Design Cultures

We've moved!

2010-07-24T12:18:00.001+01:00

This blog has now moved to another site, so please update your bookmarks etc to point to our new URL: http://designstudies2010.wordpress.com/

Change is coming...

2009-12-03T14:22:00.001Z

It's been a bit quiet on here recently, for all sorts of reasons (one of them being that Twitter seems to have taken over as a means of sharing links quickly).

But over Christmas I'm hoping to move this blog over to WordPress and relaunch it with, hopefully, some new writers.

Watch this space...

Desktop apps for blogging

2009-12-03T14:19:00.001Z

Writing a blog in a web browser interface can be a pain. Fortunately there are lots of desktop applications that allow you to write your posts, save them for later, post them then edit them to your heart's content.

On my Mac I use MarsEdit and, more recently, have been playing with Blogo which is quite cool but occasionally behaves oddly. MarsEdit is fairly basic on the surface but has clever integration with Flickr and other services which I often forget about.

Design Shack has posted a run-down of twenty blogging tools for Mac and Windows - some I've not heard of - which are well worth taking a look at.

Calling all jewellery students and graduates

2009-10-28T13:00:00.008Z

I would like to introduce you all to Vanilla Ink. It is a new initiative founded in 2009 by Kate Pickering who studied Jewellery and Metal Work at Duncan of Jordanstone and then went on to study a Masters of Design at The University of Dundee. Currently, Kate spends one day a week in the jewellery department at Dundee University, engaging with students observing how their work is developing for post graduation.

So what is it?

Vanilla Ink aims to support Jewellery graduates in making the big step into the real world. Vanilla Ink empowers the graduates as it is their chance to make a mark in the Jewellery world. It is a one year course that offers time, space and education. It is the missing link into industry.

“As a designer, I delve into the connections between jewellery, story telling and narratives. I believe jewellery hold endless opportunities to enhance the wearer’s relationship with memories. As Founder of Vanilla Ink, my goal is to truly empower jewellery graduates."

How can I get involved?

Jewellery students are pretty excited about this so I would ask you to follow Kate's blog www.vanilliaink.wordpress.com and follow her on twitter www.twitter.com/katesjewellery

If you are a student in Dundee chances are you will bump into Kate in the corridor so drop her an email and arrange to have a hot chocolate.

Jewellers - this service is for YOU so leave comments, ask questions and spread the word.

Flexible Love - folding chairs with a difference

2009-10-18T15:30:00.003+01:00

Sana Aziz, a level 2 jewellery student at Dundee, found this video of an innovative approach to folding furniture. Seems to answer quite a lot of needs - easy to store away, able to be used in lots of different ways...

Design Thinking diagram

2009-10-14T09:04:00.001+01:00

This great image (click on it for a larger version) and explanation of Design Thinking comes from Stanford University's K-12 Lab Wiki (see link below)

UNDERSTAND
Understanding is the first phase of the design thinking process. During this phase, students immerse themselves in learning. They talk to experts and conduct research. The goal is to develop background knowledge through these experiences. They use their developing understandings as a springboard as they begin to address design challenges.
OBSERVE
Students become keen people watchers in the observation phase of the design thinking process. They watch how people behave and interact and they observe physical spaces and places. They talk to people about what they are doing, ask questions and reflect on what they see. The understanding and observation phases of design thinking help students develop a sense of empathy.

Visit the Wiki site for the rest of the explanation - really clear and a good introduction to an important concept.
link: Steps in a Design Thinking Process

The Fun Theory

2009-10-08T18:24:00.001+01:00

How do you get more people to take the stairs? Turn them in to a piano...

Design Council calls for change in how design is categorised

2009-09-22T13:23:00.002+01:00

Basically, design is more closely related to science, engineering, technology and maths than it is to art... especially in terms of what it offers the economy and society.

(I happen to agree, but what about you?)

Design Council chief executive David Kester has called for a change in the categorisation of design education. In a speech delivered at the Liberal Democrat Party conference fringe in Bournemouth yesterday, Kester called for design to be more closely linked within Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects. Stem subjects are regarded as strategically important to the UK economy and are ringfenced in terms of research funding. Earlier this year, Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, former rector of the Royal College of Art, called for design to be included as a Stem subject, saying, ‘The dots aren’t being joined up. Engineering and technology are rated, but design isn’t. The big issue now is making design a Stem subject.’ In his speech, Kester also called for a sustainability element to be embedded across education, and for the nature and value of creativity to become an integral part of all learning. He said, ‘Our educators have a responsibility to bring hard business and technological skills together with creative problem-solving capabilities.

link: Design Council chief executive calls for design education change | Design Week

George Kembel: Awakening Creativity

2009-09-17T14:03:00.001+01:00

You can select individual chapters at the for a.tv website

Being a critical student

2009-09-17T13:52:00.001+01:00

A good, brief video from the University of Leicester on what we mean when we ask you to be "critical"

Why should students blog or use Twitter?

2009-09-14T16:15:00.001+01:00

This year we're going to ask new level 2 students to keep a blog to post their research and thoughts on reading, lectures and seminars - as well as show off their design work to the world.
I asked my "followers" (hate/love that word - bow down before me, followers!) for reasons why students should do that in today's world, and here are some of their responses. Add your own in the comments, or tweet them to @dhtp. I'll add the best here as they come in...

“You will struggle to get the knowledge, opportunities and connections any other way…" @redjotter

“To keep in touch with each other even in the depths of study which can sometimes be an isolating experience. … Blogs can also be a useful way of collecting your thoughts. I broke my dissertation topic while I was writing about it on my blog.” @feelinglistless

“Blog: Pictures of cats. Twitter: Lunch menu.” @rickcurran

“Writing skills, having thoughts /testing opinions, reading other blogs, networking ...rick has just nicked my punchline re. Cats” @fergusbisset

“To create networks with other designers, prepare for the real world,reflect on their own work + take learning n2 their hands” @rufflemuffin

“As well as employer expectations, maybe bits in here http://bit.ly/38JZV9” @doclorraine

“Develop analytical and documentation skills … build your own database of resources” @michelewong

“It is a good way to vent frustrations!”@Hellicarusprime

“Just tweet as much as possible...and about anything” @charlieadam

"Get connected to the real world & real people, although like any social app, it can be distracting if not used properly..." @Qin_Han

Semester 1 Mind Map

2009-09-14T12:45:00.001+01:00

Level 2 students on the Design Studies module will be using mind mapping to create an overview of their reading and help with idea generation. It's just one of many techniques you can use for this sort of activity.
The mind map above was created using mindmeister which is a free tool for producing maps, and which also allows people to collaborate. Drag the map around in the window.
Alternatively, click on the image below for a larger version (though this may be out of date very quickly!)

If you're a student on the Design Studies module this year, sign up for the free personal account and try it out - we'll be asking you to use it for one of the assignments!

You can watch a video online showing how to use the site

Map/Territory

2009-09-09T10:10:00.001+01:00

Designer Timo Arnall's concept video shows the potential for augmented reality mapping.
Personally I don't think you'd ever see a guy using this - they'd never want anyone to think they were lost! If I use Maps on my iPhone I always try to make it look as if I'm texting or something...

(via FlowingData)

Assembling bodies

2009-09-07T11:16:00.000+01:00

Tall or short, large or small - the human body comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and that is perhaps why it has been interpreted in so many different ways. Cambridge University's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is looking at how bodies have been imagined and transformed both culturally and medically.

See the audio slide show at the BBC

Set texts for Dundee design programmes (level 2, semester 1)

2009-08-11T10:53:00.001+01:00

It's that time of year again when students are thinking about starting their new courses. The excitement, the keen sense of anticipation (surely that's the same thing?)... now's the time to get a head start on some of the reading you need to do!

Those of you joining us here at Dundee for level 2 on one of our design courses (graphics, jewellery, textiles, product, interactive media, interior design) will be taking the Design Studies module for which there are some set texts. The Amazon links below are for information only but offer some good deals. You may find some of these books on offer in Borders, Waterstones etc.

Set texts

Please buy both the following two books:

Gladwell, Malcolm (2001). The Tipping Point. London: Abacus Books

Buzan, Tony (1993). The Mind Map Book. London: BBC Worldwide

Study guides

You must also buy one of the following study guides (each covers the same ground but in different ways - check copies in a library or book shop to see which you prefer)

Cottrell, Stella (1999). The Study Skills Handbook. Basingstoke: Palgrave

McMillan, Kathleen and Weyers, Jonathan. (2007). The Smarter Student: skills and strategies for success at university. Harlow: Pearson Educational.

Chambers, Ellis and Northedge, Andrew (1997). The Arts Good Study Guide. Milton Keynes: The Open University

Start now!

Please read the whole of The Tipping Point and the first three chapters of The Mind Map Book by the start of semester. We'll be using The Tipping Point to spark ideas about design and research, and mind mapping as one of the techniques. It's really important that you're able to talk about the books when you arrive or you'll spend the whole semester catching up with everyone else.
You should also try out some Mind Maps so you're ready to start using them in class.

When you read, make notes of anything that catches your attention, or that you want to follow up or query later. By the end of the semester you should have read The Tipping Point at least twice.

The study skills books are always ones that most students think they don't need. Trust us - you do. Get one, read it through before you arrive and keep it handy to refer to. They will help you with using the library for research, for taking notes and for writing reports and essays.

If you have any questions about these books, or the Design Studies module, drop Jonathan a line, or add a comment on this page.

Next Level Dundee

2009-08-05T08:44:00.003+01:00

Next Level Dundee is a digital media collaboration event for anybody not currently working in the creative industries. Entrants will work in teams over the course of a week to produce a game, audio, film or other creative media response to a brief.

www.nextleveldundee.com

Clothes made from coffee

2009-07-27T20:48:00.001+01:00

From The Guardian:

Ethical fabric isn't restricted to hemp and bamboo. An innovative range of sportswear is now being made out of old coffee grounds, reports Sanjida O'Connell

Most of us need that caffeine jolt to kick-start us into the day. But how many of us, over a quick cup of coffee, would think about spinning our latte on a lathe and turning it into a top?

Jason Chen, the general manager of the Taiwanese Singtex Industrial Company, had a brainwave as he was sipping coffee in - where else? - Starbucks. Most coffee grounds end up in landfill, but Singtex is now collecting waste grounds from the drinks giant to turn into sportswear.

Read in full

Design students: think diagonally

2009-07-20T15:55:00.001+01:00

Lauren Tan, who gave a talk for The Design Council at this year's New Designers, sums up how design students need to see beyond their discipline when it comes to making career choices:

A friend once said to me, at Uni we are taught just one way to use our design skills and creativity. The aim for my presentation was to show design grads other ways designers can, and have been, using their skills and creativity. I briefly profiled a dozen designers and their work, to show where design could go. The list extended from being social entrepreneurs to bringing design thinking to policy.

I think the presentation went down well. For design grads who have spent the last 3 to 4 years focused solely on product, graphics, fashion etc. it might seem a stretch to take their design skills and creativity into areas as unfamiliar as policy. But on Wednesday night's Awards Night, architect Amanda Levete, opened the night by saying:

‘There is a financial crisis, but there is not a creative crisis. It is an incredibly exciting moment, the moment to be bold, to think big and to think diagonally because hand in hand with creativity goes entrepreneurship...Your trump card is your creativity.’

Anyone who's been on one of my courses will be familiar with this line of thinking...

(Via Letters to Australia.)

Too many anecdotes, not enough data

2009-07-20T15:44:00.001+01:00

Joshua Porter: "If we’re not careful we’ll start making design decisions based on a single person’s opinion, not fact."

