the unspoken
signals that surround any statement about Bruce Archer is a deep
sense of affection and respect for a man of intellectual vigor,
professional engagement, and personal generosity.
Those who feel sadness in losing a friend also feel a deep sense
of joy for his durable achievements. Bruce Archer helped to plow
and plant a field. We reap the benefits of his well spent life.
"For here we do not have an enduring city,
but we are looking for the city that is to come."
-- Heb 13:14
Ken Friedman
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
DESIGN RESEARCH SOCIETY SYMPOSIUM 15 JULY 2005
Rising ****
Improving Quality in Design Research
15 July 2005 at 12.30pm
2 Carlton House Terrace, London
The Design Research Society will host a national symposium on
research quality in the 'Art and Design' sector.
AIMS
High quality research is increasingly seen as central to
building a body of knowledge in the design domain, for a better
understanding of design and its contexts, and for the
development of practice. There are several obstacles to
achieving high quality:
- emerging from a subject area centred on professional practice,
the sector still has relatively few academics who come from a
professional research background, and even fewer practising
designers with such skills.
- therefore, evidence based working remains problematic for many
designers, though such skills may be in more demand by
consultancies and industry in the future.
- knowledge of the requirements of research is changing with the
growth of doctoral programmes, though many candidates continue
to receive inadequate supervision or training.
- assessment of research quality has been formalised and made
public by, for example, the UK Research Assessment Exercise, but
there remains much work to be done in establishing standards of
independent peer review in other ways, through conferences,
journals, exhibitions and web archives.
- particularly where research is not published and locatable,
best practice in research is not always recognised or shared.
The aim of this event is to bring together the design research
community to debate issues around the quality of research and
how it might be further developed. Keynote speakers comprise
leaders in research management, who are immersed in
international debates about research quality, its assessment,
and the education of new researchers; they will raise obstacles
and opportunities for the improvement of research quality.
In an informal and inquiring atmosphere we will reflect upon
national strategies towards research evaluation and
international developments which point to the growing influence
of design research. In particular, discussions will centre on
strategies for the improvement of research quality, and how we
organise ourselves at the national and international level to
share best practice.
AUDIENCE
This event is important for researchers, academics, research
managers, research administrators, and practitioners from all
design related subject areas.
The symposium will begin with a buffet lunch from 12.30pm on
Friday 15 July 2005. This will provide an opportunity for
networking prior to the event. The symposium will conclude with
a chaired plenary session when emerging issues will be debated
and solutions sought.
DATE & TIME
The symposium is to be held on 15 July 2005 starting at 1230 for
buffet lunch and registration.
SYMPOSIUM
RISING ****
Improving quality in design research
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME
12.30 Registration opens
Buffet lunch and networking
1.30 Welcome
Professor Richard Buchanan: President, Design Research Society;
Carnegie-Mellon University USA
1.40 Scene setting
Professor David Durling: Chair Design Research Society;
Middlesex University UK
2.00 Practice and theory
Professor Ken Friedman: Norwegian School of Management;
Denmark's Design School
2.20 Rigour and research with practice
Dr Michael Biggs: University of Hertfordshire UK;
Chair of conference Research into Practice
2.40 Design(ing) pedagogic research
Dr Linda Drew: University of the Arts London;
Editor, ADCHE Journal
3.00 Tea break
3.30 The evaluation of research quality
Professor Bruce Brown: University of Brighton;
RAE Main Panel Chair
4.00 Plenary
Discussion and conclusions
Closing remarks, Professor Richard Buchanan
DINNER
For those booking the optional DRS Annual Dinner, there are
pre-dinner drinks and canapes and an opportunity for mingling
with colleagues. Awards will be made, including the DRS
Lifetime Achievement Award for 2005.
Dinner and Awards Presentations
5.30pm Pre-dinner drinks reception, canapes, and more
mingling
7.00pm Dinner. Presentation of Design Studies Award and
The DRS Lifetime Achievement Award 2005
VENUE
Royal College of Pathologists, 2 Carlton House Terrace, London
SW1Y 5AF. Directions may be found at http://www.rcpath.org
Carlton House Terrace was designed by John Nash and built
between 1829 and 1832. The north facade, comprising the
entrances to the original houses, was designed by Decimus
Burton. The building was extensively renovated in 1992. The
modern interior features natural maple panelling set against
pale grey walls and rich blue carpeting throughout the
conference facilities.
