- Home
- A-Z Publications
- Artifact
- Previous Issues
- Volume 5, Issue 1, 2018
Artifact - Volume 5, Issue 1, 2018
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2018
-
-
Elements of a shared theory of science for design
By Per GalleAbstractHigher education for the design professions – designers, architects and engineers – has been combining traditional disciplines of research and design in new ways, into what is now known as design research. As a discipline in its own right, design research is still quite young, and the design professions need a theory of science that takes their specific character into account, thus contributing to their self-image, and locating them in the greater landscape of research. Using philosophically oriented conceptual analysis I develop a system of basic concepts as elements of such a theory of science for the design professions. The concepts of design, research and design research are analysed, clarified and coordinated, in relation to concepts such as knowledge, theory and practice. At the same time I propose a precise, yet intuitive, terminology that may be shared and foster cross-disciplinary understanding and communication among the design professions, and which each of them can expand for purposes of its own.
-
-
-
Understanding structures of Collaborative Design Innovation (CDI) management practices: A strategic brand alignment approach
More LessAbstractThis article sets out to explain structures of design management practices around the implementation of product innovation strategies that rely on collaborations with external design consultants, what this article refers to as Collaborative Design Innovation (CDI) strategies. Whilst design management practices for implementing collaborative approaches to product design innovation have been widely described in design and innovation management literatures, we still know very little about the organizational mechanisms affecting such structures and configurations of design management practices. This study aims to build theoretical explanations as to how we may understand structures of enacted CDI management practices, which is approached through analyses of how firms strive to strategically align design management practices and (corporate) brand management. First, the article presents a theoretical framework for analysing such strategic alignment by elaborating relational perspectives on different strategic approaches to brand management – conceptualized as ‘brand logics’ – and CDI management practices. Second, this framework is then applied to a multiple case study of six Danish small- and medium-sized enterprises operating in the Danish interior design industry. Through within- and cross-case grounded analyses empirical findings reveal relational patterns between two brand logics and two dominant structures of design management practices. As the main contribution of the article, findings suggest that observed differences in enacted structures of CDI management practices across case-companies may be explained on the basis of understanding firm dominant brand logics. Implications for design management theory and practice conclude the article.
-
-
-
Between regulation mechanisms and professional essentials: Exploring current challenges in architectural education
Authors: Marianne Stang Våland and Camilla Hedegaard MøllerAbstractAs new technologies and organizational arrangements establish in the market for building design, these developments represent important changes – for design practitioners as well as for the institutions responsible for the education of designers. We explore the tension between current mechanisms that aim to regulate the production of architects and architecture, and the fundamental tenets that characterize the profession. Providing data from a Danish school of architecture based on the Beaux-Art tradition, we use actor-network theory as a lens to explore how these mechanisms produce requirements that challenge the traditional understanding of knowledge and methodology in architectural training. While architects are reliant on their ability to act according to market conditions, they are concurrently obliged to work according to the essential tenets of their discipline. The article offers empirical illustrations and considerations of this dilemma facing the profession of architects and their practices, which is provisionally discussed in the light of a contemporary educational initiative.
-
-
-
Making sense of dress: On sensory perspectives of wardrobe research
By Else SkjoldAbstractThis article displays selected findings from a line of so-called ‘wardrobe method’ interviews conducted in the period 2010–16, in which the sensory system plays a particularly important role. The research approach of the project represents a fusion, on the one hand, of addressing the body as important within fashion and dress research and, on the other, the emphasis on user experiences and practices within the area of design research that also highlight sensory, utilitarian and symbolic aspects. Synthesizing the two research areas in the interview technique of clustering, the author shows how she has engaged with sensory perspectives of dressing in her field work, as well as in her analysis. As such, the overall departure for the article is the idea that user- and practice-oriented approaches from within design research are particularly well fitted to enrich the understanding of the way in which dress culture is not only something that has to do with visual display, but very much so with sensory experience as a tool for sense-making.
-
-
-
Book Review
More LessAbstractOvercrowded: Designing Meaningful Products in a World Awash with Ideas, Roberto Verganti (2017) Cambridge: The MIT Press, 269 pp., ISBN: 9780262035361, h/bk, £26.00
-