Introduction
I went to study design at university some 30 years ago … and I’m still here! However, ‘here’ is now as a design academic - teaching, researching and engaging with community to try to make a difference. I’ve taught at universities in three different countries, and this site is a way of showing some of what my students and I have achieved.
It is a work in progress and I’ll keep updating it between projects and teaching. Enjoy!
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A design academic
Through my own designing, I have focused on addressing social issues and to improve the human condition: including the empowerment of people with disabilities; at what cost to human rights and the environment do we use materials; designing for our future selves; and using design’s creative capacity, leverage, and change agency to address concerns with population growth, an ageing population and food security.
Augmented Reality
For the last few years I’ve been using Augmented Reality to overlay the digital into the physical world, providing additional information, meta-data and video for a range of physical objects and spaces (creating hidden galleries and bringing the stories of things to life).
disability
My Honours and PhD in Design were both concerned with designing for people with disabilities. Here is some of that work ...
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Material Story
As a designer I've always been fascinated with materials and what you can do with them. My investigative research of material properties and their sourcing has lead me to question at what cost - to human rights and the environment - we use materials.
Teaching
Some examples of my teaching.
From my first opportunity to teach a class I was hooked. I've been blessed with some fantastic students who've taught me a lot, and I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity of sharing knowledge, skills, insights and thinking.
good clean fair food
Using design’s creative capacity, leverage, and change agency to address concerns with food security and sourcing.
Transitional Justice class 2019
I put together an e-Book of some of the students' Op Ed pieces along with my sketch notes from a week long class on Transitional Justice by the great Terry Savage, run at Stellenbosch University, South Africa in July 2019.
Some other sites I'm developing
Material Story.com
As a designer I've always been fascinated with materials and what you can do with them. My investigative research of material properties and their sourcing has lead me to question at what cost -- to human rights and the environment -- we use materials.
Good Clean Fair Food.com
Using design’s creative capacity, leverage, and change agency to address concerns with food security and sourcing.
designdisability.com
The empowerment of people with disabilities through design... This site will showcase some of my students' design projects, and my own PhD and undergraduate work, in the area of designing for people with disabilties.
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Design Thinking
Applying design thinking to wicked problems ...
- Environmentally driven technical innovation by Australian construction SMEs
- Industrial Design is Dead. Long Live Industrial Design
- Design and the University: a Partnership for Sustainable Design
- Futures West: a design research initiative promoting sustainable futures for Western Sydney
- Climate change: Building leadership capacity within a higher education institution
- Changing the Climate of Public Transport: A Design Research Initiatives
- The role of Industrial Design in Addressing the Disparity between User Perceptions of Public and Private Transport
- Bridging the divide: Design’s Role in Improving Multi-Modal Transport
- Design in the world kitchen - A case study in multi-national collaborative design education
Material publications
I'm fascinated with the curious tales of materials ... here are some of my musings on materials.
- The Immaterial of Materials
- Changing the Fabric of Society: An Exploration of Smart Textiles in Product Design
- Materials: The incredible lightness of being
- Materials: Get smart: active materials
- Materials: Growth material
- Materials: Seeing things: windows on our world
- Materials: A continuing journey
- Materials: Colouring judgment on colour
- Materials: Tactile ... Textile ... Texting
disability
My Honours and PhD in Design were both concerned with designing for people with disabilities. Here are a few publications ...
- Designing desirability in an augmentative and alternative communication device
- PhD Thesis - Some problems of designing for augmentative and alternative communication users: an enquiry through practical design activity
- Human augmentation: transference of design approaches from designing for sports to designing for disability
- Australians with disabilities: transport disadvantage and disability
About me
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Professor Jonathon Allen
I'm head of The Academy - an interdisciplinary program for high performing students focussing on ethical leadership, community engagement, global citizenship, and creative and critical thinking, at Western Sydney University, Australia.
Contact me
Address
Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia
Phone
+61 2 4570 1305