The symposium will be held in the Wellcome Trust Conference
Suite which overlooks The Mall and St James's Park with views
over to the Palace of Westminster.
Dinner will be taken in the elegant Council Room with similar
views across London.
BOOKING
Bookings and all enquiries to:
Miss Becky Vann,
PA to the Head of Research & Development,
The Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College,
Falkner Road, Farnham,
Surrey, GU9 7DS UK
Tel: 01252 892968
Fax: 01252 892973
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
This event is co-sponsored by: School of Arts, Middlesex
University; Surrey Institute of Art and Design, University
College; University of Hertfordshire.
The following may be found on the DRS website:
- updated details
- booking form to download
- directions to the venue
http://www.designresearchsociety.org
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
DRS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 15 JULY 2005
The Design Research Society announces that its Annual General
Meeting 2005 will be held on 15 July 2005. The meeting will
begin at 11.00 am, at the Royal College of Pathologists, 2
Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AF. For directions to the
meeting see http://rcpath.org
A formal notice of the meeting will be sent by email to current
DRS members. For further information please contact the Hon.
Secretary <[log in to unmask]>
PLEASE NOTE the change of time!!
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
CALLS
12-15 October 2005: 3rd International Conference on Design
Research Brazil 2005
In its third edition the International Conference on Design
Research establishes itself as one of the most important
scientific events in Brazil. In the conference proceedings there
are more than six hundred papers, which, together, present an
interesting portrait of Brazilian thoughts on design practices.
The 3rd Conference intends to strenghten this trend and to
present an overview on themes such as ergonomics, ecodesign,
semiotics, textile design, digital and graphic design, among
others.
Some of the invited lecturers who already contributed to the
conference success were professors Richard Buchanan and Patrick
Jordan (Carnegie Melon, USA), Mary Dyson (Reading, UK), Ron
Nabarro (Holon, Israel), Jorge Santos (Minho, Portugal) and
Geraldina Witter (Puc, Brazil).
Already confirmed lecturers for 2005 are professors Ken Friedman
(Norwegian School of Management), Ursula Tischner (Econcept,
Germany) and Eduardo Corte-Real (School of Design, Lisbon).
All over the world the intimate relations between research and
design quality are being discovered and enhanced. Designers as
co-authors of diverse ways of living do need to deepen their
professional practices. This deepening necessairely passes
through reflexion, publication and discussion of processes and
results. Science and technology have always developed that way
and so may the design field improve itself.
Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, will host the 3rd edition of the
International Conference on Design Research. The fourth will
take place on october 2007 in another country of South America.
http://www.anpedesign.org.br/congresso/index.htm
10-12 December 2005: Indian Society of Ergonomics announces an
International Ergonomics Conference - HWWE 2005- Humanizing Work
and Work Environment. Guwahati,Assam, India at the Indian
Institute of Technology (IITG)
Areas: All areas in Ergonomics including Human Computer
Interaction (HCI) & Design.
http://www.iitg.ac.in - under 'upcoming conferences'
17-20 October 2005: DESIGN HEALTH DIVERSITY Design Research
Focus Week 'a discussion about the relationship between health
and the built environment'
Call for Papers
Interdisciplinary Design Institute Washington State University
Spokane
The symposium is intended to demonstrate the relationship of
research and practice in the design process, to increase
interaction between academic disciplines in design and health
sciences, and to promote intellectual engagement between design
professionals and academics from diverse backgrounds. This
conference will foster a dialogue about health, the built
environment, community and individual responsibilities, and the
building of social capital directed toward public health
enhancement. The Institute will seek to identify from the
symposium a collaborative interdisciplinary research agenda in
the areas of health and the built environment
Papers that explore questions of diversity, design and health
are invited from a variety of disciplines. Possible topics may
include, but are not limited to the following:
- Special populations
- Social capital and the built environment
- Design-health in the near environment
- Impact of design on crime
Abstract requirements:
Initial submission should take the form of a 300-word abstract,
including the title (and subtitle if applicable), authors and
affiliations. The abstract should include the nature of the
research, the methods used, and the main findings. Abstracts
should be submitted electronically to [log in to unmask]
Refereeing of Papers:
Selection of papers for presentation will be a two-stage
process. First, all abstracts will be reviewed; authors selected
will be invited to submit full papers for a further review
process. In both cases, abstracts and papers will be blind
reviewed by a panel of experts in the related fields of design,
social science and health.
