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Design History

Design history examines the context of origin, production, communication, consumption and impact of design as well as the resulting discourses.

Like any historical discipline, it is interested in understanding the past, contextualising the present and outlining possible trajectories for the future. As such, design history not only shapes design practice, but also connects design and society, thus contributing to our understanding of human culture.  

Design History has been taught at the Department of Design and Art at the Bern Academy of the Arts HKB since it was founded in 2003. Through various teaching, research and publication activities, the HKB plays an active role in establishing design history as an academic discipline in Switzerland. With its introduction as a field of research, Design History at the HKB today fulfils two functions: It contributes to the education of designers and is itself a topic of research. The Design History research field examines design as a cultural phenomenon. Previous focal points have included Swiss graphic design, interactions between visual culture and national identity, visual forms of historiography, visual communication and subculture, as well as the impact of design history on design practice. Furthermore, theories and methods of document, book, exhibition and discourse analysis are applied to textual, visual and relational materials. 

The common goals of our activities are to strengthen the historical research in design processes, as well as the public discourse on design. 

Core Competences

  • Consultancy and support for the processing and archiving of estates and legacies 

  • Historical research on design and innovation 

  • Writing and reviewing of design history articles for print and online media 

  • Planning, organising and running of publications, exhibitions, conferences and workshops on design history topics 

  • Provenance research 

Co-ordinator

Ongoing Projects

Selection

The Cultural Turn in Swiss Graphic Design from the 1980s to 2020

The project examines the cultural change in Swiss graphic design from the 1980s to 2020. During this time, graphic design no longer saw itself as a purely commercial service for industry and business, but increasingly took on commissions from the cultural sector. As a result, graphic designers began to practice their profession with more creative freedom and see it as a new lifestyle. The research is divided into three phases: the emergence of new values (1980–1992), the development of a discourse (1993–2002) and its national institutionalisation (2003–2020). 

Link to the research project

Alternative Media Design

Alternative media use their editorial design to communicate the concepts, ideas and values of their publishers. The project examines the design strategies used by the New Right and the New Left social movements and the images they construct and disseminate of themselves and society.  

Link to the research project

Completed Projects

Selection

Contact

Get in touch with us! We will be happy to inform you about other projects in this research field and answer your questions.

Bern Academy of the Arts HKB 
Research 
Institute of Design Research 
Secretariat: Edona Idrizi 
Fellerstrasse 11 
CH-3027 Bern