PhD content in brief

Internationalization of design research and education centers.
Promotion of international design networks
Valentina Auricchio

Today, small enterprises and artisans are facing a difficult moment in which they are not able to understand how to survive in a evermore competitive and global market. They no longer have contact with final users, which often live in other territories and belong to different cultures, and do not have the tools to connect and innovate at an international level.
Since the early 70’s, designers around the world have been working in this arena with the aim to help artisans reach new markets and learn how to develop autonomous innovative processes. Through transfer of knowledge and support in creating networks, designers have shown unique capabilities that can support internationalization processes of territories worldwide by:
_identifying new markets and interpreting cultures (EXPORT);
_identifying new technologies (CO-PRODUCTION);
_identifying new cultural context (CO-DESIGN).

In this scenario, design research and education institutions have had a fundamental role in engaging new research paths and developing education programs in the fields of design management and strategic design in order to support international competitiveness. The strive for internationalization has pushed design institutions to enlarge their networks, connect with territories and give students and staff the opportunity to widen their view. By doing so, they have become strategic entities for the internationalization of their countries.
In the knowledge based society, education and research institutions have become important actors in supporting the international competitiveness of their territories by developing innovative researches and forming new professional profiles.
Therefore, design research and education institutions have become gateways for companies interested in connecting and competing internationally.

The main aim of the research is to identify projects in which design institutions have supported the internationalization of productive territories in order to stimulate an international debate in this area.
The area of reference of the research is Social Design and it historically refers to those projects in which designers have had an important role in connecting the periphery with the center. Victor Papanek, Gui Bonsiepe and Victor Margolin have been the main design theorist in this area.
The research developed has aimed to collect projects that have been carried out in the past ten years in this field. Projects that have been developed by design centers, institutions, individual designers that demonstrate that design can have a strategic role in social and economical development. These projects are mainly lead by the desire to help artisans and small producers to reach new markets and to build connections with partners worldwide.
The research has been lead through on field research and interviews of actors involved in the debate and in the projects detected. The projects collected have been saved in an “online platform” (blog of the research www.innovstrategy.blogspot.com) which has been the a first interface with the research community.
Fifteen projects selected out of the many projects collected in the blog have been briefly explained through graphs and maps which give a general understanding of the state of the art in this field.

The analysis of the project has been done at different levels:
_geographical map of territories and actors involved;
_chronological map of the projects;
_role of the design actors in the projects;
_results respect to the internationalization of the territories involved;
_aims and objectives of the projects;
_project phases.

The final analysis of the projects aims to give a future view on the trajectories taken by the actors involved, the lessons learnt and the suggestions on how to take forward a debate in this field in order to develop new research and form professionals.
Today, there is a large amount of design centers, institutions and professionals who believe that design can have a strategic role in helping artisans and small companies in building global value chains. This belief has been demonstrated through real projects that show that designers are capable, not only in developing new products and services, but also in building global value chains that allow artisans to access new markets. Through these projects, designers transfer innovation capabilities to communities, enabling them to connect with partners worldwide.
However, this field is still not recognized as a research field in design and there are very few courses which aim to form professionals capable to replicate successful experiences in other contexts. This is also due to the fact that, up to today, design tools applied have not yet been codified.
Although the methods and tools identified in the projects still require confrontation and verification in other contexts, the catalogue of projects collected throughout the research is the first of its kind and the hope is for it to be a starting point for an international debate on design methods and tools applicable in this research area.

CASE STUDIES

The following list of posts are a collection of interesting articles which have been collected during the PhD research. Some of them are Design Centers, others are projects, others are links to websites.
Of these posts, 15 case studies have been picked out to be analysed in depth.

TO ADD PROJECTS OR LINKS PLEASE WRITE TO:
valentina.auricchio[at]polimi.it

Wednesday 30 April 2008

SALAMANCA DESIGN

Salamanca design & Co is a strategic design firm born in 1991 by Lucy Salamanca, Designer of Colombia, Bogotà and who studied in 1985 in the Istituto Europeo di Design di Milano. Fair Trade is one of the sectors in which they work.

