Society News

Nominations sought for Design History Society Teaching and Learning Officer

The DHS is seeking nominations for the Teaching and Learning Officer position. More

Victoria and Albert Museum Symposium

To celebrate the opening of the V&A's new Dr. Susan Weber Gallery of Furniture, the V&A are holding a one-day symposium on the 17th of May to investigate furniture materials, making and design. More

DHS Day Seminar Series: 'It's Personal: Subjectivity in Design History'

Postmodern theory might have finally killed off the utopian ideal of history as an objective science, but it has arguably left a vacuum, with no comprehensive debate on the role of subjectivity and its potential challenges and benefits...


More

Society news archives here...

Essay Prize 2013

Call for Entries

Submissions are invited for the Design History Society Essay Prize, established in 1997 in order to maintain high standards in design history in higher education. Two prizes are awarded annually; one to an undergraduate student and the other to a postgraduate (MA or PhD).

Competition requirements:

  • The entrant must have been a full- or part-time student within the academic year 2012/2013.
  • The essay should be written in English.
  • The length of the essay should be between 6,000 words and 10,000 words, including footnotes (for postgraduate students this may take the form of a free-standing essay or a thesis chapter re-worked into a free-standing essay). A word count must be provided with the essay and on the submission form.
  • The essay (including illustrations) should be submitted electronically as a PDF.
  • The essay should not have been previously published.
  • The essay must be accompanied by an academic nomination. Copies of these guidelines can be forwarded to tutors on request.

The Prize includes:

  • A bursary of £300 given by the Design History Society
  • One year's membership of the Design History Society (includes subscription to The Journal of Design History)
  • Free place at the Design History Society conference Towards Global Histories of Design: Postcolonial Perspectives 5 - 8 September 2013, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India
  • £100 worth of Oxford University Press publications
  • 5 Paperbacks in the Oxford History of Art series
Application forms are available from the DHS Essay Prize Officer:
Dr Annebella Pollen

The closing date is 14th June 2013

Essays received after the deadline will not be considered.

Submission Guidelines

In order to obtain the highest standards for the Design History Society Essay Prize, each submission must be nominated by a professional in the field.

Consideration should be given to the following selection criteria:

1. Initial selection criteria should reflect the internal assessment requirements of the nominating institution: for example, an essay graded First Class Honours, or of MA or PhD standard.

2. The following attributes should be present in every essay selected for submission, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Originality

The essay should demonstrate a mature and novel approach to issues, themes, and discourses currently relevant in the field of design history.

Research

The essay should demonstrate excellence in terms of breadth of research and should combine a good balance of primary and secondary sources.

Method

Methods of research and delivery should reflect good practice in design history. For example, an ideal essay would demonstrate one or more of the following:

  • detailed, object-focused description and analysis
  • the application of appropriate historical approaches (social, economic, cultural, etc.)
  • a sophisticated approach to interpretation, utilising relevant theoretical perspectives (Marxism, feminism, etc.)
  • correct use of discipline-specific methodologies (archaeology, anthropology, etc.)

3. Finally, the essay should:

  • be well structured and well written
  • include an excellent standard of critical evaluation of the source material
  • have a balanced and logical argument
  • have an articulate and well-evidenced conclusion

Previous Winners

2012

Undergraduate Prize Winner

Mark O'Brien, Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dun Laoghaire

'Rock, Paper, Scissors: the DIY punk zine and its influence in contemporary visual culture'

Postgraduate Prize Winner

Teresa Reilly, National College of Art and Design, Dublin

'The Design History and Material Culture of Blood Donation in Ireland 1950-75'

2011

Undergraduate Prize Winner

Mark Kobine, Edinburgh College of Art

'In praise of Lesser Things'

Postgraduate Prize Winner

Vera Sacchetti, School of Visual Arts, New York

'Design Crusades: a critical reflection on social design'

2010

Undergraduate Prize Winner

Ness Wood BA (Hons) History of Design, Culture and Society, University of Brighton:

‘It’s so New-Fashioned’: Hille, from tradition to modernity’

Postgraduate Prize Winner

Alice Dolan MA History of Design V&A/Royal College of Art:

‘The Adorned Print: print culture, female leisure and the dissemination of fashion in France and England c.1660-1779’

2009

Undergraduate Prize Winner

Anna Kealey, BA (Hons) Visual Communication, Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dun Laoghaire

‘Innovation and Exploitation: a Critique of American Apparel’

Postgraduate Prize Winner

Ann Christie, MA History of Design, V&A/Royal College of Art, London.