Read the whole article for useful advice on the difference between anecdote and data, and how it relates to design decisions.

Deadline

2009-07-20T11:48:00.001+01:00

This video was directed by Bang-yao Liu at Savannah College of Art and Design

Liu says on his YouTube page:

"This is my senior project at Savannah College of Art and Design. Where my idea comes from is that every time when I am busy, I feel that I am not fighting with my works, I am fighting with those post-it notes and deadline. I manipulating the post-it notes to do pixel-like stop motion and there are some interactions between real actor and post-its."

And just in case you think "I can do that" bear in mind it took three months to plan, and a whole team to produce, as you can see from the Making Of video below:

By the way - it's always a good idea to document your design process in some way. It makes a great promotional tool and potential employers always seem more interested in your process than the end product...

Follow us on Twitter

2009-07-10T10:38:00.001+01:00

As you can see on the right hand side of the page, we've been making a lot of use of Twitter to pose quick links to stories from around the web. It's also a great way to connect to other designers, bloggers and journalists.
If you're using Twitter, follow us - our username is @dhtp (we'll be moving to a new name in the future as this is a hangover from our previous incarnation, but don't worry we'll send everyone a message when it happens).

We also recommend downloading a Twitter client (like Tweetie or Twitterific on the Mac) so you don't need to keep logging in to a web page.

But if you want to follow us without joining Twitter, just keep your eye on the column to the right or visit our Twitter page.

We're using Twitter for quick posts and links but will still use the blog when time allows - think of Twitter like a little note pad where we can jot things down that otherwise we'd forget to tell you ;-)

New timetable for level 2 Design Studies 2009/2010

2009-07-04T11:18:00.001+01:00

This timetable is a work in progress but shows how next year's programme is shaping up.
You can view it full screen by clicking on the spanner icon (or "wrench" if you're American!)

Recycling trucks printed with textile patterns

2009-06-25T22:16:00.001+01:00

Visit TreeHugger for the full story - some great-looking vehicles!

Replacing remote controls with gestures

2009-06-20T20:07:00.001+01:00

Coming to a TV near you soon...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Dundee's Future Green Thinking Winner

2009-06-11T16:52:00.002+01:00

Future Green Thinking Winner: Dundee Geography student Craig Frew.

"Creating environmentally-friendly solutions for everyday living

An adaptation of the Neighbourhood Watch scheme, the Environmental Watch Group is a scheme designed to reduce carbon emissions at a local level.

Community environmental watch groups are responsible for observing, monitoring and educating the environmental activities of local residents in a bid to tackle the low carbon challenge.

Used as a vehicle to cut the carbon output of communities, the onus is on the Environmental Watch Group to encourage local people to consider the negative effects of climate change and adopt new measures to help reduce their carbon footprint.

The groups meet regularly to come up with innovative ideas, incentives and schemes that are relevant to the local area and undertake a range of activities including waste management and monitoring biodiversity."

Entrepreneurs to compete for free retail space

2009-06-09T11:00:00.002+01:00

Three retailers will be offered business support worth £250,000, including free space in a Scottish shopping centre as part of a “Dragon’s Den” style scheme.

The Project Retail initiative is organised by property investment manager Prupim and has been designed to fill vacant retail space in its Wellgate shopping centre in Dundee, which currently has 12 of its 60 retail sites sitting empty.

Aspiring retailers will pitch their ideas to a panel of business experts in a bid to win the three-year package. Winners will be given use of a fitted-out shop in the Wellgate Centre, as well as mentoring and marketing support from business experts for three years. The first six months will be rent free and retailers will then be able to negotiate ongoing rent based on their turnover during that period.

Vacant retail space caused by the recession is a problem in several of Prupim’s shopping centres and the company said that if this scheme was successful it will be rolled out across its other outlets.

Prupim, which is part of Prudential, owns or co-owns many of the UK’s best-known shopping centres, including Westfield London, Bluewater in Kent and the Arndale Centre in Manchester.

Project Retail was launched by entrepreneur Michelle Mone, who runs designer lingerie brand Ultimo, and is backed by Dundee University and the city council. Deadline for entries is July 31.

Go to www.project-retail.co.uk for more details.

Wearable technology

2009-05-08T13:23:00.001+01:00

Thanks to Steph in IPD

The most kissed girl in the world becomes a guy

2009-05-08T13:22:00.001+01:00

BBC News reports:

If you have ever done a first aid course, the chances are you have been intimate with Resusci Anne.
Launched in 1960 to solve the problem of how to practice life like mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, she has been nick-named "the most kissed girl in the world" and to put it plainly, she is getting on a bit.
More sophisticated mannequins have been manufactured in recent years and Resusci Anne's creators Laerdal have now brought out SimMan 3G, the next generation of simulator, able to mimic an array of medical complications.
He has a pulse, he can cough and wheeze, his eyes can water, his jaws can lock and his body can breathe and convulse.
Those are just the visible features but he can also simulate breathing complications, cardiac arrests and reactions to drugs.

Read the rest

The 5 Most Innovative Eco-friendly Fibres

2009-05-03T21:11:00.001+01:00

When I hear the words “green” and “fashion” in the same sentence, I immediately think of organic cotton and hemp. From you vantage point, what are some of the coolest innovations in sustainable fibers happening right now?

Read about the five most innovative eco-friendly fibres. Some of them may surprise you

Thanks to Eilidh Ellery via Twitter

Posted via web from Jonathan's posterous

Social Innovation Camp comes to Dundee

2009-04-23T12:56:00.003+01:00

Social Innovation Camp is an experiment in creating social innovations for the digital age, they are looking for brilliant ideas that use the web to tackle stuff that matters.

"Absolutely anyone can enter an idea: if you’re a hacker with an itch to scratch, we want to hear from you - but you don’t have to be technically skilled to get involved. We’re looking for software developers and designers, people with business brains and seriously creative minds, together with those of you who simply know about a problem you want to solve. And there’s no need for you to be based in Scotland - or even the UK - to enter.

We’re looking for the best ideas that use the web to change stuff that matters - be that in education, health care, the environment; it could be something on your doorstep or stuff that effects the world as a whole.

There’s only one thing that every idea must have in common: that it uses the web to help people do something for themselves."

This fantastic initiative is going to be in Dundee from the 28th to 30th of April. Sign up and come along!

Heston Blumenthal leads £10,000 kitchen product design competition

2009-04-12T14:57:00.001+01:00

You could win a £10,000 cash prize courtesy of Finish and see your very own kitchen innovation produced by Lakeland – in total a package worth an estimated £50,000. You’ll work with Lakeland to develop the design and help bring your innovation to market, receive royalties from future sales, and you’ll benefit from extensive business support and publicity.
Ten finalists will be invited to attend a judging event in London in August 2009, where you’ll pitch your design to the judging panel. Four runners up will receive £1,000 worth of Lakeland vouchers and a year’s supply of Finish Quantum dishwasher tablets.

Over-egging on the packaging front

2009-04-10T12:08:00.001+01:00

There's an interesting article over at BBC News about moves to reduce the amount of packaging used on Easter Eggs

Jo Swinson, Lib Dem MP for Dunbartonshire East, has been campaigning against excess packaging for several years.

"Easter eggs are obviously one of the worst examples of excessive packaging you can find. It is going to taste the same whatever box it comes in. It doesn't make any sense to pay for excess packaging."

Last year she named and shamed various overpackaged eggs including one from Nestle. This year the confectionery giants have seen which way the wind is blowing.

Nestle has eliminated many of the plastic inserts - used to hold the egg in place and protect it - from its boxes and reduced the amount of cardboard used.

BIG REDUCTIONS

Cadbury's: Treasure eggs which have no box, other eggs' carton sizes cut by 25%

Nestle: Many plastic inserts removed, packaging reduced 30%

Mars: Carton weight reduced 42%, plastic insert weight reduced 35%

M&S: Packaging reduced 30%

Mars is using print ads to trumpet its reduced packaging, and Cadbury's is shrinking boxes, having also introduced its Treasure Eggs range that don't come in a box.

But Ms Swinson says the confectionery giants still have some way to go and that further reductions in box size are required.

Andy Dawe, from waste and recycling action group WRAP, says it is important to remember that there is a functional element to egg packaging.

If packaging prolongs the shelf life of an egg, then waste is avoided. If packaging stops eggs being damaged in transit, then again waste is avoided.

"But one of the biggest concerns for consumers is when they can't recycle the packaging that is presented to them."

Read the full article at news.bbc.co.uk

Posted via web from Jonathan's posterous

Sun in a box wins sustainable development prize

2009-04-09T21:44:00.001+01:00

http://design-cultures.blogspot.com/2009/04/in-box-cooker-wins-design-award.html

Posted via email from Jonathan's posterous

"Sun in a box" cooker wins design award

2009-04-09T21:42:00.001+01:00

BBC News reports that

A cheap solar cooker has won first prize in a contest for green ideas.
The Kyoto Box is made from cardboard and can be used for sterilising water or boiling or baking food.
The Kenyan-based inventor hopes it can make solar cooking widespread in the developing world, supplanting the use of wood which is driving deforestation.

Read the story in full - it's fascinating how something so simple can be so effective.

Where Gadgets go to die

2009-04-02T15:08:00.001+01:00

Wired has an interesting article about a gadget recycling facility in the US

When gadgets die, they go to a place like the one pictured here — if they're lucky.

Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency came under fire for allowing U.S. tech companies to export millions of pounds of hazardous, used electronics to Asian countries where they are recycling with a lot less environmental oversight.

Negative press, new e-waste legislation and a depressed economy are pressuring tech manufacturers into assuming far greater recycling responsibly to show they’re part of the green movement. As a bonus, domestic recycling lets them save some money on materials, such as precious metals, while they’re at it. Manufacturers who handle recycling responsibly in the United States work with professional facilities like this one, where old gadgets are dismantled using a part-man, part-mechanical process.

Read the rest and see more pictures here

The price of design - What Sagmeister charges

2009-03-25T13:30:00.002Z

via Eye magazine's flickr.com page

Anything from $6 to $60 an hour by my reckoning. Sure it's more complicated than that, maths-wise...

Sustainable Design Forum, DCA 27 March at 7.30pm

2009-03-24T09:05:00.001Z

This Friday, DCA, Dundee at 7.30pm

Posted via email from Jonathan's posterous

Wearable kinetic sculptures

2009-03-24T09:04:00.001Z

Via Jo's Blog

Posted via email from Jonathan's posterous

Watch company launches designer networking site

2009-03-23T13:03:00.001Z

Swatch Group owner Rado Switzerland will launch a networking website for designers next month.

The website is aimed primarily at new designers and graduates looking for work. It will allow users to upload a portfolio that they can share with peers and, Rado hopes, potential employers.

‘Our goal is to make the site a platform for young professionals to share work ideas, gain increased visibility and use the many networking features built into the site to contact each other and potential employers,’ says a spokeswoman for Rado.

The free, global website will launch at the Milan furniture fair at the end of April.

[...]
A registration page is currently viewable at www.radostar.com.

via designweek.co.uk

Posted via web from Jonathan's posterous

Salaries: Take the long view - Design Week

2009-03-23T12:54:00.001Z

Design Week has an article on the state of salaries in design (mainly, it seems, graphic design) and what people can do to increase them.

There are also calls for designers to become more integrated, with consultancies keen on multi-tasking talent. Print designers especially should gain experience and qualifications in digital software, since the dearth of talent in the digital arena is as pronounced as ever, with the market consistently bucking the downturn trend.