Deadline for abstract: June 15, 2005
http://www.spokane.wsu.edu/dhd or call
6-12 November 2005: ACM Multimedia 2005 Interactive Art Program
Singapore
ACM Multimedia 2005 is the premier annual multimedia conference,
covering all aspects of multimedia computing. The ACM MM
Interactive Art Program seeks to bring together the arts and
multimedia communities to create the stage to explore, discuss,
and push the limits for the advancement of both multimedia
technology through the arts, and the arts through multimedia
technology.
The Interactive Art Program will consist of a *conference track*
and an *art exhibition*. We invite artists working with digital
media and researchers in technical areas to submit their
original contributions.
http://acmmm05.comp.nus.edu.sg/artprogram.htm
21-23 September 2005: PRESENCE 2005 The 8th Annual International
Workshop on Presence will be held at University College London,
September 21-23.
The deadline for receipt of papers, short-papers, posters,
panels, exhibition items is 6th June.
Up to 20 papers will be published in a special issue of
Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments (MIT Press).
http://www.temple.edu/ispr/conference/
7-8 September 2005: Design Consequences and Design Teams
Designers face the unknown: the unforeseen characteristics of
any design that can make it a world-beater or a financial
disaster. Do teams that produce highly successful designs know
which one will be winner? How do they reach that awareness? What
about the designs that fail? Were these possibilities discussed
and ignored or were the outcomes a surprise to the design team?
Consider mobile phones: their designs have spread a technology
that has an enormous impact on society. They are no longer seen
just a means of communication, they have led to a new language
(textsperanto), made time more elastic (no need to stick rigidly
to meeting places and times) and have made us accessible at any
time and any location, not to mention their use as fashion
accessories or status symbols.
This is an example of emergence: the characteristics of the
mobile phone as it is in use today far outweigh its obvious
purpose, moreover these cannot be traced down to an individual
component. This leads to an important question: is it possible
to anticipate emergence during the design of new entities?
The conference will bring together experts in the domains of
design, design communication and emergence to discuss these
issues.
Oral and poster presentations ae invited on the following topics
in particular (but not exclusively):
- Strategies in design teams
- Methodology
- Case studies investigating the design of socially important
artefacts such as the Burberry Check, Apple Macintosh computer,
the Millennium Bridge, Car radar, etc.
- Team communication
- Team dynamics in decision making
Dr. Kornelia Jumel Textiles and Paper School of Materials The
University of Manchester Sackville Street Building Manchester
M60 1QD
Tel.: +44 (0)161 306 5731 Fax: +44 (0)161 306 4153 e-mail:
[log in to unmask]
28 September - 1 October 2005: REFRESH ! 1st INT. CONFERENCE
ON THE HISTORIES OF MEDIA ART, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Banff New
Media Institute, Canada
http://www.MediaArtHistory.org
The technology of the modern media has produced new
possibilities of interaction. What is needed is a wider view
encompassing the coming rewards in the context of the treasures
left us by the past experiences, possessions and insights."
Recognizing the increasing significance of media art for our
culture, the conference on the Histories of Media Art will
discuss for the first time the history of media art within the
interdisciplinary and intercultural contexts of the histories of
art. Banff New Media Institute, the Database for Virtual Art,
Leonardo/ISAST and UNESCO DigiArts are collaborating to produce
the first international art history conference covering art and
new media, art and technology, art-science interaction, and the
history of media as pertinent to contemporary art.
The conference will also discuss the documentation, collection,
archiving and preservation of media art. What kind of
international networks must be created to advance appropriate
policies for collection and conservation? What kind of new
technologies do we need to optimize research efforts and
information exchange?
