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Academic research journals in design also began publication. DRS initiated ''Design Studies''<ref>https://www.journals.elsevier.com/design-studies</ref> in 1979, ''Design Issues''<ref>https://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/desi</ref> appeared in 1984, and ''Research in Engineering Design''<ref>https://link.springer.com/journal/163</ref> in 1989.
==ProfessionalInfluence on professional design practice==
Several pioneers of design methods developed their work in association with industry. The [[Ulm School of Design|Ulm school]] established a significant partnership with the German consumer products company [[Braun]] through their designer [[Dieter Rams]]. [[John Christopher Jones|J. Christopher Jones]] began his approach to systematic design as an ergonomist at the electrical engineering company [[AEI]]. [[L. Bruce Archer]] developed his systematic approach in projects for medical equipment for the UK National Health Service.
Conversations about design methods and a more systematic approach to design was not isolated to Europe. America was also a magnet for practicing design professionals to codify their successes in design practice and backing into larger theories about the dynamics of design methods.
In the USA, designer [[Henry Dreyfuss]] had a profound impact on the practice of industrial design by developing systematic processes and promoting the use of [[anthropometrics]], [[ergonomics]] and [[human factors]] in design, including through his 1955 book 'Designing for People'.<ref> Dreyfuss, Henry. ''Designing for People''. Allworth Press; 2003. ISBN 1-58115-312-0</ref> Another successful designer, [[Jay Doblin]], was also influential on the theory and practice of design as a systematic process.<ref>https://www.doblin.com/dist/images/uploads/A-Short-Grandiose-Theory-of-Design-J.-Doblin.pdf</ref>
American designers were much more pragmatic at articulating design methods and creating an underlying language about the practice of industrial and graphic design. They were tied to economic systems that supported design practice and therefore focused on the way design could be managed as an extension of business, rather than the European approach to design methods based on transforming engineering by design.
Much of current design practice has been influenced and guided by design methods. For example, the influential [[IDEO]] consultancy uses design methods extensively in its 'Design Kit' and 'Method Cards'.<ref>http://www.designkit.org//resources/1</ref><ref> https://www.ideo.com/post/method-cards</ref> Increasingly, the intersections of design methods with business and government through the application of [[design thinking]] have been championed by numerous consultancies within the design profession.
Industrial design was the first area that made inroads into systematizing [[knowledge]] through practice. [[Raymond Loewy]] was instrumental at elevating the visibility of industrial design through cult of personality (appearing three times on front cover of ''Time Magazine''). [[Henry Dreyfuss]] had a profound impact on the practice of industrial design by developing a systematic process used to shape environments, [[transportation]], [[Product (business)|products]] and [[packaging]]. His focus on the needs of the average consumer was most celebrated in his book ''Designing for People'', an extensive exploration of [[ergonomics]].
[[Jay Doblin]] one of America's foremost industrial designers, worked for Raymond Loewy and was later an employee of [[Unimark International]], the world's largest global design firm during the 1960s with offices in seven countries. In 1972, Doblin formed Chicago-based Jay Doblin & Associates, a firm which managed innovative programs for Xerox Corporation and General Electric.<ref>[http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm?contentalias=JayDoblin AIGA Overview of Jay Doblin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051103135028/http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm?contentalias=JayDoblin |date=2005-11-03 }}</ref> Doblin was prolific at developing a language to describe design. One of his best articles was "A Short, Grandiose Theory of Design", published in the 1987 Society of Typographic Arts Design Journal. In seven pages, Doblin presents a straightforward and persuasive argument for design as a systematic process. He described the emerging landscape of systematic design:
* For large complex projects, it "would be irresponsible to attempt them without analytical methods" and rallied against an "adolescent reliance on overly intuitive practices."
* He separated "direct design" in which a craftsperson works on the artifact to "indirect design" in which a design first creates a representation of the artifact, separating design from production in more complex situations.
Doblin and others were responding to the increased [[Inheritance (computer science)|specialization]] of design and the complexity of managing large design programs for corporations. It was a natural process to begin to discuss how design should move upstream to be involved with the specifications of problems, not only in the traditional mode of production which design had been practiced. Particularly since 2000, design methods and its intersection with business development have been visibly championed by numerous consultancies within design industry.
The continuity of approaches to design projects by such representative firms is the generation of inputs incited by the human condition in varied contexts. These approaches utilize a sustainable methods-based mode of making that takes into account critical analytic and [[Synthetic proposition|synthetic]] skills toward more informed and inspired specifications grounded in:
* Direct investigation of human circumstances to draw out impressions
* Engagement by client-side and end-user participants in design process
* Open articulation by practitioners of multiple disciplines facilitated by design
==Current state of design methods==
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