'There is an ever-increasing amount of business moving online, as technology and capability transforms the way we live and work. Inevitably, there is a skills gap developing as the digital workforce strives to keep up with the constantly evolving environment,' explains Sue Pilgrim of MacPeople. 'Senior digital candidates are always in demand.'

Demand for print specialists and artworkers is in decline, while jobs in brand identity, packaging and fmcg are still reasonably healthy, report the recruiters. However, brand-owners are increasingly squeezing budgets, says Beasley, and they commission less new product development and innovation work.

'It's tough-going for candidates across all areas, especially for print designers,' says Vidler. But as consultancies work increasingly hard to keep existing business and bring in new work, experienced account managers and business development executives are very much sought after.

[...]

Graduate prospects

Talent, dynamism and enthusiasm will be particularly important for this year's graduates, as their prospects in the downturn are bleak. Beasley warns that 'only the best will survive', and that completing good work placements is vital. 'Those who will be graduating in 2010 should also be looking at getting placements this summer to get ahead of the rest,' she says.

Colleges and universities should also encourage different skill sets, says Snell. '[They] still seem to be encouraging too many graduates to leave with just graphic design skills, when there has been a clear trend in the past four to five years of needing more Web and digital technical and creative people,' she explains.

via designweek.co.uk

Posted via web from Jonathan's posterous

Double-height seating in Indian Restaurant

2009-03-20T14:54:00.001Z

Bangalore Express
Indian Restaurant in Waterloo Road, London. The client required a re-invention of the traditional curry house to match their vision for fast, healthy, Indian food. Linear grooved walls with abstract painted blocks lead the eye through the inter-connecting spaces. Tube steel furniture gives a purposefully harder edge, while the double height booths provide 24 extra covers for the same floor space.

via outline-projects.co.uk

Posted via web from Jonathan's posterous

Design Week employment podcast

2009-03-20T14:10:00.001Z

Brand Union executive creative director Glenn Tutsell and Design Council head of skills Lesley Morris both feature in Design Week’s employment opportunities podcast.

They are joined by Laura Woodroffe, education and professional development director at D&AD, and graphic designer Matt Judge, who was recently made redundant.

The four discuss employment opportunities in design as the economy goes through recession.

The podcast can be heard at http://www.designweekpodcast.co.uk.

via designweek.co.uk

Posted via web from Jonathan's posterous

Dundee's Innovative Technology Projects Receive National Recognition

2009-03-18T14:52:00.001Z

Assistive technology projects developed at the University of Dundee have been held up as exemplary at a major exhibition of technology that can enhance the lives of older and disabled people.

Rolf Black and Dr Annalu Waller from the University’s School of Computing attended the opening of the ATcare Design and Development Centre in London to demonstrate two projects that aim to help children with complex communication needs (CCN).

PhonicStick seeks to develop a prototype joystick to improve the ability of children with CCN to generate speech through a computer, and is funded by Capability Scotland and the Nuffield Foundation.

“How was School today?” has developed software to enable CCN children reliant on speech-generating devices to tell others about their school day. Using sensor and other data, the software automatically generates novel stories about the child’s day. This 12-month EPSRC funded feasibility study is a collaborative project with the University of Aberdeen, Capability Scotland and Communication Matters.

Dr Arlene Astell from the University of St Andrews also demonstrated CIRCA, a research project carried out jointly with Dundee that has found a way to promote communication for elderly people with dementia.

This meant that University of Dundee projects featured in three of only eight presentations at the event, which was attended by over 200 industry experts. ATcare was established to improve the range, quality and functionality of assistive technology products to meet the growing demands of older and disabled people.

Dr Waller said she and her colleague were delighted to be part of the ATcare event, “The feedback on our projects was superb and at one point people were queuing three deep to see the PhonicStick and “How was school today?”. It was great to think that we had three out of the eight projects being demonstrated.”

The University’s School of Computing contains one of the largest and most influential academic groups in the world researching into information technology and assistive technology for older and disabled people.

It boasts more than 30 researchers with a unique blend of disciplines including computer engineers, psychologists, therapists, creative designers and staff who have benefited from interdisciplinary careers.

via dundeeliving.co.uk

Posted via web from Jonathan's posterous

Dundee to be Scotland's First Fibrecity

2009-03-18T09:36:00.001Z

By installing a network of fibre optic cables across the city, Dundee will be the first city in Scotland to become a Fibrecity.

This means residents, businesses and organisations have the opportunity to improve their communication facilities and networks offering a much higher speed at which data can be sent and received.

With Dundee having a thriving technology and digital entertainment industry, this will be beneficial for the city. Work is due to begin within the next 6 months, with the majority of the fibre out in the sewers using H20’s patented FS System at the company’s own expense.

via dundeeliving.co.uk

Posted via web from Jonathan's posterous

'Twittering' threat to US trials

2009-03-17T16:57:00.001Z

The verdicts in two US trials are being appealed against because jurors made comments about them on social networking sites.
Defence lawyers in the two cases say postings by jurors on sites like Twitter and Facebook could be grounds for appeal.
Jurors are forbidden to discuss anything relating to a case outside the deliberation room.
But experts say the emergence of new technologies is challenging the rules.

via news.bbc.co.uk

Bloody Twitter.

Posted via web from Jonathan's posterous

Stepmothers of Invention: Branding Firms Enter the Industrial Design Fray

2009-03-17T16:46:00.001Z

Twist had a problem. By all appearances, the young Colorado-based company had everything going for them. Their line of environmentally sensitive sponges and cleaning rags had touched a chord with consumers, and was selling well at high-end grocery and housewares stores. They were getting attention from all the right magazines and blogs. But in order to expand, they needed a bigger brand with more product offerings; major retailers like Target said so, even as they expressed interest in carrying their line.

Like a lot of companies in this situation do, Twist decided to look for help. After a few months searching, they settled on Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, an award-winning agency that happened to have an office in Twist's home town of Boulder. Crispin, however (or CP+B, as it's sometimes abbreviated), is not a product design consultancy, it's an advertising agency, and has been since its founding in 1965. The proposal that got them Twist's account included a range of brand-building services, among them the design of new additions to their product line. And it's not the first time they've done this for a client.

To most of us not deeply submerged in the eternally bubbling stew of modern marketing, this sounds kind of bizarre, as if your accountant were offering to fix your car in addition to doing your taxes. The popular impression of How Things Get Made and Sold generally has some engineers and designers over here, coming up with The Thing, and an ad agency over here, thinking up ways to sell it. Simple, right? ...

That "two silo" method of design and marketing was more or less standard until recently, and while the history of its gradual erosion goes back several decades, the first firms to start messing with it in a substantive way were probably product design consultancies in the late 80s and early 90s.

Carl Alviani's full article at core77 is fascinating and well worth a read - it shows how the boundary between different disciplines both in and outside design have blurred.

Posted via web from Jonathan's posterous

Platinum Success for Duncan of Jordanston Student

2009-03-17T16:28:00.002Z

Laura Christie, a final-year student at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, has won a major prize at what has been described as `the Oscars of the jewellery and metalwork world’.

Laura (21), from Dalgety Bay in Fife, was presented with a Silver Award for Platinum Design at the Goldsmiths Craftmanship and Design Awards 2009 in London. The Awards are open to anyone in the UK involved in silversmithing, jewellery and the allied crafts, so it is a considerable achievement for Laura to win while still being a student.

Dr Sandra Wilson who has recently taken on the management of the Jewellery & Metalwork programme at Duncan of Jordanstone said, “We are delighted to see Laura winning such a prestigious prize.

“Laura is a good example of the new breed of jewellery student who combines both traditional hand skills with new technologies such as rapid prototyping to great effect.”

Laura was congratulated at the awards by celebrity jeweller Stephen Webster, who was one of the judges on the competition and is well known for his celebrity clients including Madonna.

via dundeeliving.co.uk

Congratulations, Laura!

Posted via web from Jonathan's posterous

Christopher Frayling wants education funding change - Design Week

2009-03-11T15:03:00.001Z

Design Week reports on an initiative I think is long overdue:

The outgoing rector of the Royal College of Art, Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, is set to mount a campaign to persuade Government to rethink its categorisation of design education.

Frayling has signalled an intention to go to 'the highest level' to talk to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and Business Secretary Peter Mandelson to argue for the inclusion of design as a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Stem) subject. Stem subjects are regarded as strategically important to the UK economy and 'ringfenced' in terms of research funding.

Frayling's move has been prompted by a cut in research budgets for some of the UK's major design higher education institutions, including the RCA, University of Sussex, University of the Arts London and Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication (www.designweek.co.uk, 5 March).

Frayling points out that although the RCA 'dramatically' improved its positioning for the Research Assessment Exercise, it had its funding cut. 'What's interesting is that Mandelson spoke [last week] about the importance of research in the creative industries, and days later funding is cut,' says Frayling. 'The dots aren't being joined up. Engineering and technology are rated, but design isn't. The big issue now is making design a Stem subject.

'Everyone understands the relationship between science and manufacturing, but what they don't get is design as the crucible of the creative industries. Government thinks that it is a lightweight subject, about styling and art, that it isn't grown-up stuff,' he adds.

James Dyson feels that the Government's 'arbitrary division' of engineering and design is short-sighted. 'We need to move away from the old stereotypes: engineering as difficult, design as fluffy. Our best design engineers are both artistic and scientific.

'Investment is required across the whole spectrum: science and engineering, but creative thinking and new ideas too,' he says.

A spokesman for the Higher Education Funding Council for England says, 'It may be that in multi-faculty universities, design is carried out as engineering. We protected the science subjects but didn't move the money from the arts. In fact, [overall] funding for the arts has gone up. We're not questioning the role of the arts in the economy, but there's a limited pot of money.'

Design Research Grant Uses

• Nottingham Trent University's research budget has increased. Research projects include a robotic snake, developed with Merlin Robotics

• Some of the Royal College of Art's research budget is ploughed into the Helen Hamlyn Centre, which works on patient safety, inclusive design and workplace design projects

• University of the Arts London uses part of its research budget to support knowledge-transfer projects between design and industry, according to Professor Keith Bardon, UAL Pro-rector, Research and Enterprise

Guardian Data Store

2009-03-10T10:45:00.001Z

The Guardian has launched its Open Platform which allows developers and others to write applications that use its content.

Part of the platform is the Data Store, a comprehensive library of data compiled by the paper from various sources and free for others to use in their research or visualisations: "visualise and mash them together. Then, let us know what you've done. Email us at datastore@guardian.co.uk"

So if you want to know the smoking figures for every country, international suicide rates, or the number of plastic bags imported and exported worldwide, pop over there. And if you do use the data in research, design or illustration, let the Guardian know...

Ethical homeware retailer seeks student designs - Design Week

2009-03-05T17:51:00.001Z

Design Week reports that:

Ethical homeware retailer Biome Lifestyle is launching a student design competition to find products to sell in its online shop.
The London-based manufacturer and online retailer is looking for Christmas-themed homeware products including crackers, tree decorations or everyday items with a festive twist.

The competition winner will receive a commission based on the sales of their product, calculated on a monthly basis. The exact figure is yet to be confirmed, but Biome says that it will be ‘fair’.

Biome will organise and pay for the manufacture of the winning entry, which will be assessed on its eco-credentials and made either in the UK or by co-operatives in Nepal, Vietnam or India. Products made outside the UK will be manufactured using sustainable materials including felt, bamboo and organic cotton.

