Preservation of digital design new research project at Beckmans
Starting this autumn, Peter Ström, graphic designer and senior lecturer at the Visual Communication programme, will begin his research project on the preservation of design for digital media.
"Graphic design and visual communication today exist largely in digital product design. Nevertheless, there is no infrastructure for long-term preservation of it either in Sweden or internationally. The area is largely unexplored but will have great relevance in the future as it will be important to look back at the enormous technological changes society has undergone during the digital revolution, in particular its impact on visual communication and design. But because there are no tools to document and archive our design heritage, a significant part of our culture and history risks disappearing for the future," says Peter Ström.
Highly topical project in corona times
The project is highly topical, not least in view of the coronavirus that now dictates society's conditions and more or less forces everyone into digital contexts. Until now, however, the importance of digital design has been considered subordinate when it comes to the collection and preservation of graphic design. There is no institution in Sweden that, from a design perspective, takes responsibility for the enormous digitization that has taken place in society at large and in graphic design in particular in recent decades.
The project is linked to international as well as Swedish experts in the field. The hope is to eventually bring about a change in the approach to the digitally created and not least investigate the possibilities for a tool for the collection of digital design. The work can be followed on the project's website www.preserving.design.
Artistic research at Beckmans College of Design
In 2017, Beckmans College of Design launched an investment in artistic research. Four different research projects with links to our fields of education product design, fashion and visual communication have been carried out so far. The projects will be presented in different formats in 2020, while new research projects will be initiated.
