The Network’s themes articulate the conceptual framework for its conferences, journals, and books—defining the evolving questions that shape the field of design . These themes are dynamic points of dialogue across theory, education, and professional practice .
Aldo Cibic, Luisa Collina, Eleventh International Conference on Design Principles & Practices, Institute without Boundaries at George Brown College, Toronto, Canada (2017)
Theme 1: Design Education On learning to become a designer. Living Tensions:
Design Thinking – cognitive modes and learning styles Problem Solving – recognition procedures, hypothesis development, reasoning processes, solution testing
Residues – learning from our historical and contemporary design experiences
Innovation and Creativity – meanings in theory and practice
Cases – empirical studies of design practices
Professional Stances – acquiring the designer’s skills, capacities and attitudes
Methods of Observation – frames of interpretation and criteria for assessment of design
High and Low Theory – the everyday and theorizing the empirical
Conceiving Design – complexity, heterogeneity and holism
Design Pedagogies – teaching and learning in the design professions
Educational Designs –teacher as instructional designer
Points of Comparison – precedent, analogy and metaphor in the design process Theme 2: Design in Society On the social sources of design and the social effects of design. Living Tensions
Design in Social Policy – planning and politics Health and Safety – public welfare in design practice
Design as Business – Markets for design and designing for markets
Human Systems and Cultural Processes – globalization and the design professions
Design Without Designers – everyday, amateur, organic and living designs
Design for Diversity – culture, gender, and sexual orientation
Design Politics – making technologies, spaces and institutions more responsive to human needs
The ends of Design – pragmatic, aesthetic, and emancipatory
The Humanistic and Technological –tensions and synergies
Values, Culture and Knowledge Systems – the role of perspective, subjectivity, and identity
Cross-cultural Encounters – working on diverse and global design teams
Niche Markets – working with diverse clients and users
Theme 3: Designed Objects On the nature and form of the objects of design. Living Tensions
People and Artifacts – exploring uses and usability Design Narratives – stories and sense making in the design process
Cultural Studies – difference, diversity, and multiculturalism in design
Embodied and Disembodied – ethnographies of design
Material and Immaterial – mediating ideas and materials
Function and From – the politics of Industrial design
Sociology of Design – decorative arts, folk movements, and communities of practice
Science and Technology in Design – critical analysis of techno-determinism
Media Ecologies and Object Orientation – designed artifacts and processes as learning experiences
Co-designed Process and Objects – designing with users and communities
Close to Customers – design as dialogue
Universal Design and Access – measuring participatory design systems
Theme 4: Visual Design On representation using mediums of the visual communication. Living Tensions
Media and Mediation – singular and universal visual grammars Viewpoint, Perspective, Interest – designer as agent or advocate
Negotiating Authenticity and Authority – power of continuity and change
Forms for Communicating Design – photography, film, animation, graphic design, and typography
New Media and Digital Aesthetics – the evolving avant-garde
Modeling and Representation – graphic, symbolic, logical, and mathematical
Synesthesia or Crossing Representational Modes – language, image, space, and medium
Fine Arts – illustration, photography, film and video
Visual Economies – advertising, marketing and logos
Information Systems and Architectures – interface design, digital, software, and social media design
Public and Professional Understandings – the role of the designer as communicator
Copyright, Patents, and Intellectual Property – proprietary and the commons, commercial and in the public domain Theme 5: Design Management and Professional Practice On the organization of design, design work, and design as a professional practice. Living Tensions:
Designing Design – from conceptualization to specification Common Knowledges – sharing insights, research, theories, and designs in communities of practice
Multidisciplinary and Cross-Professional – approaches to design
Professionalism and its Trajectories – narrowing specialisms and/or multiskilling
Working with Research – design practitioners as researchers or users of research
Business of Speed – the economics and pragmatics of rapid delivery and design alongside construction
Logics of Collaboration – interactivity, responsiveness, and reflexivity in communities of practice
Democratization of Design and Public Accountability – consultation and consensus building
Evolutionary Design – collaborations over time
Expertise as facilitation – designers who know what they might not know
Designing Projects – planning, management, and project afterlife
User-Centered or Client-Centered Project Management - the changing role of the designer as advocate Theme 6: Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design On constructing spaces, environments, and sustainable design practices. Living Tensions:
Common Spaces – ecological footprints, atmospheres, biospheres, eco-spheres Life Cycles – designing products and services for the longer term
Relations of human and Ecological Value – static or dynamic
Standards and Regulations – implicit, explicit and social certifications
Planning the Urban – cross-disciplinary perspectives on cities of the future
Nature Designed – parks, wilderness, and elementary ecologies
Understanding Human Impacts – natural resource use and environmental footprints
On Sustainability and Eco-Design – design in an environmental, economic, social, and cultural setting
Interdisciplinary Ecological Practices – working with scientists, social scientists, and economists
Scenario Planning – designing for alternative futures
Making and Breaking Codes – regulation in the design industries
Documenting Sustainable Design Process – methodologies, heuristics, and routines