A spokeswoman for the retailer says, ‘There will be only one winner, and if they get on well with Biome then the relationship could be ongoing. Equally, if there is more than one stand-out entry, then Biome will consider working with those designers in the future.’

The competition is open to students over the age of 16, and the closing date for entries is 1 May. A winner will be chosen on 11 May, and the product will go sale in the run-up to Christmas.

Contact Biome director Alexandra Bishop at alexandra@biomelifestyle.com for more information.

Unbox Design on Social Networking

2009-03-05T17:38:00.001Z

Paddy from IPD level 2 has written a very interesting post over on the Unbox Design blog about last week's talk on social networking and design education.

One of the things he said is:

The most interesting point I took from this though was the different generational views not just on the technology used, but on the content. Members of staff who had experienced life in the pre-digital where concerned about the lack of privacy and anonymity that is available. Whereas students felt this to be less of a concern. Once we put something up on the Internet, it becomes available for all to see, and therefore we become available to be judged and scrutinised on our personal lives and thoughts possibly intended only to be seen by certain people.

(Read the full post)

I don't know but he might be referring to me there about the concern for lack of privacy and anonymity. I know it's certainly an issue for many, not just the "older generation". My point though was more about what people want to know about me - I'm now followed by a dozen or more students on Twitter which is okay, but it means I've now started to think very carefully about what I type, not because I'm concerned about my privacy, but I'm concerned about how it might be read. Some people like there to be a distance between tutors and students in that respect.
I think in the question I asked at the end of the talk I was alluding to an unwritten rule - if you follow me on Twitter you do so on the understanding that what's said on Twitter stays on Twitter.

DHTP has a Twitter feed - oh yes. I've started to use it again recently to send out updates about lectures etc. If you're a Twitter user, follow "DHTP". Note that it is set up to automatically follow you back which I can't switch off, so you might want to "block DHTP" so I'm not bombarded by your every waking thought. Especially useful if you're Twittering about only starting work on your assignment the night before. It's happened!

So what do you think of social networking tools as a way of meeting potential clients, employers, collaborators etc? And what about their use in education?

By the way - if you haven't seen the video of the talk, do it now. It's really interesting.

How art school beats law school

2009-03-05T17:20:00.001Z

This is an ad from 1982 for San Francisco Art Institute...

Why Friends Reunited Failed

2009-03-02T15:05:00.001Z

Andy Budd offers a couple of pointers to why Friends Reunited ultimately failed.
The first is familiar to anyone who understands the link between social viruses and biological ones, or who's read The Tipping Point

Like all social sites, Friends Reunited relied on the network affect, so when membership reached its tipping point the whole site went viral. However a lot of viruses burn through their fuel so quickly they die almost as fast as they grow, stifled by their own success. So with Friends Reunited once you’d registered, seen what your old friends were doing, connected with the ones you’d wanted to and had a laugh at the (hopefully) tragic lives of your childhood tormentors, there was very little reason to stick around.

The second links to my oft repeated point about how the design of the site (in terms of its graphic look and feel) isn't as important as people think.

The design of the site was delightfully amateurish, which was no surprise considering the background of the creators. However it had a low-fi ascetic that made it feel genuine; something it shares with it’s later contemporaries like MySpace. The truth is, while a better design would almost certainly helped its fortunes, people are willing to ignore bad design and usability if the perceived value is great. With Friends Reunited there were no credible alternatives or competition so people were happy to make do.

The greater the perceived value of something the less "good" it has to look. This is my Pizza Flyer Theory of design. Aesthetic value is inversely proportional to use value. The less useful something is, the more "beautiful" it has to look. Also the look of a thing has to match the purpose. For more see this article I wrote for Speak Up.

(Via Andy Budd::Blogography.)

The Studio Unbound: Social Networking for Design Students

2009-02-26T00:00:00.001Z

The Studio Unbound: Social Networking and Design Education from Jonathan Baldwin on Vimeo.

Dundee Master of Design student Lauren Currie hosts a discussion on social networking for design students, along with design writer Lauren Currie.

Fashion students sweat it out for real

2009-02-21T22:31:00.001Z

It's a question I often ask my own students: what happens to designs once they leave the designer? Who makes them? What conditions will they be working in?

This project at Northumbria University (I visited their new Design School building on my birthday last year - not that I went for my birthday, you understand. It just happened to be my birthday...) is a laudable attempt to bring those questions to life.

Fashion students sweated it out in a simulated factory to gain an insight into clothing manufacturing in poorer countries.
Professor Doug Miller, Chair of Ethical Fashion at Northumbria University, worked with design technicians at the School of Design to create an "authentic" factory environment where students produced a run of T-shirts, from the cloth cutting stage through to packaging and marketing.

The 22 student volunteers, who are all in the first year of Fashion Marketing and Fashion Design degrees, worked an eight-hour shift in the School of Design's sewing room to manufacture the T-shirts.

Students clocked in and out and were set a production target - worked out themselves - for their "factory" shift. They had to adhere to the same set of factory rules that the School's design technicians, many of whom are former clothing workers, had to abide by and had an opportunity to compare those used in an actual Cambodian clothing factory.

The voluntary factory simulation follows on from a Learning Skills module undertaken by all first year Fashion Design, Marketing and Communication students, which saw groups design, package and plan the launch of an ethical T-shirt.

Professor Miller hopes that the experience will influence the future behaviour of Northumbria graduates - many of whom go on to be fashion buyers for major clothing retailers - when they enter the industry.

He said: "Most of our graduates will either set up their own business or gain employment in an existing fashion or retail company so it is important to equip them with knowledge of the ethical issues that they will have to grapple with.

"If they leave Northumbria University with an understanding of how the prices they negotiate will impact on suppliers and workers wages in developing countries, they are more likely to become an ethical buyer or business owner.

"I'd like to think that our graduates will influence the fashion industry for the better at all levels."

Student Sarah Grant said: "It was a very repetitive experience and did give me an insight into what factory work is like. This summer I plan to work in a clothing factory so this experience has been good practice."

Kate Eldridge, who also participated in the session, said: "It makes you think about where your own clothes come from."

And fellow student Koroku Matsuura added: "It is a long day and you are doing the same thing over and over.

"But the conditions we are working under are good, unlike people working in real factories or sweat shops where there is more pressure to meet targets."

The factory simulation was part of a three-day Been There! Done It! Got the T-Shirt! session, where the students heard from Fashion technicians about their experiences working in factories and learned about the technical processes of production.

We often hear about sweat shops, and it's easy to imagine that it's just fashion and textile design that has things to worry (or be ashamed) about. So what about product design, graphic design, jewellery? Even interactive design? What dubious practices are associated with those fields? And how could design courses raise awareness of them beyond the obligatory lecture?

(Via HERO)

See also http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/browse/ne/uninews/963241 and http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/browse/ne/uninews/910133

"Sexy" prosthetics avoid the uncanny valley

2009-02-21T18:58:00.001Z

The market for false limbs is perhaps one that doesn't attract designers quite as much as it should. Fake arms and legs suffer from something called the "uncanny valley" in that the more realistic they become, the more uncomfortable they are for people to look at. It's bad enough being short of one arm or leg, but to have people engaged in conversation with you and then suddenly realise you've got a fake limb... that's what the uncanny valley is all about.

This area of design seems to be the preserve of engineers and medics. Maybe it's time for, say, jewellery designers to get in on the act?

Anyway Norwegian industrial design student Hans Alexander Huseklepp has come up with a new take which seems to avoid the valley by being up-front about its "falseness".
And what's more, it's got a digital watch built in to the wrist.

What do you think? Would this be more acceptable than a "realistic" arm? Is being limbless something to celebrate or compensate? Or both?

(Story and images via Newslite.tv)

Shoe firm seeks pop-up store designers

2009-02-13T13:07:00.001Z

Design Week reports that:

Ethical shoe retailer Terra Plana is seeking designers to help create a series of pop-up shops.
Starting this year, Terra Plana hopes to open pop-up shops across the world, beginning in London.

The company says it is seeking ‘creative ideas and approaches, centred around sustainable, mobile, short-term shop design’, according to a statement.

It adds that it is seeking designers who ‘are able to produce imaginative retail solutions to a limited budget’.
Terra Plana opened its latest permanent store at Westfield last autumn, co-designed by furniture and product design group Hotcakes and Terra Plana’s head shoe designer Asher Clark.

Those interested in applying to design a pop-up store for Terra Plana can send a CV and examples of past projects in PDF format to pop-up@terraplana.com.

How to Make an iPhone Game

2009-02-12T09:58:00.001Z

The Unofficial Apple Weblog has a short summary of how one iPhone developer used wikis to collaborate on development of a new game, and animatics like the one above to show concepts before any coding took place.

It starts with a wiki; the company keeps a collaborative site of all the ideas they have for upcoming games, and if the decision is made to go ahead with an idea, that wiki page branches out into the planning documents behind the eventual app. Concepts are drafted in sketches, conversations, and outlines, and eventually they feel like they have the idea "fully developed," at which point the game goes into a proposal pool, and then is eventually picked for production.

That begins with an animatic, as you can see above -- before they ever write the first code line, they map out what will happen in certain game situations.

Read the rest of the article here.

Design research methods in industry

2009-02-12T09:15:00.001Z

Level 2 students here at Dundee are currently engaged in a series of short assignments designed to introduce them to simple design research methods. The topic of design research, and how it's used in industry, is explored in a short podcast hosted by Adaptive Path, Tea with Teresa:

When companies want to understand how to design or improve the design of a product so that it works better for real people, they often turn to design research. Rooted in the study of anthropology and ethnography, design researchers use a variety of methods and techniques that help them better understand human behavior. From low-fidelity methods like collage making to more eccentric techniques like simulating a machine with the body, Phil Robinson sheds light on how researchers tailor those techniques to each research challenge.

You can listen to the podcast here, or download it, and other monthly instalments, via iTunes.

Thanks to Qin for the tip!

Sony Releases New Piece of that Doesn't *** Work

2009-02-11T15:10:00.001Z

Not safe for work, but funny and uncannily accurate...

911 Services

2009-02-09T15:57:00.001Z

Sarah Bahari reports on Calling the Emergency Services.

Ram Dantu is leading a group of multi-disciplinary University of North Texas students experimenting on the next generation of 911 services.

‘With grants totaling more than $3 million from the National Science Foundation, Dantu is leading an effort to overhaul the 911 infrastructure to better handle emerging technology, such as Internet-based phones, text messages and phones with photo capabilities. He also is developing software to detect and block spam from overloading the emergency service system and developing technologies to better alert the public to emergency situations.’

‘Emergency services like 911 have had trouble keeping pace with increasingly widespread technology. Reports of delayed responses, misdirected ambulances and unanswered calls from Internet-based phones to 911 are on the rise.

And, like e-mail, Internet-based phones are vulnerable to spam, which could lead to waves of unwanted phone calls and potentially dangerous service tie-ups that could prevent callers from even getting through to emergency help.’

The team are asking critical questions:

How can 911 call centers be secured from outside attacks that would tie up available lines?

What can be done to ensure service during large-scale emergencies? How can neighborhoods be quickly notified of emergencies?

And how can 911 services for people who are deaf or hearing-impaired be enhanced through the use of video phones?

(Via Redjotter's Weblog.)

The School of Life

2009-02-08T12:10:00.003Z

The School of Life is a new social enterprise offering good ideas for everyday living. They offer programs and services to help people live wisely and well.

Buy tickets for the next event - How to talk to strangers.

"The environment and identity perfectly sum up the school's motivating forces of curiosity, humanism, creativity and conviviality." Angharad Lewis, Grafik

Subscribe to the School of Everything blog here.

