Northumbria design research on show at London exhibition

Four projects from Northumbria University, exploring how design research can help develop innovative solutions to complex issues around the world, have gone on display in London as part of a major exhibition. 

Featuring 67 projects, all funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and spanning over 10 years of activity, the Design Research for Change exhibition highlights the wide-ranging work of researchers from more than 40 UK universities and their collaborative partners.

Issues that the projects have tackled include connecting with disadvantaged children, sustainability for small businesses, ageing, health and wellbeing, developing new environmentally-friendly materials and transforming public services.  

The exhibition is part of the London Design Fair and has been developed by researchers from a range of design disciplines including product, graphics, interaction, fashion, and furniture collaborating with other specialist areas such as healthcare, business, engineering, and elsewhere.

Located in the Old Truman Brewery in London, the showcase will give a flavour of all 67 projects with a mixture of physical exhibits and digital displays.

The Northumbria University projects include the Real-Time Visuals Research Network, led by Northumbria in collaboration with Goldsmiths, University of London; Culture Lab, Newcastle University; and Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle.

Project lead Dr Steve Gibson, Reader in Innovative Digital Media within Northumbria’s School of Design, said: “The Real-Time Visuals network brought together researchers, artists, filmmakers, designers, musicians and computer scientists and covered a number of topics related to working with visuals in real-time. It included three workshops and a conference and the results of the research were published by Leonardo Electronic Almanac. It’s great to see the project chosen for this major exhibition, demonstrating the impact design can have on all aspects of life.”

Another Northumbria University-led project is Creative Temporal Costings, which was developed in collaboration with Warwick and Dundee Universities, the RCA, Leeds Creative Timebank and a number of its artists.

Project lead Jo Briggs, Associate Professor in Design said: "Creative Temporal Costings was a three-month ‘sprint’ project comprising an experimental social design intervention undertaken with Leeds Creative Timebank to investigate the value of creative collaborative exchange in an emerging ‘parallel’ non-monetary economy; and to test and develop new research methods for social design, to prototype new forms of collaborative research oriented towards social change.”

For more information about Creative Temporal Costings and a link to the catalogue produced by artists at Leeds Creative Timebank click here and here.

The Design Research for Change showcase has been organised by Lancaster University’s Professor Paul Rodgers as part of his ongoing AHRC Design Leadership Fellowship.   

“The projects illustrate wide-ranging social, cultural, and economic impact and highlight the significant roles that UK-based Design researchers play in some of the most complex and challenging issues we face both in the UK and globally and the positive outcomes that are being designed and developed.” explains Professor Rodgers.

The exhibition is on show at the Truman Brewery from 20-23 September as part of the London Design Fair 2018. More information available at https://www.designresearchforchange.co.uk/