Design, Make, Exhibit : My practice involves engagement with craft and technological processes and materials to explore aesthetics, relational form and meaning, often at the intersection of the intuitive and contingent (craft) with the planned and deterministic (design/science).
Design for Retail. I have a track record in this area from previously being joint director of 'Lapland' - a multi-disciplinary organisation curating exhibitions and events on the boundary of design and art - often with a strong retail aspect (1995-2006). Since 2015, I have run the ‘Retail Therapy’ project, inviting student designers to design and make small batches products that are offered for sale at the conclusion of the project. This ongoing yearly project has spawned over 200 products in 8 years, some of which have had commercial success beyond the project. Research themes include :- Design and enterprise; Design for retail and pedagogy; Beyond prototyping in design education; Using new digital tools to facilitate fast design and manufacture of small batch products; Fostering creativity in student projects.
Design; People; Future Technology : teleWEAR
I have managed and run 3 live student projects (2012/2014/2019) with corporate clients that have focused on the design of telecare alarm/data systems. In each of these cases, the clients have gone on to develop commercial products based on the outputs from each project. Furthermore the work from each project has formed the basis of a number of individual and longitudinal papers and case studies. My experience within this area led to an invitation to participate in tthe "Does Design Care" workshop in Japan in July 2019.