(Update: edited with correct blog URL)

Win an iPod Touch!

2009-01-30T18:52:00.001Z

The Art, Design and Media Subject Centre at the University of Brighton (ADM-HEA)has announced its annual student writing competition:

ADM-HEA invites students studying on art, design or media higher education courses in the UK to enter this year's writing competition. This year we invite students to research and produce a piece of critical/creative writing exploring the theme of learning spaces in art, design and media higher education.

Assessment criteria

Submissions will be assessed according to the following criteria and should:

critically investigate the theme of learning spaces in your area of study;

reflect on your own experience of learning spaces;

present the results of this investigation in an imaginative way.

Guidance

When writing your piece please consider the following. You should:

be sensitive to cultural, contextual and institutional differences (i.e. it should not expose a particular individual or openly criticise an individual department. Please anonymise the work);

not exceed a 1,000-word limit;

submit your writing with the application form in electronic format;
use visual imagery as appropriate. It is the responsibility of the author to seek permission to publish any images before they are submitted.

Submissions that meet the above criteria and make use of the guidance will be published on the ADM-HEA website in advance of the ADM-HEA 2009 Annual Forum: to be held in May at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff and exploring the theme of 'learning spaces' in art, design and media higher education.

An overall winning submission will be chosen by the editors of The Journal of Writing in Creative Practice

The winner will receive an iPod Touch and be invited to the Higher Education Academy annual conference to be held in Manchester in July 2009. This submission will also be published in ADM-HEA's Networks magazine.

The closing date for entries is Friday, 27 March 2009.

If you have any questions, please contact Jenny Embleton on 01273 643119 or email adm@heacademy.ac.uk

Application form

Guidance and criteria

Advertising Creatives: Still Male, Still White (still rich and able-bodied too?)

2009-01-30T12:20:00.001Z

Creative Review reports that the UK ad industry still has a long way to go to reflect society in its workforce, according to a report by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising:

81.1% of all IPA member agency art directors are male. With copywriters, the figures are slightly better - ‘only’ 77.5% of those are male. But the brave new frontier of digital is the same old story as far as women are concerned – they make up only 19.1% of creatives. This should all be seen in the context of the figures for agencies as a whole, where women make up 46.7% of employees (but only 16% of CEOs/chairs/MDs).

In other words, the gender balance in agencies as a whole is not far off the gender split in society as a whole. However, it's likely (I imagine) that a lot of those women are at junior or administrative roles - receptionists, secretaries etc) while the "juicy" roles, and the senior ones are dominated by men.

The report goes on:

Figures from ... agencies (that gave figures on ethnicity) indicate that those from a non-white background account for 8.4% of the employed base.’ Things have, however, improved from the last census in 2007 when only 6.1% of employees were non-white. There are no figures on the ethnicity of creative departments specifically."

That looks pretty poor, but as CR points out, the last census showed that only 7.9% of the UK population is "non-white" suggesting that the ad industry is more than representative. However, again there is no indication about whether that representation continues throughout all levels, or if it is predominantly in junior or administrative roles.
But as someone points out in the comments on CR's blog, in the cities where the ad industry is based (e.g. London) the "non-white" population is rather higher than 7.9%, so in actual fact the stats seem to indicate a remarkable lack of diversity.

It's worth visiting the blog and reading the comments. Here's one that may make you choke, so ensure you're not eating anything before you read it:

"… typically lost in all these stupid debates about equality and political correctness is the fact that its not sex or race at all… Its about how talented someone is… perhaps white males are just more creative?! Hey life’s not fair and balanced, white men cant jump or black men cant swim… xxx"

So the answer, according to this ~~idiot~~ individual is for women or anyone who isn't white, not to bother thinking about being "creative" because it's not in your genes. Sexist, racist and patronising all in one comment. That's quite impressive.

One area I haven't seen discussed here is class: I wonder if the ad industry is dominated by people from privileged backgrounds as well? The requirement to do an unpaid internship to gain "experience" before getting a job in much of the industry would seem to work against anyone without the required cash...
Disability is also missing from CR's overview.

So what's your take on this? Sure, it should be about talent, not filling quotas - but no one's suggesting that. What is being suggested is that in a world where ability is not based on race or gender, or class, the make-up of the creative industries should reflect society as a whole. Personally, I think that's entirely reasonable.

Oh dear...

2009-01-28T10:14:00.001Z

For what it's worth, I think Ian Cochrane's and Michael Peter's views, reported by Design Week, are bull, and I don't apologies for saying it (my views, of course, are my own and not representative of the University or my colleague!) However, see what you think:

Industry heavyweight Ian Cochrane is recommending design students to ‘get out’ of the sector, which ‘does not need you’, as the recession bites.
Cochrane is managing director of management consultancy Ticegroup and former managing director of both Fitch and Landor Europe.

Cochrane tells Design Week, ‘There are still too many people coming out of design courses, and there simply aren’t the jobs for them.’

He recommends that students enter alternative occupations and gain experience outside the design sector.

‘Look for jobs in industries that have vacancies – I mean, if you want to design restaurants, it is good to have worked in one or two,’ he says.

Branding guru Michael Peters concurs, saying, ‘There is too big a supply of young designers and far too many people doing mediocre work.’

According to recent figures published by the Office for National Statistics, every sector of the economy recorded a fall in vacancies last quarter.

Chartered Institute of Personnel chief economist Dr John Philpott says, ‘This looks to be a jobs recession that is favouring the over-50s ahead of younger people. This may be because employers are implementing recruitment freezes more widely than in previous recessions, which disproportionately hits people entering the labour market.’

If you remember the talk by Emma Murphy from Graven Images on branding, I said afterwards that if you were currently working part time in a shop or restaurant, you need to see it as valuable work experience for a design career by using the opportunity to observe customers, colleagues, the way the company communicates its values and so on. So Cochrane's comment about working in a restaurant isn't entirely out there. But the sentiment is, I think, completely uncalled for and unhelpful.

No doubt this issue will be a hot one for a couple of weeks in the letters page of Design Week (feel free to contribute!) so keep an eye on it in the library.

So... What do you you think? (You can comment anonymously if you want!)

If you look at the Design Week web page you'll see a lot of other comments, most of them (when I read it) disagreeing and being fairly critical of the opinions in the article.

The Auteur Theory of Design

2009-01-28T10:00:00.001Z

Jon Gruber, who writes the Daring Fireball site (which I highly recommend subscrbing to via RSS), gave a talk recently at the Macworld Expo.

It's embedded below and well worth watching. It has an interesting central thesis which is revealed towards the end, and I won't spoil it for you.

I like Gruber's often acerbic comments and critiques of web design, user interfaces, applications, the tech industry and so on that he offers over at Daring Fireball. And I find his theory here fascinating - it has a lot of implications for group-based design projects at university, for example, that give me pause for thought.

However there are a couple of things in this talk I disagree with which I won't go into here, but will be covering in my lecture "A Matter of Taste" on 13 February. In particular, I'll be questioning the concept of "taste" and the definition of "who's in charge".

I'm not saying that Gruber is wrong as I suspect his theory, if developed, would include a lot of the things I'll be covering (based on what I know of his views via his sight). However I may be wrong so I won't presume. But in the meantime, watch the video (it's about 17 minutes) and have a think about his theory.

Then go and read this description of a former Microsoft employee's experience of trying to implement a simple feature in Windows Vista.
And you might also want to look at Adobe UI Gripes, which I linked to yesterday.

Adobe UI Gripes

2009-01-27T09:07:00.001Z

Adobe UI Gripes is a web site set up by a user of Adobe's latest release of its graphics applications.

To say he's not happy would be an understatement. I won't include any here as the language is a little fruity. But if you're interested in interaction design, graphic design, user-centred design, or are in need of a laugh, pop over and visit.

Apart from being funny, it's also rather sobering. Some (if not all) the things he shows are really, really bad design.

The Mac is 25

2009-01-25T13:28:00.001Z

The Mac has just celebrated its 25th anniversary, which is quite incredible when you think about it.
I first used a Mac in 1989 and was blown away by its simplicity and its power. Hard to believe that it ran on 128k of RAM and had no hard drive!
By 1990 the Mac could do colour, greyscale, and hard drives.

Here's a video of Steve Jobs introducing the first Macintosh to an appreciative audience. When you hear the screams at the scrolling text, the 1-bit graphics and the 3D chess, consider how revolutionary that was. Then consider the iPhone.

What will the next 25 years bring?

Inside Apple's design studio

2009-01-25T13:10:00.001Z

Gary Hustwit, who directed Helvetica, is working on a new film called Objectified, examining industrial design.
For it, he interviewed Janathan Ive and got a peek inside the design studio at Apple:

"I felt like Charlie in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, except everything was made of shiny aluminum instead of candy. And there were no oompa loompas."

Don't know about you, but it's a bit disappointing and strangely bare. Not a pizza box in sight...

Read more about his visit, and the film at the Objectified web site.

To wake up

2009-01-22T21:47:00.005Z

Go to a place. Ask fifty people the same question. Film their responses.

Fifty People, One Question: London from Crush + Lovely on Vimeo.

Being Human

2009-01-21T18:14:00.004Z

Microsoft's Richard Harper spent Tuesday at the University of Dundee.

Richard focused on Changing Humans in the evening to a large audience made up of scientists, engineers and designers. It was fascinating and focused on How the designers of computer systems have altered their vision of the human user.

He began by telling us the present is full of shadows. But how do we know what shadow to follow? The key tool is language; metaphors, similes, synonyms, contrasts and imaginings. We need to develop tools to enable us to SEE in different ways. The skill is knowing which way, when, why and what that will gain you.

So people love to chat, love to give and love to share. Using SMS, video, links we love to make our friends laugh! We all have fantastic imaginations and this is proved by the way people tie themselves together in new webs of networks.

“People want to play…and why not!”

For those who weren't there you really missed some fascinating insights!!

Keep up to date with similar lectures coming up soon!

Monday 'cheer-up'

2009-01-18T21:17:00.004Z

Tomorrow is 'Blue Monday'. The most depressing day of the year!

"A group of optimists will attempt to banish "Blue Monday" with free comedy and cheer packages for celebrities and others "in need of a lift".

"This year's Blue Monday comes amid economic turmoil due to the credit crunch, with fears of continued economic gloom and job losses - which the society believes is all the more reason to adopt a positive attitude."

Check out the Optimist Society

Oh, and remember to smile tomorrow!

Postgraduate Open Days at University of the Arts, London

2009-01-15T16:08:00.001Z

Thinking of Masters study in design? Of course there's always our own Master of Design at Dundee, or the new MSc in Design Ethnography, both of which I heartily recommend...

But in the interests of collegiality, and because I've heard good things about it, I thought I'd mention the MA in Design Writing Criticism down in London run by Professor Teal Triggs.

Students on the course are giving a presentation on Wednesday 4th February 2009 5:30-6:30pm in the School of Graphic Design, London College of Communication

A general talk about postgraduate courses at LCC will take place 4:30-5:00pm

This event is 'free' but advanced booking is recommended via the online booking form:

Postgraduate Open Days
http://www.lcc.arts.ac.uk/40788.htm

London College of Communication
University of the Arts London
Elephant & Castle
London SE1 6SB
England

Tubes: Northern and Bakerloo Lines
http://www.lcc.arts.ac.uk/lcc_location.htm

For further details about the MA Design Writing Criticism course, please contact:
Professor Teal Triggs, Course Director
t.triggs@lcc.arts.ac.uk

The course is now accepting applications for October 2009 entry, both part-time and full-time mode.

