Design History and Culture Methods and Approaches

This student friendly text provides a comprehensive exploration of the methods and approaches employed within design scholarship, drawing upon influences from history, art history, anthropology and interdisciplinary studies such as science and technology studies and material culture studies.

Drawing connections between these methods and the evolving landscape of design, the book expands design culture beyond traditional outcomes to encompass areas like design for social innovation, digital design, critical design, design anthropology and craftivism. Additionally, the book introduces novel theoretical frameworks to facilitate discussions on contemporary designers? work, including new materialism, object-oriented ontology and decolonization.

This comprehensive overview of methods and approaches will enable students to select the most appropriate methodological tools for their own research. It is an ideal guide for both undergraduate and postgraduate students in design, design culture, design history, design studies and visual culture.

Introduction; METHODS; Chapter 1. Close Readings. Structuralism; Chapter 2. Close Readings II. Post-structuralism; Chapter 3. The Lifecycle of Objects. Tracking Design; Chapter 4. The Comparative Method. DIfferences and Similarities; Chapter 5. Case Study Research. The Specific and the General; Chapter 6. Designer's Monographs. Fluid authorship; Chapter 7. Oral History. Memories of the Past and the Present; Chapter 8. Ethnography. Groups and Individuals; Chapter 9. Discourse Analysis. Constructing Reality; APPROACHES; Chapter 10. Industry. Economic and Legal Frameworks; Chapter 11. Geopolitics. National Interactions; Chapter 12. Society and Culture. Manners, Morals, and Customs; Chapter 13. Gender Studies. Questioning Heteronormativity; Chapter 14. Style. Period, Group and Individual; Chapter 15. The Typological Approach. Categories and Belonging; Chapter 16. Materials and Techniques. Transforming Nature.

Javier Gimeno-Martínez is an associate professor of Design Cultures at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His research interest encompasses the crossovers between design scholarship and other disciplines within the humanities and the social sciences. He is the author of the book ‘Design and National Identity’ (2016).