Managing Innovation, Design and Creativity

Appendix C. Categories of design

Here we will consider the different categories of design projects one might encounter.^[125] Some references to additional reading as well as case studies are provided. Some aspects of the design process may vary with project type and I aim to point this out where appropriate. Before we take a look at individual types of design, a brief discourse into the history of the development of 'design' is given below.

HISTORY OF 'DESIGN'

In the traditional understanding, 'design' is often associated with a person who is involved in both the design and production of an object. This concept began to change with the outset of the Industrial Revolution, which initiated the division of work and the need for specialisation. Resulting from this, two strands of design evolved: 'design as art' and 'design as engineering', each with a different meaning and different emphasis in education. Part and consequence of the development into specialisation was the separation of industrial and engineering design about which Ivor Owen (1990), a former director of the Design Council, says, "I strongly believe that the schism between engineering design and industrial design has been one of the most damaging issues in manufacturing industry imaginable." Sir William Barlow (1988), a former chairman of the Design Council, asserts this by pointing out that almost every product requires an appropriate balance of both. A similar view is presented in the earlier Corfield Report (1979), which ...