Design versus innovation? A pointless debate

2009-01-15T10:34:00.001Z

A friend and fellow design teacher from Texas asked me recently how I decide what to post on my personal blog, and what I post on this blog aimed at design students. My answer was going to be "I post the controversial stuff or my personal thoughts on my personal blog, and non-controversial, link-based stuff here". I'm going to experiment. What follows is intended to provoke a response and debate. The views are personal and don't necessarily represent those of my colleagues or my students (and in many cases won't). And who knows, in a few months (or even minutes) I may have changed my own mind...

Are design and innovation different things? You'll know (if you're one of my students) that I see the two as one and the same, and maybe I think that design that isn't innovative (by which I do not mean stylistically innovative) is probably struggling to be design at all. If it doesn't make a difference, I'm not sure I'm that interested anymore, which is why a lot of the design that gets plastered in design magazines and colour supplements bores me. "Ooh look, someone's designed a new chair. Wow." Give me "Wow, someone's designed a new way to get kids interested in science. Ooh" any day. Or designed a new way to improve health care. Or designed a new textile that protects people from infections in hospitals. Or designed a new way to help Alzheimer's patients maintain dignity, or their families keep track should they wander off. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Yet for many, design is about style. It's about the interesting application of type, the shapes that can be formed with precious metals, the feel of a cloth, or the pattern.
Actually, I'm happy about that. To a point. I like a nice bit of typography myself and this morning spent an entire bus journey examining the type on four ads that seemed to suggest to me that letter spacing is out of fashion. My problem is with those who think design is just about those things. The graphic designers who designed the ads I saw on the bus this morning seemed more concerned with style than content - the were pretty much unintelligible, but they were, admittedly, pretty.

This "design versus innovation" is an old debate and I stumbled on an article by Bruce Nussbaum from 2005. To place it in context, Hilary Cottam had just received the award of Designer of the Year which caused an outcry because, shock horror, she doesn't actually design "things", instead she got the award for tackling problems in health care and prisons.

That the controversy and debate happened in Britain is particularly disappointing, as arguably the concept of "design thinking" was born in the UK. But it's still seen as a little bit beneath the traditionalists. For me, the issue has its roots in the juxtaposition of art and design. The two are not the same thing, but in order to enter design school you still need to go through "art training". Some argue, quite persuasively, that this is essential in order to develop certain techniques. The problem is, as evidenced in this debate, that it also develops a certain way of thinking. And the way of thinking that is essential for good art is not necessarily the way of thinking that is essential for good design.

Colin Burns, former IDEO head in the UK and a Professor of Design Innovation at the University of Dundee put it like this:

"You don't have to go to art school to do that. There is still a hegemony of what I call muser-led design in this country - the idea that whatever happens to inspire the designer is the solution. It's insulting to call people like Hilary Cottam an impresario when she is so obviously creative in all those aspects of design. I'm fed up with the whole "I went to art school so I'm a designer" view."

("Muser-led design". I like that!)

Or, to put it another way, as I asked Lauren Currie the other day, why do we still see the ability to draw a naked woman as the primary qualification to be a designer?

This false link between art and design extends in to the media as well. It's interesting that design articles in The Guardian and The Times always seem to be in the arts and entertainment sections. An upcoming "reality" Apprentice-like programme on the BBC called Design School features Phillippe Starck in the Sir Alan Sugar/Donald Trump role, much to the dismay of many who think this risks further pigeon-holing design (though we could be pleasantly surprised). Via Twitter I exchanged a few interesting comments with Kate Andrews about the need for design to be seen as a business or social science, not an art. The moment you see it as art you risk forgetting the point, or the people. (Note there's a difference between seeing design as an art, something to be done well, and as Art, a form of self-expression. It's the latter I'm really bothered about)..

The "art school" approach to design is damaging design, Nussbaum appears to say:

(L)ots of designers feel they should not be sullied with the tarbrush of “innovation.” Innovation is a term too aligned with big business and corporations. But as a design advocate who fought for years to get designers to get over themselves and their obsession with framing their profession in terms of art, I can’t help but feel haplass in this debate. Just when victory is near, when design is finally being accepted for what it can do, people are denying its power, whining about the nomenclature and clutching defeat from the jaws of victory.

The debate isn't over, but the design thinkers are winning, if "winning" is indeed the term. As Qin Han reminded me yesterday, it's not about one way of thinking versus another, both can exist. Like I said above, there's a place for "old" design. Take a look at this, featured on Reporting Scotland in March 2008. It's a radio tag designed to keep track of Alzheimer's and autism sufferers.

Spot anything that might be a problem?

Here's the tracking equipment you presumably would have at home:

And this is what you'd use to go and find your lost relative:

Now it's easy to laugh. If these were prototypes, you could imagine they'd eventually be "prettified". Except they're not. These are the actual bits and pieces. Frightening...

But hang on.

Here we have an example of the old design way of thinking. The technology is developed by engineers, scientists, whoever. And then we, the designers, say, "Give it to us. We'll make it look nice!" Or maybe the engineers say, "let's give it to a designer to make it look nice".
Either way, that's underestimating the power of design. And drawing a very crude dividing line between "innovation" (coming up with the system and producing it), "engineering" (building it) and "design" (making it look nice).

The "new design" way of thinking that Nussbaum was writing about in 2005 (that's a long time ago) would say that "design" is all those things, including designing the support service that helps those caring for people with Alzheimer's or autism, the training, the equipment and so on. It's all designed. Seeing design as the bit that's tagged on at the end, as critics of Cottam's award did in 2005 (see Vicky Richardson's and Mark Dempsey's comments in this 2005 Observer article) is wrong. It's bad enough when other people do it, but when designers themselves do it?

Take another look at those pictures above. Imagine how a jewellery designer could be involved, or a textile designer. Not in making the bracelet device pretty, but in helping people understand how objects like this need to contribute to someone's identity.
Why do Alzheimer's patients remove things like this device, but keep a brooch around their neck? It's not because one is ugly and the other is pretty. A jewellery designer who has been taught about identity and value, as well as how to actually make jewellery will be able to contribute from day 1. (As indeed would a textile or graphic or web or interior designer). A jewellery designer who only knows how to make the pretty, well they'll be asked to take that pile of crap and gild it. Seems to me like a waste of a degree.

So going back to Qin's quite correct comment, that there's room for both "old" design and "new" design (using Nussbaum's terms) I wonder if really the debate shouldn't be about one or the other, or both coexisting, but about how the two are integrated. I think we do this quite well at Dundee, and I think it happens elsewhere. Looking at our Master of Design programme, it's clear that we're producing graduates who are oblivious to this whole debate in the way that we're all oblivious to the question "hydrogen or oxygen? which makes the better drink?", because the question's just bloody stupid. You need both to make water. (and you can't drink hydrogen). Or "eggs, milk or onions for dinner?" Why can't you just make an omelette? (Suggestions for better analogies welcome...)

My point being, that if the design industry continues to have this debate it's not going to be around for long, in its current form at least, because as the service design industry demonstrates, there are young people out there who think such navel gazing is pointless and don't even bother getting involved. They just get on. And degree and graduate programmes need to produce graduates who aren't going to be happy decorating other people's turds. (Again, help with the analogies welcome)

Design without innovation isn't design. It's decoration. And innovation on its own is pointless without application.
Together, innovation and application, you get "design".

But that is all my opinion. What's your take? Is service design really design? Is the world really a better place if someone comes up with a cool new shape for a kettle?

Comments, arguments etc welcome!

Obsessive

2009-01-14T14:24:00.001Z

Model maker and TV presenter Adam Savage talks about how an obsession with modelling the Dodo turned in to an obsession with the fictional Maltese Falcon...

Thinking inside the box

2009-01-14T12:03:00.001Z

A top tip from Twyla Tharp's book on The Creative Habit

Everyone has his or her own organizational system. Mine is a box, the kind you can buy at Office Depot for transferring files. I start every dance with a box. I write the project name on the box, and as the piece progresses I fill it up with every item that went into the making of the dance. This means notebooks, news clippings, CDs, videotapes of me working alone in my studio, videos of the dancers rehearsing, books and photographs and pieces of art that may have inspired me.

[…]

There are separate boxes for everything I’ve ever done. If you want a glimpse into how I think and work, you could do worse than to start with my boxes.

The box makes me feel organized, that I have my act together even when I don’t know where I’m going yet.

It also represents a commitment. The simple act of writing a project name on the box means I’ve started work.

The box makes me feel connected to a project. It is my soil. I feel this even when I’ve back-burnered a project: I may have put the box away on a shelf, but I know it’s there. The project name on the box in bold black lettering is a constant reminder that I had an idea once and may come back to it very soon.

Most important, though, the box means I never have to worry about forgetting. One of the biggest fears for a creative person is that some brilliant idea will get lost because you didn’t write it down and put it in a safe place. I don’t worry about that because I know where to find it. It’s all in the box…

Must get some boxes!

(Via 43 Folders.)

Public competition to design 50p pieces for 2012

2009-01-13T14:38:00.001Z

Design Week reports on apublic competition to design 50p pieces for 2012 - Design Week:

The Royal Mint is today launching a competition, open to all members of the public, to design a new 50p piece that celebrates the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The competition is open to all UK residents aged 13 or over, who will deliver 27 of the 29 final designs. BBC TV show Blue Peter is also launching a children’s competition for 6- to 12-year-olds to create a coin for athletics, and a coin for cycling will be chosen from secondary school entrants aged 13-19.

Winners of the competition will see their design on the backs of 50p pieces used nationwide, and will also receive a prize of £1000.

Entrants will be judged on the originality and creativity of their design, in addition to how well the design represents the sport and how the design will work on the coin.

The judging panel will be made up of independent experts, and representatives of the Royal Mint, London 2012 and the International Olympic Committee.

Applicants must submit their design by 24 April. Visit www.royalmintcompetition.co.uk for more information.

Designers don't write? Bullshit.

2009-01-09T16:35:00.001Z

Quite a lot of the second year articles I read recently were really interesting, and like in previous years two things hit me: firstly the number of students who write really well, and should be writing lots more; and secondly the number of students who write quite well and, if they wrote more would soon learn to write really well.

Yet the number of design students over the past 10 years that I've been teaching who've come up to me and said "I can't write" is pretty depressing. Can't write? Of course you can.
Worse - the number of students who say "I can't write because I'm creative". Ohhhkaaay... I never thought that people who write aren't being creative but whatever.

The key to being a good writer is having something to say. It could be an opinion, a thought, a link to something you've seen, or anything.
The second key is just doing it. Actually, that's quite important. I've written Pulitzer Prize-winning stuff in my head but it ain't gonna get any accolades there, is it?

Blogging is easy. Some would say too easy. But it's good practice for writing and, if that's not a good enough incentive (I know, it isn't) it's certainly one of the best ways of meeting people and networking. Just about every important designer alive today keeps a blog, or contributes to one. And how do I define "every important designer"? They're the ones who blog.
In fact, I think blogging has become the number one way of networking and breaking out of the London-centric cycle that works against anyone who lives in the nice bits of the world. Twitter is number two, in case you were wondering.

The idea that writing and design are somehow mutually exclusive is the sort of crap that really should be challenged. Designers write. End of story. So if you're not writing, you should be.

Over Christmas I read The Huffington Post Guide To Blogging (see link above) and I really recommend it for its advice on setting up and running a blog. I also recommend listening to this entertaining series of podcasts from Merlin Mann on the subject. He breaks down blogging in to a few key steps and sets little tasks to get you going. He also, like the Huffington book, talks about how to get people to notice you're out there. Write something interesting, link to someone else, and before long you'll get noticed.

