[Book] Research for Designers: A Guide to Methods and Practice

Research for Designers A Guide to Methods and Practice
By Gjoko Muratovski – Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand and Tongji University, China
SAGE Publications Ltd, January 2016
280 pages

Abstract

Design is everywhere: it influences how we live, what we wear, how we communicate, what we buy, and how we behave. In order for designers to design for the real world, defining strategies rather than just implementing them, they need to learn how to understand and solve complex, intricate and often unexpected problems. This book is a guide to this new creative process. With this book in hand, students of design will:

• understand and apply the vocabulary and strategies of research methods
• learn how to adapt themselves to unfamiliar situations
• develop techniques for collaborating with non-designers
• find and use facts from diverse sources in order to prove or disprove their ideas
• make informed decisions in a systematic and insightful way
• use research tools to find new and unexpected design solutions.

Research for Designers is an essential toolkit for a design education and a must-have for every design student who is getting ready to tackle their own research.

The author

Dr Gjoko Muratovski has over twenty years of global, multidisciplinary design and branding experience. He holds a PhD in Strategic Design Research with focus on branding and corporate communications. In addition to this, he is trained in a range of design fields such as graphic design, visual communications, industrial design, architectural design, interior design, and furniture design and manufacturing. His formal education and professional development spans across 11 countries. He is recipient of more than 25 scholarships, grants and awards, and has over 90 research publications. In 2015 he was named Fellow of the Designers Institute of New Zealand for his distinguished service to the New Zealand design community and the Institute. Dr Muratovski is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Design, Business and Society and Associate Editor of She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics and Innovation. He has authored numerous studies that examine the fields of design, architecture, fashion, advertising, branding and sustainability, and edited books such as Consumer Culture (2015), Global Fashion Brands (2014), and Design for Business Vol.1 – Vol.3 (2012-2015). As an international keynote speaker he has delivered talks at prestigious events such as the cultural programme of the G20 Leaders Summit, the annual conference of the European Academy of Design, and the Indian government-funded conference Design for a Billion. He is also the Chairman of the international research conference Design for Business, which is part of the Melbourne International Design Week and is run in partnership with the Australian State Government of Victoria. Over the years Dr Muratovski has been working with a broad range of corporate, governmental and not-for-profit organizations from around the world, including NASA Johnson Space Center, UNESCO World Cultural Heritage, World Health Organization, United Nations Association of Australia, Department of the Premier and Cabinet of South Australia, Auckland Council, Deloitte, Toyota, Yahoo!, Greenpeace, and many others. He is regularly retained as an advisor by various international design firms and advertising agencies on issues ranging from strategic design to brand development strategies. He currently holds senior academic positions at the Shanghai-based College of Design & Innovation at Tongji University – one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China, and at the School of Art & Design at Auckland University of Technology – the leading design school in New Zealand.