Held at The Banff Centre REFRESH! will feature lectures by
invited speakers as well as others selected by an international
jury from more than 400 papers.
http://www.banffcentre.ca/bnmi/events/refresh/registration_form.
asp
L'Observeur 2006 is now open for registrations on
www.apci.asso.fr until next 29th of july. This selection of
innovative design achievements resulting from company/designer
partnerships is presented every year by the Agency for the
Promotion of Industrial Creation (APCI). International
manufacturers, companies and designers from all fields and
economic sectors are invited to submit entries.
The more remarkable achievements receive an Observeur star
conferred by an independent panel of judges. These star awards
are a tribute to the recognition by professionals and experts of
the quality of the innovative process.
The final selection and awards will be presented during a
three-month run exhibition at the Science and Industry Museum in
Paris on november 2005. The exhibition is also presented abroad
within specific design events.
http://www.apci.asso.fr
MEDIA INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA CULTURE & POLICY Call for Papers
February 2006 issue Creativity and Practice-led Research
Theme editors: Lelia Green and Brad Haseman
Research through practice raises a range of methodological
issues which tend to be referred to using one of a cluster of
terms: practice as research, practice-based research, creative
practice as research, performance as research, research through
practice, practice as research in performance and practice-led
research.
These approaches to research have been common in the creative
arts for some time but increasingly they are being used across
the creative industries where both applied commercial research
and research focused on end-users are seen as an integral part
of the innovation system.
Digital technologies are particularly potent in enabling
research and development across sectors concerned with creative
production and cultural consumption; as a consequence,
practice-led research moves beyond the creative industries to
shape online education, virtual heritage, creative retail,
cultural tourism and business-to-consumer applications.
This issue focuses on issues raised by recognising the research
in creative outputs and seeks theoretical and comparative papers
from Australia and overseas, together with applied case studies
and examples of practice-led research. For example:
- How is theory built and understood in practice-led research?
- How might research in creative and performing arts contexts be
recognised and evaluated?
- How are epistemological formulations being unsettled through
practice-led research?
Case study approaches might include:
- the work of new media and dance artists helping to design new
gesturally controlled interfaces for people experiencing
disability;
- creative production systems which apply across the creative
industries and give rise to product innovation from television
formats to fashion design and cutting;
- digitising historic sites to create virtual museums, while
preserving the actual sites for future generations;
- designing online counselling tools with a specific eye to the
poetics of the site.
Lelia Green: [log in to unmask] Brad Haseman:
[log in to unmask]
12-16 September 2005: CALL FOR POSITION PAPERS INTERACT 2005:
Workshop on the Role and Models of Design Research in HCI
Organized by John Zimmerman, Shelley Evenson, and Konrad Baumann
We are pleased to invite you to participate in a workshop on
design research within HCI.
OVERVIEW
HCI emerged out of discourse and interaction between computer
science and behavioral science. More recently, however, there
has been a growing interest in the role of design in HCI. As
design continues to grow in importance to the HCI community, it
has become clearer how design adds value to HCI practice. What
is less clear is the role of design research within HCI. The
goal of this workshop is to explore the following questions:
- Is design research being conducting in institutions with a
strong HCI community?
- What models of design research are those institutions finding
provide the greatest benefit to the HCI community? Are these
models of research different than models of research in design
practice?
- Are designers conducting research that does not "ape" the
methods of other HCI disciplines and provide results that are
valuable to the entire HCI community?
- Is design research always collaborative with other HCI
disciplines or can it be conducted independently?
- How should design research be documented to best benefit the
HCI community?
We would like to invite interested participants to submit
position papers to this workshop on design research in HCI.
These positions can address one of the questions above or they
can detail an experience the participant has had in conducting
or collaborating on design research within HCI.
http://slant.radar.cs.cmu.edu/05-WS-DesignResearch/
12 September 2005: CALL FOR WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION IFIP WG 13.1
HCI Education workshop 'How Designers Teach' Interact 2005
Conference Rome, Italy Organisers: Konrad Baumann, Paula Kotz,
John Zimmerman
ABSTRACT
The workshop 'How Designers Teach' is intended to be a
discussion forum on different issues in design and HCI
education.
Between 2002 and 2004 an extensive study was carried out based
on in-depth interviews with design educators. The results of
this study are available in form of K. Baumann's doctoral
thesis.
