Category: Design comment
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Report on visit to V&A Museum of Childhood
On the 12th October 2024, seven U101 24B students (including two children) met up at the V&A Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green in East London. The museum itself showcases a mix of displays of artefacts relating to childhood from a diversity of cultures around the world. Some artefacts date back to the 16th Century. […]
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1974 and all that……
I am writing this blog on the 1st October 2024. For me, this is an odd sort of anniversary, for it was on 1st October 1974 (i.e. exactly 50 years ago) that I formally joined the Open University. I know there are others still present in our Design Group who preceded me (Robin Roy, Dave […]
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Nigel Cross on Design Thinking
A is for Architecture, a podcast series run by Ambrose Gillick of Kent University, invited Nigel Cross, a renowned expert in design thinking, to discuss his research. Cross is an Emeritus Professor at the Open University (OU) and a pioneer in distance design education. He has significantly influenced the field through his work as the […]
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Back to the Future: can we nurture transformational design?
A few months ago, I was asked by the journal of the Town and Country Planning Association to write a short article as part of the TCPA’s 125th anniversary. Back in 1898 the TCPA was instrumental in promoting the Garden Cities/New Towns concept and today remains a forum for more radical thinking in urban and […]
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Adventures in design: a curiosity-driven career
Taking the plunge to study for a career in any field is a bold and purposeful step in life. To pursue a creative career takes perhaps an even bolder leap of faith when the array of potential work roles is so diverse and constantly evolving. Design roles today are no exception. More younger adults are […]
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New design module! T190: Design practices
The Design Group are delighted to announce our new introductory design module – available for study in October 2024! T190: Design practices is a foundation in design practices that introduces principles and skills from topics in different creative and design disciplines. These skills and principles are applied throughout the module in a series of design […]
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Concerning the Spiritual in Design
Having visited 78 Derngate in Northampton with students and tutors on the design courses last month, I was inspired to return to my studies of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) and the Glasgow Four. 78 Derngate, a small terraced house near one of the old town gates, was originally built in 1815. The interior, extensively remodelled […]
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The Many Hidden Aspects of Mending
According to WRAP (2012), around 166 million items of clothing could be worn again if they were repaired yet nearly 350,000 tonnes of clothing were discarded as residual waste in 2021. If more clothing were to be repaired around 13.9 kg of carbon emissions per garment would be saved (Bevilacqua et al., 2011) which could […]
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Food, shelter and re-designing home
As a new resident in Milton Keynes, I’ve brought along my decades-long curiosity about how people live day to day and how they organise themselves in different places and cultures to meet needs for food and shelter. Since neither can be guaranteed for all people anywhere in a world of deepening inequality, designers committed to […]
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Lessons from a Santaless Sleigh
Having been asked to provide a Design Blog just ahead of Christmas, I wondered how I might combine this yuletide timing with my design research. I have been working on both research and teaching pieces that explore the product, service and system design impacts of emerging electric and autonomous vehicle technologies. That’s not very Christmassy. […]