Research Profile

These are exciting times for our Faculty of Art + Design, with groundbreaking new work finding applications in a diverse range of fields. From our unrivalled expertise in the area of holography to our innovative research into sustainable buildings, we are proud to be making a real impact on the world in which we live. Strong links with industry help us deliver research to meet real-life challenges, and to this end we have worked with organisations such as BT, Hewlett-Packard, The Design Council and Unilever.

Design and New Product Development is both cross-departmental and multi-disciplinary, where ‘product’ is defined in the broadest sense from consumer products to spatial products. A focal point is the New Product Development Centre which concentrates on the development of creative sustainable products.  Research extends from sustainable technology and design to developments in the production of tableware in ceramics.

Photographic Studies and Creative Imaging includes the study of, and practice in, photography together with holographic and lenticular imaging. The development of the Centre for Photographic History is a key research focus. The group has an extensive range of national and international industrial and commercial partners including BT, EMI, IPC Communications, the Leicester Royal Infirmary and Peugeot.

Fine Art Practices research outcomes include exhibitions of work, publications (as exhibition catalogues, books, articles, journal entries), residencies and the curation of exhibitions. Significant awards include Clarke’s selection for the Jerwood Drawing Prize and Group Show (2002). Curatorial activity in the group has been growing with a variety of exhibitions curated by members of the group.

Textiles Engineering and Materials (TEAM) continues to focus on high quality fundamental and applied research in the three inter-related areas of modelling the properties of fibrous assemblies, bio–engineering in textile processing and technical and medical textiles.

Design itself pervades every facet of our day-to-day lives, and accordingly the Faculty of Art + Design maintains a close dialogue with other faculties at De Montfort University, including Computer Sciences and Engineering, and Humanities.

In one such interdisciplinary project, researchers in architecture are working closely with the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences on a project to help combat the MRSA virus. The aim is to design a hospital ward that will be easier to disinfect, thus reducing infections.

Art + Design will continue to focus on our key strengths within the clusters of Design and New Product Development,Fine Art Practices, Photographic Studies and Creative Imaging and Textiles Engineering and Materials (TEAM) whilst promoting collaboration and interrelationships both between these groups and across areas of art and design so that research underpins learning and teaching at all levels in the faculty.