The aims of the workshop are (1) to give feedback about the
outcomes of the study to the contributors and the HCI education
community, and (2) to generate further discussion that should
lead to a better insight in the field of didactics of design and
HCI.
http://www.cs.unisa.ac.za/interact/
22-25 February 2006: Call for participation: "Design Studies
and Design Culture" Design Studies Forum Special Session, CAA
Annual Conference, Boston.
The Design Forum special session 'Design Studies in the Academy:
Designing Our Future' that took place at the CAA's annual
meeting in New York on February 20, 2002 explored conceptual
frameworks under which Design Studies would operate within
existing academic structures. One could argue that, in the
academic setting, Design Studies should have the capacity to
bring 'designing' and 'design' closer to the focus of all
contemporary academic discourses.
The working assumption of this session is that one of the key
tasks of Design Studies in the academic setting could be to
enable incoming students in all academic and professional fields
to acquire skills that would render them capable of reasoning
about-and-within the contemporary, manmade world and acting upon
it accordingly. This kind of initiative would introduce what one
could call Design Culture programs into the freshman year: by
Design Culture one could assume modes of reasoning, belief
systems, values, customs, processes and methods of the
production of artifacts, and an entire universe of human
practices that bring the designed world of today into being. A
number of universities world-wide have in place simplistic forms
of design education at the freshman level commonly listed under
either 'visual literacy' or 'art foundations' course offerings,
but contemporary academic programs are urgently needed in order
to create Design Culture curricula that will introduce subject
matters, principles, theories and methods that are interwoven in
the conception, production and consumption of the artificial.
In that respect, a meta-disciplinary conception of the
artificial is essential in explaining the centrality of
design[ing] to contemporary life because we increasingly live in
a world whose holistic logic, conception, and production escape
the domain of expertise of any given professional and academic
discipline alone. Such a meta-disciplinary curricular
environment could be designed as a synthesis of the bodies of
knowledge situated in existing disciplinary territories, but
also on highly mobile and transparent networks configured by
other knowledges pertinent to the creation of a socially
critical agenda for all professional practices of the 21st
Century.
The hypothesis of this panel is that the curriculum of such a
Design Culture program would build on issues of sustainability,
ecology, social awareness, cultural management, civic
leadership, knowledge innovation, and other frameworks that put
forth socially and ecologically defined goals, while
simultaneously imply both a common social accountability as well
as a socially responsive framework for individual action. Design
Studies, with its cross-disciplinary appeal, has an important
role to play in preparing new generations of reflective
practitioners to face complex challenges of the 21st Century.
This session invites design educators, theorists, historians,
designers, graduate students, and others with interest in
introducing Design Culture programs into academic curricula to
send in papers that may speculate on: ways in which Design
Culture programs or design-awareness programs have been created,
applied, and tested; ways in which Design Studies can bring
together wide academic communities to carry on the above
described scenario; ways in which design-minor programs have
been introduced at universities and results of such
implementations; theories (of education, but not only) that can
provide a base for Design Culture programs; and so on.
Submit abstract of 500 words and current 200-word bio by **JUNE
15, 2005** to: [log in to unmask] Please copy both your
abstract and your bio into the body of the email message, and do
not attach additional files.
Call for papers for a special issue of 'Digital Creativity' on
'Programming and Creativity'
Digital Creativity is a quarterly journal published by
Routledge. The editors invite contributions for a special issue
on 'Programming and Creativity'to be published in early 2006.
Many artists and designers use computers, yet only a few are
skilled at writing programs or other code.Is this a necessary,
or a desirable skill? Or could it actually be harmful? How
creative can one be with computers without a sophisticated
ability to control the tools?
We would like to produce an issue based on practical experiences
of artists, designers, performers and educators who either write
code, or teach others to write code, for creative outcomes. We
would also like to include computer scientists and programmers
who collaborate with creative practitioners.
Shorter accounts (up to 2,500 words) that describe objectives,
technologies, techniques, etc. can be valuable. So too can be
larger articles (up to 5,000 words) that are reflective and
attempt to make more general insights.
All articles should be based upon some practical
experience. Please use imagery wherever this is integral to, or
complementary to, your written text.
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/14626268.asp
Any queries to: Colin Beardon <[log in to unmask]>
22-25 November 2005: Fifth International Conference on Human
System Learning Common Innovation in e-learning, Machine
Learning and Humanoid approaches: Human System Learning, Who is
in Control? Marrakech, Morocco.