‘A Taste for Seaweed: an 18th century cotton dress printed with a design by William Kilburn'

2008

Undergraduate Prize Winner

Miranda Iossifides, BA (Hons) Graphic and Media Design, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London.

‘A study of the gecekondu in Instanbu, Turkey: Innovative Urbanism for the West and the Global Urban Poor’

Postgraduate Prize Winner

Elizabeth Bisley, MA History of Design, V&A/Royal College of Art, London.

‘Design Change in American Motels, 1945-1970'

2007

Undergraduate Prize Winner

Marcus Swan, BA (Hons) Design in Visual Communications, The Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin, Eire.

The Medium is the Text Message:The Social and Aesthetic Effect of Text Messages.

Postgraduate Prize Winner

Lauren Porter, History of Design MA, V&A/Royal College of Art, London.

The Cardinal's Hammer.

2006

Undergraduate Prize Winner

John Patrick Hartnett, BA (Hons) Design for Interactive Media, the Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin, Eire.

Derrida by Default: Wolfgang Weingart and the (Accidental) Deconstruction of Swiss Typography

Postgraduate Prize Winner

Chris Campbell, MA Communication Design, Central St Martins, University of the Arts London.

Authority, Obedience and the Naked Street: The British Road Signage System After World War II

2005

Undergraduate Prize Winner

Sian Ball, BA (Hons) Textile Design, Loughborough University.

Children's Clothing in the 1960s: A Period of Transition

Postgraduate Prize Winner

Katherine Feo, MA History of Design, V&A/RCA.

(In)visibility: Memory, Masks and Masculinities in the Great War

2004

Undergraduate Prize Winner

Eleanor Marsden, BA English and the History of Art and Design, Winchester School of Art (University of Southampton).

Where Art and Fashion Meet: Unravelling the Significance of an Edwardian Dress

Postgraduate Prize Winner

Di Taylor, MA History of Design RCA/V&A Joint Course

Powder to Go: The Supremacy of the Powder Comapct in the Interwar Years.

2003

Undergraduate Prize Winner

Martin Cahill, BA (Hons) Visual Communications, Dublin Institute of Technology

Universalism vs. National Identity: The Evolution of the Olympic Pictogram.

Undergraduate Prize Winner

Hannah Smith, BA (Hons) History of Design, Culture & Society/University of Brighton

Mirrors of Society? Bankside Power Station & Baltic Flour Mill.

2002

Undergraduate Prize Winner

Jennifer Lock, Fashion and Textile Design, John Moores

A Discussion of the Role of the Photograph, the Viewer and the Viewed in Faashion Photography of the 1990s.

Postgraduate Prize Winner

Alice McEwen, MA History of Design RCA/V&A Joint Course

Wanted Dead or Alive! The Role of the British Bathroom Tap in Constructing (and Reflecting) Idealized Visions and Lived Realities.

2001

Undergraduate Winner

Lizzie Engelen

Pugin's Albury Chimneys - Pots of cash or stacks of style?

Postgraduate Prize Winner

Kate Forde, MA History of Design RCA/V&A Joint Course

Celluloid Dreams: The marketing of Cutex in America 1916-1935.

2000

Undergraduate Winner

Laura Molson, Design Studies A at the Nottingham Trent University.

The Make Do and Mend Campaign, a Successful Strategy?

1998

Undergraduate Winner

Mole Leigh, 3D Craft graduate of the University of Brighton

The Chronomanual Concept: human labour and relative time-consumption in the production of craft.

1997

Postgraduate Winner

Guy Turner, MA History of Design Joint, V&A/RCA.

"Allume Catina" and the Aesthetics of Venetian "Cristallo".