You can set up a blog really easily, for free. Visit blogger.com to find out one way. Now. Go on!

So what do you think? Do you blog already? If so, post a link. And if not, why not?

Ecolabs teach-in

2009-01-06T11:52:00.001Z

EcoLabs is developing a teach-in as a catalyzing force within design education to embrace ecological literacy. We will use the internet to engage students, faculty and staff with environmental issues and especially with the issue of climate change. The teach-in will challenge institutions to use their resources, expertise and skills to respond to environmental imperatives and work towards embedding ecological literacy in design education by 2012.

The event will be modeled after the highly effective US model of the '2010 Imperative' (first held in architectural universities in 2007) and 'Focus the Nation' (held January 31, 2008 at over 1,900 institutions across America). Like the American teach-ins, the event will ask universities to become examples of best environmental practice and integrate ecological literacy into the curriculum.

To sign up for updates on this event please visit: www.teach-in.co.uk

Designing learning spaces

2009-01-03T18:42:00.001Z

A short video on the design of Edinburgh's Telford College

British Cartoon Archive online

2009-01-03T18:40:00.001Z

The British Cartoon Archive is now online and ready for access...

Designers addressing the big social issues of our time

2009-01-03T16:55:00.001Z

Participle is one of a new breed of design firm looking at the area of services. In particular, Participle are concerned with public services or, as their website puts it "addressing the big social issues of our time". Take a look at the site for examples of project like this one the Southwark Circle:

Participle is innovating new approaches to ageing. Since September 2007 we have been working in a unique public-private partnership with Southwark Council, Sky and the Department for Work & Pensions, to design new services that will improve the quality of life and well-being of older people. Working with over 150 older people, we have developed Southwark Circle, a membership organisation that helps people take care of household tasks, forge social connections and find new directions in life. Open to all, regardless of levels of need or income, Southwark Circle is a model of how future services might look across Britain.

The reasons for Participle's interest in this area are simple:

Britain’s population is ageing. People are living longer and having fewer children. As a result, older age groups are growing much faster than the rest of the population. Over the next 25 years, the number of children will increase by 11%, working-age adults by 15%, and older people by 32%. The number of people aged 75 and over will increase by 76%. [...]

Particularly worrying is the issue of care. How will the country care for the growing number of older people, and who will pay for it? There is simply not enough resource in the current system to continue delivering the same quantity and quality of care to an increasing number of people with more complex needs.

[...]

State-funded care services are only a small part of what older people might need and want. What older people value is a life based on participation and relationships that sustain their sense of dignity and control. Not having this means that older people are not able to contribute to their fullest extent, and they are more likely to become depressed and unwell and ultimately in need of more care, perpetuating a vicious cycle of dependence. This leads to increased costs to individuals, their families, and the state, and represents an inexcusable waste of social, economic and human potential. Existing services and institutions were not designed with participation and relationships in mind as an end goal, and they would struggle to reinvent themselves. Radical change is needed to address the failings of the current system.

[...]

Participle has developed early answers to these challenges in this project. We have worked with over 150 older people and family members over the last nine months.

We started the project with two months of user research with older people and their families, generating insights into their hopes, fears, needs and aspirations. Based on these insights, we generated over 50 ideas for new services. We decided to focus on a service that would create a rich third age, and we have spent the last five months refining our proposition, developing prototypes of the service and co-designing with older people and their families. We have tested models of the service with users and recruited people to take part in a rough trial of the service. We have developed a business case, received initial investment and will start to build the actual service, continuing to test with users over the next few months. Responding to demand, we plan to launch the service as a social enterprise in Southwark in early 2009. We also plan to work with additional local authorities to develop a national model.

More information on this and other projects from Participle

Shopping online for blind people

2009-01-03T12:24:00.001Z

The BBC has posted a short clip looking at shopping online for blind people. It's quite revealing - many of the sites are not set up with proper headings and tags and so are meaningless to the user.
There are some other videos on the page as well, including dyslexia and web browsing, and the difficulties faced by those who suffer from limb pain.

Well worth checking out.

Dundee scores Christmas number one

2008-12-22T16:45:00.002Z

The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) is a bit like X-Factor for academics, and this time around we scored the Xmas number one as Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design was rated as the top institution in Scotland for research in art and design, and one of the best in the whole of the UK.

Every few years the government conducts a national survey of research in every discipline across every university and college in the UK. Academics have to provide written submissions on their research, backed up by evidence. This is all examined by specialist panels of UK academics, supported by international advisors. In addition, every department has to provide evidence of the research funding they have attracted and the esteem in which they are held by the broader academic community. The results of the RAE, published the week before Christmas, confirm our position as a world class centre of excellence for research in our disciplines.

35% of our research is deemed to be ‘world leading’ while a further 20% is ‘internationally excellent’. Only three other institutions in the UK have a higher proportion of ‘world leading’ research, out of the total of 72 universities and colleges who submitted research in art and design. Art and design is one of eight submissions from the University of Dundee that is placed in the top 20 for the UK. Dundee now ranks number one in Scotland for our research in art and design, civil engineering and biological and laboratory-based clinical sciences.

So, how does this benefit our students?

First, and probably most significantly, having world class researchers and creative practitioners teaching helps you to set high standards and aspirations, and significantly enhances the creative challenges of your learning. The evidence for this is plain to see. Last February, under the headline "Dundee design students to represent UK", The Times reported how Microsoft chose us to represent the UK in their annual Design Expo held in Seattle last summer. They had chosen the Royal College of Art in the past and thought we were now worthy of being the sole UK representative. And, what's more, they've just selected us to represent the UK for Design Expo 2009. At the 2008 New Designers exhibition in London - a show featuring the best of all UK design graduates - over 4000 student exhibitors and only 15 prizes given - we won 3 of them - for Product Design, Textile Design and Jewellery making us the top equal institution out of the 100+ showing.

Second, and linked to the national and international achievements of our students, Dundee is being noticed. As the technology editor of The Guardian wrote recently on our successes in student design projects: “I don't know what they're doing up there (in Dundee), but clearly it's working. Why Dundee? Well, why not?” Yes - why not. Many in the UK may see us as remote, but increasingly we are being noticed. Increasingly we are being regarded as a centre of innovative thinking and practice in creative disciplines. The Victoria & Albert Museum in London has clearly noticed us, which is why we are on the verge of securing an historic collaboration with them. A degree in art or design from Dundee will be noticed: it is the mark of exceptional quality.

Third, and finally, it enables us to attract additional funding and talent. Early next year the Scottish Government will announce how finances will be allocated on the basis of RAE results. Already our research reputation is attracting undergraduate and postgraduate students from around the world to enrich our learning environment, and job vacancies in DJCAD attract talent far and wide.

The period ahead for us is exciting. Excellence in research provides us with unique opportunities for our entire community at Duncan of Jordanstone.

Service Design recognised by the Design Museum (at last!)

2008-12-20T13:14:00.001Z

(Image and tip from Kate Andrews's blog)

A service design project undertaken by Engine has been nominated for an award by the Design Museum - the first time this growing and important sector of design has been recognised in this way.

Engine write about the project:

Design is more commonly associated with a process that goes on behind closed doors, the result of which reaches the user after it has been produced by industry, crafted my artisans or put together by builders. The special case of the Social Innovation Lab for Kent (SILK) is that the design process is shared with users and providers of public services to create real results that mean more for being reached together.

This is primarily a communication project - from the sphere of service design - that has been developed for Kent County Council by service design company, Engine. SILK was designed as the tangible manifestation of a new way of working for teams and individuals across the Council and the County. It includes a toolkit of methods and techniques, an information sharing platform and a consistent user-led methodology for running projects.

One of the projects focused on the practical challenges fathers face in spending time with their children, looking at how they could be supported. The co-design team developed a new scheme that provides parents with reduced rates on local activities and family related services. By co-ordinating this scheme, the Seashells children and families centre will enable a growing pool of local dads to spend more quality time with their children on their own terms.

There's a short video about the project available here.

Speaking personally, comparing this project to some of the others that have been nominated, it's clear that design like this is long overdue a proper form of recognition by the design community - not that it needs it. Good luck to the project when the results are announced.

The Making of Doctor Who

2008-12-20T10:11:00.001Z

A recent event at BAFTA gave people the opportunity to see how special effects and other aspects of Doctor Who are designed. The video below gives a small taste but you can see the full 1-hour video at BAFTA's website.

Can emails and texts cause mental illness?

2008-12-11T11:06:00.003Z

This article argues that people who send excessive texts and emails may have a mental illness.

So what are the symptoms?

Suffering from feelings of withdrawal when a computer cannot be accessed
An increased need for better equipment
Need for more time to use it
Experiencing the negative repercussions of their addiction.

Since this article was written, twittering has become an everyday activity for many...

This is a good read for those interested in how we communicate and the impact technology has on our everyday lives.

"Games can have a serious role to play"

2008-12-11T08:57:00.001Z

Victor Keegan writes in the Guardian:

Last year the Harvard Business Review linked online game-playing to leadership ability, pointing out that multiplayer games such as World of Warcraft and EverQuest are good at developing skills such as 'risk-taking, speed and fluidity' that businesses need in a globalised digital workplace. IBM and other corporations use virtual spaces to hone management skills in a world where events such as the financial crash would have been regarded as far-fetched had they appeared in a computer game a year or two ago.

Last week I saw two small examples of what might be the future. At a seminar organised by Digital Public, a consultancy, I met the young people behind Dead Ends, a videogame commissioned by Channel 4, which enabled kids from at-risk London areas to work with rollingsound.co.uk, a small multimedia company, to create a game about knife life on the city's streets with a serious underlying message. [...]

In Plymouth I visited TwoFour, an interesting company embracing everything from TV production to virtual worlds, which has linked with Stoke Damerel Community College to conduct entire lessons in Second Life for 13- to-17-year-old kids lacking motivation, with surprisingly encouraging results. Meanwhile, Sony Computer Entertainment has released to critical acclaim the UK-developed Little Big Planet, a PlayStation 3 game where players can learn elements of physics or other disciplines.

TruSim, a division of Blitz Games Studios in the UK, has developed Interactive Triage Trainer, a 3D virtual representation of a real-world situation designed to train professionals how to prioritise their treatment of casualties after a catastrophe.

These are a few examples of what could become a mass market under the watchful eye of the recently established £3m Serious Games Institute at Coventry University. David Wortley, director of the institute, is hopeful that their work will dispel some of the social stigma around videogames to highlight positive applications that can deliver genuine solutions to real social and economic issues.

Read the full article here

England's playgrounds get million-pound makeover

2008-12-10T17:05:00.001Z

From The Guardian:

England's playgrounds are to be given a £235m makeover from next spring, ministers revealed today.

Every local authority will receive at least £1m to revamp and add to their play areas.

In 10 of the most deprived parts of the country, councils will be given £2.5m each for state-of-the-art adventure playgrounds.

The government wants all the playgrounds to be safe, child-friendly and used by a wide age range of children - partly to deter young people from anti-social behaviour.

More than 9,000 young people, parents and childcare workers were consulted when drawing up the plans this summer.

Read in full

Think statistics are boring? Think again...

2008-12-09T11:30:00.001Z

You can prove pretty much anything with statistics, but one of the problems with all those numbers, percentages, quartiles and so on is that they don't look very interesting.