Main topics
- Human and Machine Learning Fuzziness
- Human Robot Interaction (focused on learning approaches only)
- Interactive Machine Learning
- Interactive e-learning
- Interactive Mining Tools
- Learning from electronic dynamic documents
- Machine Learning
- New Learning Support Systems
Workshops: submitted topics should be related to the conference
scope. Each workshop must have its own scientific committee (5
to 10 members) and must include 5 contributions or more. The
abstract (one page) must include : Title, Objectives, topic(s)
and the scientific committee.
A tutorial should be 90, 180 or 360 minutes.
Contact:
Papers submitting
- K. Zreik: [log in to unmask]
- L. McKechnie: [log in to unmask]
Workshops:
- M. Ramdani: [log in to unmask]
Tutorials:
- M. El Adnani: [log in to unmask]
- M. Bellafkih: [log in to unmask]
http://europia.org/ICHSL5
http://www.certic.unicaen.fr/caps5
8-10 January 2006: International Conference on Advanced Design
and Manufacture Harbin, China.
The conference will aim to provide a forum for researchers,
academics and industrialists to share their up to date findings
and achievements in the fields of design and manufacture, and to
identify the new technology requirements, needs and priorities
in those fields. Industrial relevance and scientific innovation
will be particularly addressed. The conference topics will be
in the design and manufacturing engineering area.
http://www.admec.ntu.ac.uk/adm2006
Do you enjoy taking pictures with your camera phone? Do you own
a Nokia 6600 or 6630? Then you have the possibility to test a
new way to take digital pictures by trying out our software
prototype.
The Viktoria Institute in Goteborg is a Swedish research
institute in applied information technology. We invite you to
participate in a non-commercial research study starting in June
2005 about new types of digital photography. You get to try out
a software programme that visually incorporates sound and
movement into the pictures you take. We call this "context
photography".
We hope that you would like to participate and try taking
pictures and uploading them to a website. You will be asked to
answer some questions at two occasions during the study. The
programme will not affect any other software on your camera
phone and you can still take regular pictures when the programme
is not in use. After the study you may keep the program free of
charge.
This is how it works:
1. Send us an e-mail to [log in to unmask] to tell us you
are interested in participating. Please write [Photo study] as
the subject of your e-mail.
2. The study starts in June 2005 and lasts four weeks. We will
send you instructions and the programme, which is easy to
download to your camera phone. Now you can start taking
pictures!
3. During the study you are expected to upload your pictures to
a website. We will contact you twice by e-mail to ask questions
about the prototype.
4. After four weeks the study is over and you may keep the
software for free.
We look forward to your participation!
http://www.viktoria.se/fal/projects/photo/study.html
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Brigitte Borja de Mozota writes that the book reviewed in the
March 2005 edition of DRN: Borja de Mozota, Brigitte. 2002.
Design management. Paris: Editions d'Organisation, is available
in an updated English version 2003 (Allworth Press New york)
5-6 July 2005: Designing and consuming: exploring concepts of
objects, practices and processes, is a workshop being held at
Durham University, UK, on 5th and 6th July 2005.
The workshop is designed to generate and promote conversation
between design scholars, sociologists of consumption and science
and technology studies about how designed artefacts are
configured and appropriated and about how they structure the
social practices and situations of which they are a part. The
workshop will therefore be a step towards better understanding
of ideas and theories that have developed in parallel but that
have yet to intersect or connect on any scale.
Speakers at the event include Guy Julier (LMU), Tim Dant (UEA),
Tom Fisher (Sheffield Hallam) and Elizabeth Shove (Lancaster
University).
This is the first of a series of interdisciplinary workshops
being run as part of Designing and Consuming: objects, practices
and processes, a two year project being run between Lancaster
University, Durham University and Birmingham Institute of Art
and Design. The project is funded under the Cultures of
Consumption research programme run by the Arts and Humanities
Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council.
http://www.dur.ac.uk/designing.consuming
Further information about the workshop can be accessed by
following the 'events' link.
