Products in Context: Theories of Industrial Design
Overview
This seminar unit will address the history of industrial design activity in Australia. The unit starts with an overview of Australian designers’ participation at recent world expos beginning with 'Shanghai 2010', before investigating the field’s historical antecedents in the Industrial Revolution. The suburban home is selected as a site to explore industrial design practice, the consumption of designed products and their contribution to notions of home, family and gender roles. The learning objectives of the unit provide students with a deep understanding of the practice of industrial design across time and space, and as a form of cultural production.
Requisites
01-June-2025
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Articulate design history as a field between academic history and design practice
- Trace the development and evolution of design history in Australia and selected international sources
- Explore the historical responsibilities of designing for and with people and the environment
- Understand a material culture approach to design history based on archival research and critical analysis of artefacts
Teaching methods
Hawthorn Online
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Contact (Phasing out) Online Class | 1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| Online Contact (Phasing out) Online Class | 2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Specified Learning Activities (Phasing out) Various | 4.58 | 12 weeks | 55 |
| Unspecified Learning Activities (Phasing out) Independent Learning | 4.92 | 12 weeks | 59 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exhibition Review | Individual | 40% | 1,2,3,4 |
| Research Project | Individual | 40% | 1,2,3,4 |
| Weekly written online responses | Individual | 20% | 1,2,3,4 |
Content
- The suburban home as a site to explore industrial design practice and consumption
- Australian design at world expos from 2010 Shanghai back to 1851 London and the Industrial Revolution
- The evolution of design history in Australia and its responses to other national and world design histories
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.