Dear List
At long last I am delighted to launch the open access Case Studies in the Use of Design Practice by PhD Researchers (DPR Case Studies) web site and would like to thank the contributors who have patiently worked with me during its development. The web site facilitates access to case studies in the Loughborough University Institutional Repository which also provides information on citation/linking and the Creative Commons licence. The home page for the resource can be found at: http://lboro.ac.uk/microsites/lds/dprg-casestudies/
The aim of the DPR Case Studies is to provide key information on research activity in which PhD researchers have engaged in the practice of a visually creative design discipline to support data collection. Each of the two-sided A4 pdf case studies provides the following information:
• Researcher
• Institution
• Date of award
• Supervisor(s)
• Examiner(s)
• Creative discipline
• Research methods
• Number of design case studies undertaken by the researcher
• Length of thesis
• Examination format
• Duration of study
• Experience of design practice before start of PhD
• Personal motivation to undertake practice during PhD
• Aim of research
• Research questions
• Objectives
• Summary
• Rationale for inclusion of design practice undertaken by researcher
• How PhD design practice differed from that of commercial practice
• Thesis availability
• Contact details
What has made this initiative particularly exciting for me is the inclusion of images from the creative activity plus the final design outcome(s).
Disciplines currently included as DPR Case Studies are fashion, graphic, industrial, interior, silversmithing & jewellery, textile and transport design with the PhDs being awarded by Curtin University, Australia; University of the Arts, UK; Loughborough University, UK; University of Newcastle, Australia; Kingston University, UK; Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Norway; Brunel University, UK; Royal College of Art, UK; University of Wales, UK; and Monash University, Australia. Having developed a methodological approach that integrated design practice, many of the researchers have then gone on to embrace these methods in their academic careers.
As the scope for academic definitions of design and designing broadens, this resource provides examples of scholarly research in which visual impact/outcome represents a distinctive design activity and, as such, positions this within identified design disciplines. However, these disciplines are not prescriptive and the tab-based approach has the capacity to include others (e.g. architecture, interaction design) when they become available. In fact, I am aware that there are other case studies out there that fit the scope of the resource and see the current 14 case studies from 7 disciplines as just the beginning. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to once again ask members of the List to contact me if they have completed PhDs (as researcher or supervisor) that might be considered for inclusion in the resource.
Thanks
Mark
Dr Mark Evans
Reader in Industrial Design
Design Practice Research Group Leader
Loughborough Design School
Loughborough University
UK
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