11-17 June 2005: Symposium DesignInquiry Maine College of Art,
Portland, Maine, United States
DesignInquiry is a working design symposium; in a series of
short lectures, discussions and studio workshops, participants
will explore the aesthetics and ethics of graphic design
http://www.designinquiry.meca.edu
12-13 July 2005: The 4th International Conference on Design and
Manufacturing for Sustainable Development. To be held at
Newcastle University UK.
http://www.liv.ac.uk/sustain
The next Bauhaus Kolleg, titled UN-Urbanism. During the academic
year 2005/2006, the postgraduate program of the Bauhaus Dessau
will focus on the phenomenon of global, crisis-regulating
urbanization. In the recent past, the role of UN troops in
handling local, national and international conflicts has
expanded considerably. They contribute not only to resolving
conflicts, but play an important role in rebuilding political,
social and cultural institutions. The spatial patterns of these
global interventions will be the subject of investigation
throughout the Kolleg year, as will the local characteristics
that influence these processes in locations such as Kabul and
Mostar.
The two-part Bauhaus Kolleg program consists of an orientation
phase, which concentrates more on theory and analysis, and a
project phase that focuses stronger on developing working
methods and strategies. An exhibition and the production of a
book are scheduled to conclude the Kolleg year.
The Bauhaus Kolleg is now accepting applications for the
upcoming program. Graduates with a strong academic background in
the fields of art, architecture, urban planning, cultural
theory, design, media studies, philosophy and other related
disciplines are invited to apply. The application deadline is
August 31, 2005.
http://www.bauhaus-dessau.de. Click on the link 'Kolleg.'
11-15 July 2005: Conference, Ways of Making and Knowing: The
Material Culture of Empirical Knowledge
Ways of Making and Knowing is to be held at several
participating institutions in London, and sponsored by the
Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL, the
Wellcome Trust, and the Yale Center for British Art. This
conference aims to build on exciting new work in the history of
material culture to break down the common historiographical
dichotomies between craft skill and scientific knowledge, and to
showcase some of the most suggestive studies demonstrating that
natural knowledge flowed from an engagement with natural things.
The chronological orientation of the lectures and discussions
will range from the Renaissance through the nineteenth century.
Historians of science and medicine, art historians, and museum
scholars from various fields will learn from one another through
a programme that mixes lectures with hands-on demonstrations.
The conference will be held on several sites where expert
curators and representative objects are available, namely
Chelsea Physic Garden, the British Museum, the Royal Botanical
Gardens at Kew, the Natural History Museum, London, the Victoria
and Albert Museum, and Painshill Park.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/histmed/events11-07-05.html
7 September 2005: Announcing 'Spread the Word', a free one-day
seminar disseminating the outcomes of recent major national
projects in Art, Design and Media looking at the following high
priority areas:
- Developing part time teachers
- Exploring writing with practice-based students
- Enabling access to e-learning
- Improving inclusiveness in creative and performing arts
Aimed at heads of department, staff developers, curriculum
managers and programme leaders, this major event presents an
opportunity to bring yourself and your colleagues up to date
with the outcomes of recent national projects in our discipline
area. It also offers an excellent networking opportunity
enabling links between institutions and courses going beyond the
focus of the day.
[log in to unmask]
7-9 July 2005: IIID/AIGA Conference Vision Plus 11. Needs,
trends and themes for Information Design: Developing Information
Design Subject Areas Vienna, Austria
Held under UNESCO patronage, Vision Plus 11 will focus on the
development of information design as a distinct profession and
area of expertise. The symposium will be carried by the IIID
Board Members and invited speakers, who will discuss the
development of information design subject areas. About 20
speakers from 10 countries are expected to give presentations.
http://www.iiid-visionplus.net
9 June 2005: The seminar is being held at The Digital Arts
Centre, University of Bradford, UK and will take place over two
days, Thursday 9th and 10th June 2005. We realize that this is
very short notice but if you are interested in attending please
reply to [log in to unmask]
The Restless Image: using motion capture as a research tool
This day will be devoted solely to various aspect of 'motion
capture' both from a technical and social perspective.
How can motion capture be used as a research and development
tool? How can motion capture be used for rapid prototyping?
The day will include a live demonstration using one of our
motion capture suites in the School of Informatics, and seminar
work discussing the impact of this and other forms of digital
capture used in film and video on the collaborative process and
visual research in more general terms.
