Impact and outreach in design history

A hallmark of research in the Centre for Design History is the strong relationships between University of Brighton researchers and partners in the cultural sector (principally galleries and museums) on research projects that support high-level research.

These provide significant financial underpinning for published outcomes (catalogues), online platforms and exhibitions while leading to wide public engagement through visitor figures and public outreach programmes for informal and formal learning.

History of design research at Brighton has pioneered new methods of analysis and practices of interpretation to transform understandings of how design is produced, marketed and consumed:

Firstly, it has changed understanding among policy makers and professionals of how transnational networks of design work.

Secondly, it has shaped the study and public appreciation of the history of design through publication and exhibition, and it has determined the kind of design that is collected and displayed.

Thirdly, it has become an international nucleus for curriculum development in design history with impact on the teaching of the subject at all levels, nationally and internationally.

Defining and internationalising design history

The University of Brighton’s pioneering work in the history of design has changed the way design is taught and the way it is viewed.

Design history researchers have located their research at the interface of object-based history, museum curatorship and material culture, and related archival documentation, in their specific contexts of manufacture, representation and consumption. Research has focused on the role of designed artefacts in everyday life and in the formation and communication of social, cultural and political identities across time and place.