Design Research Hub
The Design Research Hub is focused on the production and dissemination of high quality research in design at Manchester School of Art.
The Design Research Hub encourages and supports both leading and and new researchers who are exploring the theories and practices of a diverse range of design and craft based activities. It consists of, and encourages collaboration between academics, researchers and practitioners drawn from a breadth of disciplinary specialisms including ceramics, glass, textiles, graphic design, illustration, interior and product design. Key themes and interests are—
Community, Culture & Heritage, including social and cultural engagement with diverse cultures and their heritage, in particular with marginalised and displaced groups.
Design for Mental Health and Wellbeing, including the application of design to support people living with mental health, dementia and disability as well as addressing stigma, to improve social engagement, agency and quality of life.
Design driven innovation and speculative design, including working with businesses to facilitate design-led innovation leading to improved social and economic benefit.
Making and Materiality, including technical, material or process innovation to enable the creative and practical development of novel solutions in both analogue and digital areas.
Underpinning these four themes, there are two further trans-disciplinary areas—
Sustainable Design, in acknowledgement of all design interventions having an effect on our natural environment, resource limitations and climate change, which therefore need to be considered in all undertakings
Design Education and the development of its teaching practices are essential to grow tomorrows cohort of ethical and responsible designers able to follow a publicly engaged, collaborative, interdisciplinary and challenge-led approach.
Researchers in this group are engaged in exploring all of the diverse range of the practices, theories, histories, and languages of design. The aims of the centre are to examine the role of design, in its diversity of forms, and to recognize, evaluate and profile its significance. The objectives of the centre are to disseminate designs past, present and future, through the production of a range of works and through many mediums. Our researchers are engaged in the production of objects, books, exhibitions, papers, and many other research initiatives and projects. The centre encourages interaction between subject areas, academic and practice-led projects, and institutional collaboration. It is an intersection between researchers and practitioners, academics and teachers, and a hub for positive exchange and creative production.
Recent Projects
A textiles, glass and film collaboration, shown at Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
A touring exhibition; ceramics, photography film and installation, in response to Staffordshire Museums' WW1 collections.
A solo exhibition at the International Quilt Study Centre, Nebraska, USA.
The Colloquium 'The Erotic Cloth' considered the ways in which the qualities of cloth to seduce, conceal and reveal have been investigated and exploited in art.
A collaborative community project with the British Ceramics Biennial and European partners, exploring ceramics as a messenger of social change.
A participatory event at Pallant House Gallery. Curated by Alice Kettle as part of Craft Strategy SE, the event brought curators together at a performative meal to develop initiatives which crossed boundaries of use and function.
Members
- Professor
Kristina Niedderer
Research Hub Leader
— - Dr Louise Adkins
Senior Lecturer
— - Mark Beecroft
Senior Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Jo Berry
Senior Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Fabrizio Cocchiarella
Senior Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Kate Egan
Senior Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Professor
Martyn Evans
Faculty Pro Vice Chancellor Arts & Humanities
Director of Manchester School of Art
— - Lucy Gannon
Senior Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Adam Griffiths
Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - David Grimshaw
Programme Leader MA/MSc/MFA Product Design & MA/MSc/MFA Craft
— - Jonathan Hitchen
Senior Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Rachel Kelly
Senior Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Professor
Alice Kettle
Professor of Textile Arts
— - Geoffrey Mann
Programme Leader BA (Hons) Product Design & Craft
— - Dr Sally Morfill
Senior Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Sarah Moriarty
Senior Lecturer in Product Design
— - Eleanor Mulhearn
Senior Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Dr Jea Hoo Na
Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Dr CJ O'Neill
Senior Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Dr John Rooney
Senior Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Dr Lynn Setterington
Senior Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Jon Spruce
Programme Leader BA (Hons) Product Design
— - Steve Threlfall
Senior Lecturer,
Dept of Design
— - Ian Whadcock
Senior Lecturer, BA(Hons) Illustration with Animation and MA/MFA Illustration
—
Exhibitions & Publications
Exhibitions
Stephens, M., Kelly, R., 2022. Relocating the Loom: Handweaving in the Cordillera (2022) in "Gaining Ground", Crafts Council Gallery, London, 13/4/2022 - 25/6/2022.
Kettle, AM., 2022. Slipware, Crafts Study Centre, Farnham.
Kettle, A., 2021. Threadbound, Candida Stevens Gallery, 16/10/2021 - 12/11/2021.
Cocchiarella, F., Shaw, A., 2020. Radical Response Milan, Ventura Projects, Dezeen Virtual Design Festival 2020, 15/4/2020 - 30/6/2020.
Setterington, L., 2020. Unfolding Origins, Selby Library, 12/3/2020 - 30/3/2021.
Artefacts
Egan, K., 2022. 'Out of Place'.
Egan, K., 2021. 'Future Stitch'.
Whadcock, IJ., 2021. 'Imaginary Worlds.', Oriel Davies Gallery Newtown Powys Wales..
Mann, G., 2021. 'Poise'.
Mann, G., 2021. 'The Leith Pattern'.
Mann, G., 2021. 'The Second Line'.
Kelly, R., 2020. 'CORDILLERA: A Weave Learning Tool Kit', https://indd.adobe.com/view/f28cce7e-ab22-49fe-a457-1b109e7b2906.
Books
Williams, L., 2022. 'The Odyssey', Hamish Hamilton.
Evans, M., Shaw, A., Na, JN., 2020. 'Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Volume 1: Change, Voices, Open', Manchester Metropolitan University.
Evans, M., Shaw, A., Na, J., 2020. 'Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Volume 2: Living, Making, Value', Manchester Metropolitan University.
