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The Design History Society is the leading organisation that promotes and supports the study of design histories, both in the UK and internationally. Through its journal, annual conference and programme of events it brings together all those engaged in the subject – students, researchers, educators, designers, designer-makers, critics and curators among them. It also acts as an advocate for the subject in a number of different contexts.

8 September - 10 September 2022
Izmir Institute of Technology, Izmir, Turkey
Design & TransienceDesign History Society Annual Conference 2022// Hybrid Conference///September 8-10 2022 Izmir...

30 January 2023
The recording of the virtual symposium, Global Conversations: Materiality and Mediation organised by the Design...

This month, guest contributor to the Provocative Objects series Zarna Hart studies The Pirate and The Traders of the West Indies by William Spooner in relation to British Empire and the indoctrination of Victorian children.
We love to hear what our members are getting up to. If you'd like to contribute to the DHS Newsletter and get published on our website, just drop us an e-mail.
More details >12 January 2023
This Special Issue of the Journal of Design History is dedicated to promoting the study of digital material culture...

This month, guest contributor to the Provocative Objects series Livy Scott discusses the haptic, tactile, and embodied experience of pearls.
As part of the 'Folk' Cultures in Everyday Objects seminar series, Francisca Antunes Guimarães (an independent researcher from Porto, Portugal) has written a blog post about Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro's (Lisbon, 1846-1905) utensils set and its design links to Portuguese folk culture. Her research intends to deepen the study and meaning of the tablewares in the 19th century using a specific set from Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro as a case study.

21 November 2022
The latest episode of the DHS podcasts is out now! Listen to this year's Design Writing Prize (DWP) guest judge,...

18 November - 2 December 2022
Online
Fridays 18 November - 2 December 2022 Session 1 15.30 - 17.00 (GMT) Session 2 19.00 - 20.00...

Following a summer break, welcome back to the Provocative Places and Objects series in which our Ambassadors look at places and spaces that challenge and confront us as design historians. This month, Alexandra Banister looks at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and considers how we use architecture to remember and to display collective history.

8 November 2022
The digital legacy of the 2021 DHS annual conference Memory Full? (Basel, Switzerland) is now live. This...
Design History Society members include all those interested in design: students, designers, lecturers, historians, researchers, craftspeople, manufacturers, archivists, curators, librarians and collectors. New members are always welcomed and actively encouraged to contribute to events and publications.
More details >2022 Undergraduate Essay Prize winner Emma Gill shares an overview of her winning essay, 'Why is Modern Design Employed to Reinforce the Concept of Villainy in Film? Immorality and Modernism in the Contemporary Villain’s Lair'

4 October 2022, 4 - 6pm
Virtual event
Tuesday, 4 October 11:00 am - 01:00 pm EST04:00 pm - 06:00 pm BST (GMT+1)05:00 pm - 07:00 pm CET Join us...
4 October 2022
The Design History Society would like to share the outcome of the Design Writing and Essay Prizes (undergraduate and...

4 October 2022
The Journal of Design History is the leading international journal of design history, and is published by Oxford...

4 October 2022
The 2022 DHS annual conference themed Design and Transience took place at the Izmir Institute of Technology and the...
Katie Irani is a current student on the RCA/V&A History of Design Programme, she is also a recipient of the Student bursary for this year's DHS Conference.

2 October 2022
We are delighted to announce that the 2023 Design History Society conference will be hosted by the College of Art...
Check out our blog to see reports on the Society's activities.
More details >2 October 2022
The Design History Society is now looking for a host of its annual conference in 2024. The conference is a...

21 September 2022, 2 - 3:30am
Hybrid
Free hybrid event in partnership with the Design History SocietyPart of the Association for Art History's Art History...
15 September 2022
Free hybrid event in partnership with the Design History SocietyWednesday 21 September 2022, 2-3.30pm (UK time). Watch...