Gradients

Theme

Gradients 01 - SOCIAL DESIGN; Journal of UPH School of Design 

Design is the study and practice of general, strategic, fundamental and practical everyday problems. Design serves a diverse social user groups needs and desires. Especially in this contemporary era of connectivity, we are witnessing rapid societal, economic and global progress that are unfolding at an unprecedented pace. This is both challenging and promising for our design field to engage in fresh ways of looking and solving design problems of the social world. We believe that design thinking as a human-centered perspective and approach to innovation and problem solving could become the key to contextualize and to give new future perspectives.

These theme focusses on the social aspects of design, in general. Particularly, in fields of visual, product, architectural and interior design. 

The journal welcomes submissions of research-based design works and scholarly design research that address one (or more) but not limited to the following connected general keywords:

Sub-Theme 1: Social Change

Examining the nature of design as a mean of social transformation.

-activism

-responsibility

-social entrepreneurs

-identity

-responsibility

-community

Sub-Theme 2: Collaborative Design

Investigating the wide range of design approaches, research, methods, creative thinking, processes and multi-disciplinary collaboration.

-co-design

-co-working

-co-production

-creativity

-pedagogy

-community of designer

-designer as professional

Sub-Theme 3: Social Media

Exploring the social effects of design and current communication technology.

-branding, logos, advertising

-cinema, television, traditional and new media

-propaganda

-performance

-trends

-the past, present and future of the media

All submitted papers will go through blind review process for acceptance. All accepted papers (after the review process) will be included in the Gradients Journal. The journal will invite the accepted submissions to present the paper at the annual Journal symposium that will be held in May 2018 prior to the Journal publication in August 2018.

Best Paper Awards and Best Student Paper Awards will be conferred at the symposium (in order to qualify for the award, the paper must be presented at the symposium).