A blog about design at the OU.
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Two Barriers to Inclusive Design
Inclusive Design is broadly defined as the advocacy for and participation of often overlooked or marginalised people in the design process. While the concepts of participation, inclusion, fairness, and accessibility seem well known in our everyday, there seem to be significant barriers to their use in design projects. Amongst others, two barriers are proposed below […]
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Reducing carbon from older buildings: the need for holistic heritage approaches or… hot water bottles, curtains and lifecycle carbon
My research is investigating ways to reduce carbon emissions from residential heritage buildings while retaining their heritage values. It is generally acknowledged that many more buildings can be considered heritage buildings than merely those designated in planning as listed or in conservation areas. It is unclear how many buildings fall into the ‘heritage category’ but it […]
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Black Inventors and Innovators: New Perspectives
As part of Black History Month, The Smithsonian Institute’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation held a week-long webinar series, from 16-20 November 2020, about Black and other inventors of colour and Black technology consumers. The seminars also explored strategies for building a more equitable system of invention, patenting, finance and innovation […]
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Art History and Design in Dialogue: Abutments and Confluences
Design at the Open University has always bridged knowledge systems and approaches from the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences. The Design Group connects to other schools within STEM but also to other faculties and schools at the Open University. The new Special Issue in the Open Arts Journal ART HISTORY AND DESIGN IN DIALOGUE: […]
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Design @Open YouTube channel
We have curated a collection of videos authored by OU Design staff and students on our newly opened YouTube channel. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/channel/UC5dwgQTcTO0bCgA1Oiu-TBQ/playlists The collection introduces research projects, qualification engagement events and seminars. We seek to grow the collection, and each month we will introduce a Design academic in a video interview. In October, I interviewed Prof […]
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Civic action during and beyond COVID – challenges and opportunities
It is without doubt true that the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted our ‘normal’ way of life, our work and the way we communicate and socialise with others. Many people now increasingly face important economic, health and mental wellbeing challenges and some groups within our society are hit worse than others (e.g. women, and BAME groups). […]
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Can Artificial Intelligence (AI) become a creative friend?
Blog Post by Lisa Bowers & Elouise Huxor In his article ‘Crafting an Artificial Intelligence I‘, Yatharth argues that there are parallels to be drawn between the craft process and the development of machine learning through engagement with the data as material. The word technology has its roots as a Greek word roughly translated as ‘a […]
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Why is design education white?
UK Black History Month is drawing to an end and this year, in particular, with all of the events that led to Black Lives Matter protests I have, once again, found myself reflecting on the ethnocentric nature of design teaching. The teaching of design in western culture is based on a narrative of design which […]
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Necessity is the mother of invention
In the Socratic dialogue ‘Republic’, Plato famously wrote: “our need will be the real creator” (Wikipedia.org, 2020) which was moulded over time into the English proverb ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’. Having read multiple articles of inventions and innovations in medicine, technology, or supply chains over the last 6 months, more than once a […]