Monday 28 April 2008

Sustaining local communities through design



This is a blog of a young designer who has been 6 weeks in Brazil for the STRAAT project.
He writes:
"I will be working with small craft communities on creating a line of products to be sold in the local design markets. These groups specialize in bamboo, but are currently not able to support themselves with the products they make. Some of the groups also have outreach programs for various citizens and teach them how to craft bamboo. My goal will be to design, prototype, and ultimately try to commercialize products so that these communities will bea ble to sustain themselves. I got involved by inquiring around about how I could use my thesis time (where the students get to choose the projects) to really do something that could actually make a difference. I have seen a lot of projects that have the goal of helping people, and are made for situation, but are never made and I wanted to get really hands on. But anyways, I ended up getting connected to this program:
http://www.straat.com.br/
which works specifically with groups in brazil. Everyone involved was incredibly enthusiastic about making this work, which really helped, as I had about a week and a half to really scramble to make this happen, including working with my teachers, the school, finding flights, and making an emmergency trip to Chicago to secure a Visa in time to leave. But everything is in action now, and I currently await my flight to Sao Paulo. I am really excited, and a bit nervous, but I think this is going to be a great and formative experience on my career in design."

Saturday 26 April 2008

MADE IN CHINA




Made in China
Will be presented at the Saloneinternationale del Mobile di MilanoApril 16th till 22nd
Material: porcelain with three different hand crafted designsDimensions:Label: Designstudio Carola ZeeLimited editionYear: 2007

Made in China (November 2007)is Carola’s latest collection and was realized in Jingdezhen China. The collection is presented with a book publication, which tells the storyof the people behind the production and shows the way they work. The vases are the end result of this collaboration and show the different techniques typical for this region of China.
Even with the big economical and industrial changes in China at the moment a lot of products here are still produced manually. These products are able to compete with the low prices of machine-produced products because of the low wages the Chinese craftsmen get paid. By creating this collection Carola wants to make consumers aware of the fact that most Chinese products and the people creating them are underrated. Through interviews and photographs she shows the amount of work and time that the craftsmen put in to the creation of this collection.

XO+



XO+ is a fair trade collection of products made by women in different parts of Nepal.
It's the tendency to produce in a good way in Europe knows often the problem that there we do not know what is possible, how to communicate. And the development country has no idea how to communicate and what is expected by the difficult European clients or how to reach them. What counts for development countries, counts for Nepal. Nepal is a country rich in culture, materials and techniques we can not afford at all in Europe anymore. But the people in Nepal don't see the specialty anymore of those qualities. So we make new designs with the old techniques and habits of the Nepali people and in this way those unique qualities don't get lost. The people will be proud again about there culture and the European people can buy these nice products with a fair feeling.The co-operation of feminine producers in Nepal, has started a new project. A Design products collection. In co-operation with Dutch designers a new collection has been produced with the first 18 companies. All participants of this unique project are part of fare business. Womanpower has a poverty alleviation target reached trough a business, work and production improvement.
TARGET:
A link between both worlds.
A good design, a good product.
A win win result.

Only this way there is a opening to give fair trade design products a change to be competitive at the international market.We know Design & Fair Trade, it's possible!

WEMADE



WEMADE is a project between two Dutch designers and Indonesian craftspeople who were victims of the Bantul earthquake 2006.
Goal: to increase the economic independence of local craftspeople.
Result: series of lifestyle products meant for export.











http://www.rixxt.nl/
http://lidewijenrixtinindonesie.blogspot.com/

Artecnica


Artecnica's mission is to elevate the purpose and value of everyday objects by using design to enchant, inspire and transform through the powerful tools of art and technology. Art represents the most personal expression of our design language, technology our unique application of materials, fabrication methods and techniques.
We started traveling the world, exploring and sharing experiences. Specialized vendors were selected and collaborations with designers, merchants and craftsmen begun. New materials were explored experimentally and spontaneously.
This deeper awareness of our global impact inspired a formalized program for Artecnica we call Design with Conscience. Artisan communities of developing countries handcraft objects designed by internationally recognized designers, often utilizing recycled products, both minimizing environmental impact and stimulating depressed economies.
As we continue explore the world and create new design, we also transform and look forward to the challenges we have set with Design With Conscience and our commitment to enchant, inspire, tranform.
The designer can dovetail the capacities of artisans with the needs of the international marketplace. The project producer provides the logistics, marketing, and art direction necessary to bring the work of the designer and the artisan to the consumer. As project producer, Artecnica partners with such nonprofit organizations as Aid to Artisans and the British Council.
Our challenge is to develop a competitive product that will encourage the survival of indigenous craft. Fulfilling this mission requires a smart designer, a savvy and visionary project producer, and a willing and ambitious artisan. Our objective is to avoid the mechanization of the artisan, which devalues his work and undermines the project from both a design and an economic standpoint.
http://www.artecnicainc.com/Milan2008.pdf

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