Designing a sustainable future: a new approach to influence design practice.

Cull, Kirsty; Malins, Julian

Abstract

This paper questions the basis of a sustainable approach to product design in an attempt to clarify the key issues which are liable to influence the outcome of the development of new products. The paper describes research undertaken to establish a set of sustainable characteristics for product design. It describes in detail how the characteristics can be used as a tool to influence the design process. The paper goes on to describe how the characteristics have been incorporated into an educational tool for assisting product design students to assimilate the inherent contradictions they face when addressing sustainability. Two case studies are reported: the first is based on the authors own design practice, illustrating how the characteristics could be incorporated into the design process; the second study reports the outcome of the application of the characteristics as an educational tool when applied to a group of product design students.

Citation

CULL, K. and MALINS, J. 2003. Designing a sustainable future: a new approach to influence design practice. Presented at the 5th International conference of the European Academy of Design (EAD 05): techné: design wisdom, 28-30 April 2003, Barcelona, Spain [online]. Available from: http://www.ub.edu/5ead/PDF/5%20/CullMalins.pdf

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: 5th International conference of the European Academy of Design (EAD 05)
• Conference Location: Barcelona, Spain
• Start Date: Apr 28, 2003
• End Date: Apr 30, 2003
• Deposit Date: Jun 1, 2011
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 1, 2011
• Keywords: Sustainability; Product design; Design education; Design brief; Design practice
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/638
• Publisher URL: http://www.ub.edu/5ead/PDF/5%20/CullMalins.pdf