Take a look at this short talk by Hans Rosling where he uses interactive graphics to debunk some myths about the developing world.

You can get hold of this video, and many others, in iTunes (search for TED talks in the podcasts section) or download/view them on the web.

Use Both Sides

2008-12-08T09:14:00.001Z

Use Both Sides is a new campaign with a simple purpose: to get us to use both sides of the paper!

Here at Dundee Uni there is a policy of moving away from the old "only use one side for essays" approach, although this actually causes a few problems which is why we didn't do it this semester - the main one being that the printers in uni don't allow double-sided printing! (There's joined up thinking for you... If you've ever struggled to figure out a) which way up you need to feed your paper and b) how to print out only the odd pages then the evens while c) making sure nobody else gets in the print queue while you're doing it, you'll know why I didn't insist on double-sided printing this time around).

A few years ago I bought a fantastic wifi enabled printer with double-sided printing and cut my paper usage dramatically. (At a rough guess, about half...) But then it broke and I couldn't afford the premium to pay for another one, and didn't want to risk it again.

I think the issue, then, is not so much the people who only use one side of the paper but the technology - all printers should allow double-sided printing and it should be the default setting.

What do you think? Nice campaign, wrong target, perhaps?

Build your own jewellery with Lego

2008-12-04T07:30:00.001Z

Rings you can customise by changing the Lego brick. I love it!

More images over at Gizmodo

I think they should make two rings that click together. That would be romantic...

The heart of student life is virtual

2008-12-02T17:51:00.002Z

The Guardian asks the question:

Technology is at the heart of a profound transformation in the attitudes and expectations of students. How are institutions adapting to this new paradigm?

The Paris greeters who don't greet

2008-12-02T15:12:00.001Z

The Guardian reports on an interesting idea to overturn Paris's reputation as a city of rudeness. Based on an idea tried out in New York, it seems (according to this journalist) to suffer an important lack: friendly Parisians...

In Paris, it's the people who are perceived to be the problem. So, the aim of the Paris Greeter is to overturn the long-held prejudice about Parisians: that far from being welcoming, they are rude. The association relies on Parisian volunteers to take visitors to their favourite places, sharing their love for the city, as well as tips and addresses. In the website's own words: 'Our volunteers ... are enthusiastic and friendly; they know Paris well and give their time and knowledge so that you discover their city as a friend would do'.

Being a Parisian myself, I was sceptical. But there was also a faint stirring of excitement. At last, brave Parisians would rise to the challenge of changing our deplorable image abroad! Bravo. I wanted to meet these gentle Parisian souls.

I filled in the form online, gave my contact details, age, gender and interests, suggested four different times of day on four different days over a period of a month to meet, and asked for a French or English speaker. An automatic email informed me that a suitable volunteer would be found and that I should hear from them directly very soon.

I waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually, I got an email informing me that they were still looking for a suitable volunteer. I was so desperate to meet a friendly Parisian that I suggested even more possible dates and times for meeting up. Nothing. I knew it: the friendly Parisian is a myth - even an association whose sole aim is to greet foreigners can't manage to muster up a single volunteer. It must be a joke: the Parisian greeter who cannot be bothered to greet.

Read in full

Paperless boarding passes

2008-11-30T18:43:00.001Z

David Shea tried to get on a flight from Canada to the USA recently with a digital boarding pass, using a PDF on his iPhone.

His experience wasn't unexpected:

Out of the six checkpoints I encountered on my way through the airport, the only one who forced me to fish out my paper pass was a relatively inessential precursory check. And now that I have some actual experience to back me up, I expect that's one I can talk my way through by showing a bit of confidence in my electronic pass next time.

Still, though I have no doubt we'll all regularly use electronic passes in the fairly near future, this feels like the early days. I decided to play my experiment as a light-hearted attempt at something new, rather than insisting this was a legitimate method. If it doesn't work, no big deal, I have paper in my bag I can also show. This attitude likely helped, and will help in the future until this is more common and those working the various checkpoints have encountered screen-based passes a few times, checked with their supervisor, and made sure they're not doing something wrong by letting the holders through.

I'd been thinking about this myself recently on my flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam, but as EasyJet charge you to print out a boarding pass if you've already checked in online, I didn't bother (and I couldn't get my printer set up in time to do the paper back-up).

But David's experience brings up a few questions: why do we need paper at all? Or, indeed, a boarding pass? Surely your passport would be enough? So many little bits to keep track of, when the one important thing, your passport, should suffice.

(The obvious answer to this is that a boarding pass presents a paper-trail so that flight crew can count how many people they've checked in, but as my own experience at Chicago showed, that just doesn't work.)

The second question is, why so many redundant checks? David's boarding pass was required six times. Why?
There's no security advantage that I can see.

My experience at Amsterdam's Schipol airport was interesting to compare with British airports. In the UK everyone goes through the same security check before getting in to the waiting area and duty free. That was true too at JFK and Dallas Fort Worth in the US when I was there. Lots of people, big queue.

What I found odd at Schipol, but much smoother, was that each gate has its own security area, so you only queue up with fellow passengers. On the downside, they only call you half an hour before the flight and if you're among the first you have to stand around for a while before you can board your flight.
But on the plus side, it's much faster and if you're running late you don't have to wait in a long queue behind all the people who've turned up three hours early just to get through security and then run to your gate.
Why Heathrow's Terminal 5 didn't adopt this approach I don't know. Its security arrangements are a joke.

You can read David Shea's full post on his experience here.

Koyaanisquatsi

2008-11-24T10:33:00.001Z

One of the best films ever made, Koyaanisquatsi, is being shown as part of the Design School Film Society's programme, 26 November at 2pm, Matthew Building, University of Dundee. Free entry.

Luxofor traffic lights design concept

2008-11-24T10:06:00.001Z

Art Lebedev Studios recently introduced its Luxofor traffic light prototype that will use a square lens lit up by superbright diodes to make it more visible to drivers and pedestrians. Traditionally, traffic lights have been round to allow the spherical light-bulb to light up the lens more evenly. Art Lebedev’s new design offers more efficient packaging, as the square light fills up the same space taken up by a round lens more completely.

(Via Picdit.)

Tribes of clutter

2008-11-22T18:38:00.001Z

The New Statesman reviews The Comfort of Things by Daniel Miller, a book that sheds light on the meaning and value we attach to the objects around us:

Having studied cannibalistic tribes in the New Hebrides, Harrisson despatched researchers to Bolton and north London to spy on the British working class at play. They reported on, among other things, the fixation with astrology, the football Pools, and 'the cult of the aspidistra'. These brief expeditions were undertaken as a tentative consumerism began to lighten the lives of the masses. At the time, George Orwell, having returned from his sojourn in Wigan, suggested that fish and chips, tinned salmon, radio and strong tea might have averted revolution.

Ultimately, if hope lay with the proles it lay with them as consumers. This, at least, was the contention of Dr Gallup, whose market research techniques attempted to understand the British as consumers, just as Mass Observation attempted to understand them as citizens. In The Comfort of Things, Miller investigates the citizens of contemporary London by way of their consumerism - or at least their material possessions, in an era of unprecedented mass consumption.

[...]

'Possessions often remain profound,' he says, 'and usually the closer our relationships are with objects, the closer our relationships are with people.'
But this is only part of the wider question he addresses in The Comfort of Things. It's a question that goes to the root of social science: what rituals and customs do human beings create to bring each other together?

[...]

(F)or Miller, the study of material culture is the clue to understanding modern values. However, it is the characters less defined by the objects that surround them which prove to be the biggest finds in this book. There is Malcolm, a man whose email address is more of a 'home' than his accommodation on Stuart Street, where his desire to embrace a digital existence has him jettisoning ornaments and accoutrements for a virtual life on the laptop. And the opening chapter of the book, 'Empty', is the story of George, a 76-year-old who is more the stuff of fiction - the missing link between Melville's Bartleby and Miss Haversham. 'It was after meeting George that we found ourselves in tears,' writes Miller. 'Because in every other instance there was a sense that at least that person had once lived. This was a man more or less waiting for his time on earth to be over, but who had never seen his life actually begin.'
George is someone whose existence has been entirely dependent on the say-so of others, ranging from his parents to the state. Even the business of obtaining objects and decorating his flat requires decisions that are too big for him to deal with. His environment is beyond that self-conscious minimalism, that ethical thrift or that anti-consumerism which becomes its own lifestyle choice. His is a home where nothing survives as a clue to the history, or even the existence of its sole inhabitant: no mementoes, ornaments, photographs.
George is therefore the character who rattles part of Miller's thesis: 'People sediment possessions, lay them down as foundations, material walls mortared with memory, strong supports that come into their own when times are difficult and the people who laid them down face experiences of loss.'

[...]

Between the alienated and dysfunctional figures unearthed by Miller's research are those who find a joy and a passion in the things that help them nest and settle in a fragmented city. There is the cockney Londoner of old here, too, the breed whose bones lie beneath the city's paving stones; those forgotten by the new model 'Londoner' who has rebranded the capital by way of a beloved multiculturalism that is as mythical as the 'Middle England' he or she loathes. Working-class Marjorie accumulates things that, according to Miller, 'never lose their rapport with the present'. She is constantly changing the gallery of framed photographs that shroud her living room and watching old videos in an abode stacked with images of her family, as well as those of celebrities from the Beatles to television newsreaders.

Read the full review

Light-wave implant hope for deaf

2008-11-22T09:49:00.001Z

The BBC reports on research into a new device to restore hearing to the deaf:

An implant which works by firing infrared light into the inner ear is being investigated by US researchers.

Nerves in the ear can be stimulated by light as well as sound and the team from Northwestern University, Illinois, is aiming to harness this.
Infrared light shone onto guinea pig nerve cells produced better results than standard cochlear implants, a report in New Scientist magazine said.

But UK charity RNID said a device for human use might take years to develop.

Read the whole story

Dundee academics find link between buggy design and childhood development

2008-11-21T06:38:00.001Z

Research carried out at the University of Dundee and described in The Guardian suggests the design of buggies can have an important effect on children's development:

From what their children eat to where they sleep and whether their favourite toy is educational enough, parents have never been short of things to agonise about.

But today researchers add "buggy worry" to the list, with a report suggesting front-facing strollers could deprive babies of their first lessons in life by discouraging their parents from talking to them.

The study suggests that old-fashioned buggies, which allow babies to lie down and look up at their parent, give babies the best start in life. A recent wave of hi-tech, adaptable, parent-facing buggies - such as the Bugaboo Cameleon and the Stokke Xplory - can help, but they are often expensive, the researchers say.

The research into the psychological effects of buggies reveals that life in a 21st-century baby buggy can be emotionally isolating. Children in front-facing varieties are significantly less likely to talk, laugh and interact with their parents than those in buggies that face the pusher, according to the research. The study is published by the National Literacy Trust for its Talk to Your Baby campaign and funded by the educational charity the Sutton Trust.

Read the full article

Also reported by the BBC:

The research was carried out by Dr Suzanne Zeedyk from Dundee University, in collaboration with the charity the National Literacy Trust (NLT).

In total, 2,722 parent-child pairs were observed in High Streets in 54 areas around the country.

Dr Zeedyk then studied 20 babies being wheeled in prams across a one mile stretch in the centre of Dundee.

The children spent half the journey in an away-facing buggy and the other half facing towards their mothers.

Only one baby laughed during the away facing trip, while half laughed during the face-to-face journey.

The children's average heart rate also fell slightly when they were facing their mothers and they were twice as likely to fall asleep - which could indicate reduced stress levels, according to Dr Zeedyk.

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