A blog about design at the OU.
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Design and Innovation: Past, Present and Future
A useful summary by Harriet Powney of Robin Roy’s paper for the Design Research Society’s 2016 conference and his book Consumer Product Innovation and Sustainable Design has been featured on the website of the OU’s IKD Research Centre & SRA in International Development and Inclusive Innovation. She writes: New products are never simply the result […]
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You Never Thought What The Real Value of Critical Thinking Is
Dr. Gil Dekel. What comes to your mind when you hear the phrase ‘critical thinking’? You may think of people who doubt everything? People that can’t stop asking arrogant questions which makes them very uncomfortable to be around? Now, put your preconceptions on hold for a second and see why critical thinking is something entirely […]
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Circular economies
I came across the following Greenpeace video which paints a bleak picture of the impact of the smart phone revolution over the past 10 years or so. The constant drive to own the latest and greatest smartphone is having a huge impact on resources and the environment, and this is unsustainable. The video suggests a solution […]
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OpenStudio Shortlisted for Guardian University Award 2017 !
OpenStudio has been shortlisted for a 2017 Guardian University Award in the Digital Innovation category. OpenDesignStudio first appeared way back in 2008 in the module T189: Digital Photography module and was then re-purposed for the first presentation of U101: Design Thinking, as an online design studio and portfolio tool, where the use of it demonstrated […]
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Organising information through colours: design tips
By Dr. Gil Dekel How can colours support you in organising and designing information in your print or online projects? Here is a summary of the chapter ‘Colour’ from Tufte’s book ‘Envisioning Information’[1], with further suggestions I came across during my work as a design researcher[2]: Colours are a powerful visual tool to represent information. […]
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The changing agenda of design challenges
Last week saw the first ever entry of an OU student to the Royal Society of Arts Student Design Awards. This prestigious competition has been run by the RSA since 1924, originally created to ‘support talented young craftsmen and designers in producing well-made items for British homes’. Its launch was in the context of the […]
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Haptic ‘ The State of the Art’
Authorship – Alastair Barrow and Imogen Clare of Generic Robotics This blog was kindly sent from Dr Alistair Burrow and his project assistant Imogen Clare. These two colleagues work a researchers within a start up business initiated and developed with via Oxford and Hertfordshire University. Through network links I have been working with both these colleagues and their […]
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Realising the potential of design thinking
DesignAndThinking -YouTube This documentary, directed by Mu-Ming Tsai, explores the role and value of design thinking in society. It draws on conversations with a range of commentators including David Kelly, D.School Stanford; Tim Brown, IDEO; Udaya Patnaik, Jump Associates; and Richard Grefé, Aiga. The film is over an hour long but worth investing the time in as it does a great job […]
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Haptics in education
Haptics in Education Digital Touch at a distance. The field of design is a difficult discipline to facilitate at a distance due to the practical nature of what is known as “studio” or “in house” practice. Introducing haptics to distance learning, with particular reference to the discipline of design and the future of online applied […]
