Designing Designers
Updated Term 1 2022
9 things you should do to find information - These steps will help you to plan your research and use your time more efficiently.
When you are looking for information on the creative industries, you probably won't find the type of quality information you need with just a Google search. You will need to look in a range of places, particularly resources that are dedicated to design and the creative industries.
The best way to find most of the information you need in one place is to visit your local library and use a book. You can search on their website to see if they have books on design or your designer. You can use the SLASA Referencing Generator for your bibliography. If you don't already know which designer you want to research for this task, the best place to look is museums devoted to design and designers. Here is a list of design museums around the world. Some of them have features on particular designers, and many of them have parts of their collections online. You can also look in design magazines. We have links to a few here, and your local library may subscribe to some- visit and ask. A good quality newsagent should also stock a selection. |
Design museums
The Design Museum - London Cooper Hewitt - New York The V&A - London Museum of Arts and Design - New York Bauhaus Archiv - Berlin Designmuseo - Helsinki Vitra Design Museum - Weil am Rhein, Germany Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (Powerhouse Museum) - Sydney Te Papa - Wellington |
Search tip:
If you search for your designer online and get a lot of irrelevant results (eg. If you searched for Charles Eames and got results for every other person on the internet with Charles or Eames in their name), try putting their name in double quotes (" "). This is called searching for a phrase, and should only bring back results with those exact words in that exact order.
If you search for your designer online and get a lot of irrelevant results (eg. If you searched for Charles Eames and got results for every other person on the internet with Charles or Eames in their name), try putting their name in double quotes (" "). This is called searching for a phrase, and should only bring back results with those exact words in that exact order.
History of your designer's career and work
There are a number of places to look for this information, and they will vary depending on the age of your designer and how well-known they are.
There are a number of places to look for this information, and they will vary depending on the age of your designer and how well-known they are.
- Most designers will have a website, this is the best place to look for information on their career.
- The major libraries or cultural institutions in their country of origin may have information and exhibits on them, especially if they are considered to be an important contributor to design in their field. (eg. Library of Congress, National Library of Australia)
- Search for interviews and profiles in newspapers and magazines. Look for long, in-depth pieces that have an author's name at the top- this is one of the signs an article is a piece of quality journalism rather than a quick press release. Try and find pieces from respected publications, for example the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian, The Guardian, The New York Times, The BBC, Frankie, Salon, The New Yorker, The Smithsonian, The Atlantic etc, or from magazines that focus specifically on the design industry.
How to tell if the online publication you are looking at is high quality
Note: This isn't an exact science, and it comes with experience. But in the era of 'fake news' it's a very important skill to develop. Try comparing the Daily Mail to the New Yorker- which is the better quality? (Hint: Hopefully you decided it was The New Yorker)
- Is the author's name given? Is there a link to more information about them such as their qualifications, background and specialist topics?
- Are there ads? Are they flashy and distracting or are they contained and don't detract from the content?
- Has the publication won awards for quality writing, such as a Walkley (or the equivalent in the country of origin)
- Is the page layout neat and well organised or is it cluttered and confusing?
- Is it well-written? Look for typos and grammatical errors, but also the level of sophistication of the writing.
Note: This isn't an exact science, and it comes with experience. But in the era of 'fake news' it's a very important skill to develop. Try comparing the Daily Mail to the New Yorker- which is the better quality? (Hint: Hopefully you decided it was The New Yorker)
Skills and qualifications for the field of design
These may be mentioned in the same source you used for the designer's career history. If not, research the industry more generally to find out what skills and qualifications it requires. If there is a particularly well known educational institution within that industry, their website will provide information on the skills needed within the industry.
These may be mentioned in the same source you used for the designer's career history. If not, research the industry more generally to find out what skills and qualifications it requires. If there is a particularly well known educational institution within that industry, their website will provide information on the skills needed within the industry.
The need that their design met
Where you gather this information will again depend on what field the designer is in and how well-known they are. Again, you may find the information in any profiles, interviews or designer websites that you used to learn about their career. If not, try researching the design itself and see if there are media articles about it or, if it is a famous design, if a design museum has information about it.
If the designer you picked isn't a modern designer, you can use history websites to learn about the social and historical context that they were working in. (eg. History.com, Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Where you gather this information will again depend on what field the designer is in and how well-known they are. Again, you may find the information in any profiles, interviews or designer websites that you used to learn about their career. If not, try researching the design itself and see if there are media articles about it or, if it is a famous design, if a design museum has information about it.
If the designer you picked isn't a modern designer, you can use history websites to learn about the social and historical context that they were working in. (eg. History.com, Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Products
To find information on the products and designs themselves try looking at the online collections of design museums, as museum items will have detailed information about the design.
To find information on the products and designs themselves try looking at the online collections of design museums, as museum items will have detailed information about the design.
Elements of design
If you need a refresher on the elements of design, try these websites: Original design overview: Design features Design elements and principles The principles of design Art, design and visual thinking: An interactive textbook |
For the remaining sections of your report, you should be able to find information in the sources you have already used for the other sections.
If you haven't found suitable images in the collections of a design museum, here is a list of places to look for images from the creative industries:
NC State University Design Library's list of websites to find images
If you haven't found suitable images in the collections of a design museum, here is a list of places to look for images from the creative industries:
NC State University Design Library's list of websites to find images
Using academic resources
If you feel confident using academic articles for your assignment, here are some places you can search for them:
Google Scholar - Not all of the articles are freely available; if you uncheck the 'include patents' and 'include citations' boxes and add filetype:pdf OR filetype:html after your search terms this should help to find free articles. If you are getting a lot of books in your search results try adding -book to your search and searching again.
Design & Art Australia Online
International Journal of Design - The archives are all freely available but there is no search function on the website. To search the archives, enter your keywords into Google then add site:http://www.ijdesign.org after them. Google will only search for results from that website.
Google Books
Google Books - Gives you access to a wide range of partially digitised books, and is a good way to find academic books for your assignment. Bear in mind that only part of the book will be available online.
If you feel confident using academic articles for your assignment, here are some places you can search for them:
Google Scholar - Not all of the articles are freely available; if you uncheck the 'include patents' and 'include citations' boxes and add filetype:pdf OR filetype:html after your search terms this should help to find free articles. If you are getting a lot of books in your search results try adding -book to your search and searching again.
Design & Art Australia Online
International Journal of Design - The archives are all freely available but there is no search function on the website. To search the archives, enter your keywords into Google then add site:http://www.ijdesign.org after them. Google will only search for results from that website.
Google Books
Google Books - Gives you access to a wide range of partially digitised books, and is a good way to find academic books for your assignment. Bear in mind that only part of the book will be available online.
Referencing
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