Web: www.tripproject.co.uk
29 June 2005: Publishing for the RAE 2008 and Beyond University
College London
As the RAE again looms large over the academic community, so the
pressure to publish intensifies. But is the relationship between
publication and research assessment a harmless necessity or is
it a disruptive influence that distorts both scholarly
communication and funding allocation?
This half-day conference will explore the role that publication
plays in the assessment of research as we approach the next RAE
in 2008.
http://www.publishers.org.uk/raeconference
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________________________________________________________________
WEB
The latest Artifact Newsletter - April 2005 is now available
online at:
http://www.artifact.ac.uk/news/newsletters/may05.htm
Emotions, thinking: keep track of the evolution in the
discussion of these topics, why not sign up to ENGAGE
http://www.engage-design.org
thinkiD by think3: next-generation of its computer-aided-design
system
http://www.dexigner.com
Proceedings of the cltad 2nd International Conference Enhancing
curricula: towards a scholarship of teaching learning in art,
design and communication
http://www.arts.ac.uk/cltad/news/news.htm
Mark Hill, a member of the DRN (that is Drawing Research Network
-- ed.), has produced a bulletin board and invites drawing
researchers to view it and make their comments known.
http://www.drawing-board.org.uk
In Icograda eNews 18/05 readers were asked:
Is creative thinking a learned skill?
38% Yes. It can be acquired through study.
24% No. You are born with it and learn to use it as you grow.
42% I don't know.
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________________________________________________________________
DESIGN RESEARCH SOCIETY
The Design Research Society is the multi-disciplinary
international learned society for the design research community.
DRS was founded in 1967, and since then has established a
record of significant achievements in contributing to design
knowledge.
DRS has facilitated an international design research network in
40 countries comprising members who maintain contact through the
publications and activities of the Society. Members are drawn
from diverse backgrounds, not only from the traditional areas of
design, ranging from fine art to engineering, but also from
subjects like psychology and computer science.
Our interests include:
o recognising design as a creative act common to many
disciplines
o understanding research and its relationship with education
and practice
o advancing the theory and practice of design
We realise these by:
o encouraging the development of scholarship and knowledge in
design
o contributing to the development of doctoral education and
research training
o sharing knowledge across the boundaries of design disciplines
o facilitating networks to exchange and communicate ideas,
experience and research findings among members
o disseminating research findings
o promoting awareness of design research
o organising and sponsoring conferences, and publishing
proceedings
o encouraging communications between members internationally
o responding to consultative documents
o collaborating with other bodies
o lobbying on behalf of members' research interests
o recognising excellence in design research through awards
o sponsoring email discussion groups and a monthly emailed
newsletter
For further details and to join online:
http://designresearchsociety.org
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
SERVICES OF THE DESIGN RESEARCH SOCIETY
o Design Research News is the digital newsletter of the
Design Research Society. It communicates news about
research throughout the world. It is mailed automatically
at the beginning of each month and is free. You may
subscribe and unsubscribe at the following site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/design-research.html
o PHD-DESIGN is a discussion list open for unmoderated
discussion on all matters related to the PhD in design.
Topics include philosophies and theories of design, research
methods, curriculum development, and relations between
theory and practice. You may subscribe and unsubscribe at
the following site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/phd-design.html
o DRS is a discussion list open for unmoderated discussion
on all matters related to design research. You may
subscribe and unsubscribe at the following site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/drs.html
o Design Studies is the International Journal for Design
Research in Engineering, Architecture, Products and Systems,
which is published in co-operation with the Design Research
Society.
DRS members can subscribe to the journal at special rates.
http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/inca/30409/
o The DRS QCR - quarterly council report is sent via
email to full members of the Design Research Society. It
includes a selection of edited reports from international
Council members and Council Officers received from time to
time.
o Full information about the Design Research Society may
be found at:
http://www.designresearchsociety.org
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
CONTRIBUTIONS
Information to the editor, Professor David Durling, Middlesex
University UK. <[log in to unmask]>
Book information and suggestions for reviews should be sent to
the book review editor Professor Ken Friedman, Norwegian School
of Management, Oslo, and Denmark's Design School.
<[log in to unmask]>
________________________________________________________________
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