My research fields include brand environments and narrative design, design management, design strategy, design and innovation and the relation of design to business. Evolving the areas of design thinking, design processes and interdisciplinary working methods is a primary focus.
‘Design Management: Managing Design Strategy, Process and Implementation’ (AVA Publications 2006) was my first publication on the role of design in business and took a structured approach to explaining the relationship between design, management, creativity and innovation. The book’s in its 3nd printing, translated into 6 languages, and there’s another book on the way – due for release in 2009.
A few recent research projects:
‘OSCAT’: a European Union (EU) Leonardo da Vinci/Univeristy for the Creative Arts knowledge transfer project. This project is plioting the e-assessment of learning needs in small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) to identify continuing professional development opportunities. The OSCAT online diagnostic tool was customized around the needs of design managers with the aim of discovering, using, promoting and evolving innovative methods for training, learning, good practice and benchmarking.
New Wayfinding System for the City of Seoul, South Korea: This project, funded by the Korean Government and carried out in collaboration with Hanyang Univeristy, South Korea, involved two research phases. Phase One involved preliminary research into how tourists and people with disabilities find a particular location or tourist attraction, starting from a nearby subway or bus station and following existing public signage and wayfinding systems. The London research considerations included environmental design issues such as: road signs, street name plates, building number plates, street directories, directional signage, maps, symbols/pictographs, colors and typography. Phase Two involved conducting a survey to measure how people in each city react to the proposed new Korean public design system. One hundred people were surveyed in London.
Client: Korean Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs (KOGAHA)
Supervision: Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP)
Research: Design Research & Education Lab (DREL), Hanyang University; Univeristy College for the Creative Arts at Farnham (UK); ELISAVA Escola Superior de Disseny (Spain); California State University Fullerton (USA); Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Applied Science University Faculty of Arts and Design (Jordan)