Evans, M., Shaw, A., Na, J., 2020. 'Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Volume 3: People', Manchester Metropolitan University.
Evans, M., Shaw, A., Na, J., 2020. 'Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Volume 4: Learning, Technology, Thinking', Manchester Metropolitan University.
Book Chapters
Morfill, SE., 2020. 'Artistic Research in Performance through Collaboration'. In Blain, M., Minors, HJ. (eds.) Artistic Research in Performance through Collaboration, Springer International Publishing.
Niedderer, K., Tournier, I., Coleston-Shields, DM., Craven,, M., Gosling, J., Garde, J., Salter, B., Bosse, M., Griffioen, I., 2020. 'Designing with and for People with Dementia: Developing a Mindful Interdisciplinary Co-Design Methodology'. In Muratovski, G., Vogel, C. (eds.) Re:Research. Volume 4: Design and Living Well, pp. 147-168, Intellect.
Niedderer, K., Harrison, D., Gosling, J., Craven, MP., Blackler, A., Losada, R., Cid, T., 2020. 'Working with Experts with Experience: Charting Co-production and Co-design in the Development of HCI-Based Design.'. In Brankaert, R., Kenning, G. (eds.) HCI and Design in the Context of Dementia, pp. 303-320, Springer.
Reports
Kelly, R., Marinucci, S., Sethi, R., 2021. 'Crafting Futures Argentina Research Report', British Council.
Internet Publications
Niedderer, K., Orton, L., 2020. 'Living the Life', https://www.designingfordemenia.eu/rersources.
Journal Articles
Kelly, R., 2022. 'Creating Paradise Through a Palimpsest of Textile Higher Education and Community-Based Research', TEXTILE, 20 (1), pp. 39-54.
Niedderer, K., Townsend, K., 2022. 'Nature as source and inspiration for materials and making', Craft Research Journal, 13 (1), pp. 3-8.
Lim, JNW., Niedderer, K., Tournier, I., Almeida, R., Harrison, D., Holthoff-Detto, V., Ludden, G., van Rompay, T., van der Voort, M., Galansinska, A., Smith, T., Lasada, RL., Bueno, YA., Druschke, D., Ziebuhr, B., Zanasi, M., 2021. 'Assessing the generalisability of a multicentre qualitative dementia research: the experience and challenges faced by the MinD project in Europe', Open Research Europe, 1, pp. 64-64.
Townsend, K., Niedderer, K., 2021. 'Craft as a meeting place', Craft Research, 12 (1), pp. 3-8.
Niedderer, K., Townsend, K., 2021. 'Craft between tradition and adaptation', Craft Research, 12 (2), pp. 175-181.
Fels, D., Blackler, A., Niedderer, K., 2021. 'Does bouncy equal happy? Comparing user's interpretations of emotions conveyed by one designed moving object based on the soma-semiotic framework.', Appl Ergon, 96, pp. 103463-103463.
Zhang, W., Walker, S., Evans, M., Bennett, J., 2021. 'Inheritors of the Yellow River: The relationship of heritage making practices to cultural self-confidence in China', International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology, 5 (1).
Spruce, J., 2021. 'Reflections on a Project-based Approach to Work-related Learning in Spatial Design', The International Journal of Design Education, 15 (1), pp. 101-117.
Kelly, R., Fruebing, S., 2021. 'Whose futures need crafting? A collaborative evaluation of the British Council/Crafts Council <i>Crafting Futures</i> 5K grant scheme', Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education, 20 (1), pp. 103-114.
Kettle, A., 2020. 'Book Review: Perspectives on Work, Home and Identity from Artisans in Telangana: Conversations around Craft', Craft Research, 11 (1), pp. 143-147.
Townsend, K., Niedderer, K., 2020. 'Crafting health, well-being and happiness', Craft Research, 11 (1), pp. 3-8.
Niedderer, K., Townsend, K., 2020. 'Crafting progress through research education and digital innovation', Craft Research, 11 (2), pp. 171-176.
Niedderer, K., 2020. 'Explorative Materiality and Knowledge. The Role of Creative Exploration and Artefacts in Design Research', FormAkademisk - forskningstidsskrift for design og designdidaktikk, 6 (2).
Fleck, R., Cecchinato, ME., Cox, AL., Harrison, D., Marshall, P., Na, JH., Skatova, A., 2020. 'Life-swap: how discussions around personal data can motivate desire for change', Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 24 (5), pp. 669-681.
Chudasri, D., Walker, S., Evans, M., 2020. 'Potential Areas for Design and Its Implementation to Enable the Future Viability of Weaving Practices in Northern Thailand', INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DESIGN, 14 (1), pp. 95-111.
Setterington, L., 2020. 'Text, the journal of the textile society', Textile History.
Spruce, J., Evans, M., 2020. 'Transforming Learning Through User-Centered Design Research Methods', American Journal of Art and Design, 5 (2), pp. 50-50.
Spruce, J., Kiernan, L., Douglas, M., Ryan, A., 2020. 'Where Does Design Thinking Leave Design? Snapshots of a conversation with the design community', Iterations: Design Research & Practice Review, 8.
Conference Papers
Nimkulrat, N., Niedderer, K., Evans, M., 2020. 'Editorial', in EKSIG 2013: Knowing Inside Out - Experiential Knowledge, Expertise and Connoisseurship - International Conference 2013 of the Design Research Society Special Interest Group on Experiential Knowledge, Conference Proceedings, pp. 3-10.
Other Outputs
Kelly, R., Stephens, M., 2021. 'A Weave Learning Toolkit'.
Stewart, S., 2021. 'Urban Workbench - citizen-driven placemaking'.