Hi All!
Ho ho - the gauntlet has been well and truly thrown down!
I always thought I was a rather good designer before I became
'enamored' of academe and I have met some designers who I regard as
very talentless! It has always been something of a bugbear of mine that
universities select people who have been good designers to teach and
research, rather than people who are good at teaching and research!
Anyway, I don't want to get sucked into this rather ancient debate. But
I am pleased that this message highlights issues about the relationship
between research activity and the design industry in this country. In
other subject fields industry is proactive in coming up with a research
agenda and offers support for projects. There is a good dialogue
between researchers and practitioners, practitioners read and value
research journals.
My experience is that it is very difficult to interest the design
industry in research - even requests to use designers and design based
companies as subjects for surveys or observation are more often than
not turned down. There is not a culture of research in the industry
which seeks to find long term vision and understanding - there is
however, a lot of interest in 'how I tackle my current project' which I
beleive is a rather short sighted approach - single rather than double
loop learning as described by Chris Argyris.
I don't want to lay the blame at the door of the design industry.
Researchers do need to engage with the needs of industry - we do have
a responsibility for the lack of communication. I have long believed
that some kind of forum which brings the two together would be helpful.
Many academics ARE anxious to understand the research needs of industry
and we can't do this without interaction (even if we were once, or are
still, designers). I have even suggested a conference where papers are
selected by an industry panel.
What do others think?
Philippa Ashton
Principal Lecturer in Design Management
Staffordshire University
UK
On Tue, 17 Sep 2002 09:39:22 -0400 [log in to unmask] wrote:
> Ben,
>
> No it's OK - I have been perusing through some of the design research
> stuff, and particularly this list.
>
> When a conference is up and coming there is a flurry of academic activity.
> But having been involved in a couple of design specific conferences - I am
> a little concerned of the lack of attention devoted to the study of
> improving the actual practice of design.
>
> What is this discipline about?
>
> Is design research solely intended to create some kind of research
> accreditation for an Art & Design Institution - so it is better placed in
> seeking government funding - or is there some real benefits to the world
> of designers?
>
> Even more scandalous is the idea that researchers, enamored by the world of
> design, are able to revel in this field, whilst possessing little (or more
> often) no design talent themselves.
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/features/2055558.stm
>
> http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/public/docs02/subjects01/secondary/secondaryartanddesign.pdf
>
>
>
> (please look at the section on drawing skills in the PDF file).
>
> The end result is students with design qualifications that have little
> professional proficiency - and yet are able to spend several days
> researching a design brief .
>
> If the folks in charge of a design institute cannot design - what chance
> their charges? This would make for a substantial common ground - the
> ability to design.
>
> Glenn Johnson
>
>
> Industrial Design Manager
>
>
>
>
>
> Industrial Design Studio, B/E Aerospace Inc.
>
>
> 1455 Fairchild Rd. Winston-Salem NC 27105-4588 USA
>
>
> Tel. (1) 336 744 3143 Fax. (1) 336 744 6934
>
>
> http://www.beaerospace.com/
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