Design & Technology looks at the process of design and the role of designers, the design process, factors that influence design, ethical/sustainable design, the history of design and the use of technology in the design process. Practical components [obviously not included here] form integral parts of this study.

This page accesses information on all the above areas. It includes portals and sites for specific resources, courses, programs and more.

If you are aware of other suitable areas or quality resources - tutorials, links, courses, data, help us improve this page by notifying the webmasters.

Design & Designers

Includes the work of designers, innovation, preferred futures.

• Art, Design and Visual Thinking
  ‘Welcome to the Art, Design and Visual thinking textbook. You can access specific sections of it by scrolling through the table of contents on the left, or you can just start at the beginning by clicking on the button below’.
• Bad Human Factors Design
  ‘A scrapbook of illustrated examples of things that are hard to use because they do not follow human factors principles’.
• BEOutThere !
  ‘A multidisciplinary program of undergraduate electives offered by the Faculty of Built Environment at the University of NSW in which students collaborate with community partners on projects that address social challenges’.
• Sustainable Design Program
  US General Services Administration. Links to multiple topics.

Design Processes

• Australian Designers at Work
  ‘Meet designers, learn how they work’. Select designers in areas including jewellery, interior design, industrial design, digital media. Powerhouse Museum [Sydney].
• Design Addict
  ‘Reach the worldwide design community through the greatest design links directory on the web. Already 4 500+ links ! Browse the Design Index, an outstanding tool to discover historical and contemporary design’. News, links, calendar, forum, more.

Ethical & Responsible Design

• Aesthetics and Ethics in Everyday Life
  ‘An Essay by Marvin Bartel’. Under the heading of Art in Everyday Life.
• Ethics in Design
  Article which covers all relevant material. Includes references, including web links.
• ‘Nanoethics’ : The ELSI of 21st Century Bioethics ?
  From Blog.Bioethics.net. One of the ethical inputs to this top class blog. This one poses an interesting query and provides some fascinating facts.
• STS Wiki
  ‘Science and technology studies examines the influence of society on science and technology, the influence of science and technology on society. An experiment in the public production of free, open-source knowledge concerning STS’. Probably geared for a higher education level but at least should provide good up-to-date information.
• Universal Design Education Online
  ‘Supports educators, students in their teaching and study of universal design. Universal design is an approach to the design of all products and environments to be as usable as possible by as many people as possible regardless of age, ability, situation’.

General Sites

• Centre for Design [RMIT]
  ‘Promotes and demonstrates the role of design and innovation in achieving an environmentally sustainable future for Australia’. Check programs, publications.
• Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
  Visit the exhibitions, check the collection, use the education section, find National Design Awards, more.
• DATTA SA - Links
  Association and Resource links. Annotations for all links.
• DATTA Tasmania
  Competitions, Projects, D&T Theory [PDF downloads], Useful Links, Quick Share section, more.
• DATTA Vic - Resources
  Curriculum Resources, Reviews, Web Links, other resources, new resources, more.
• DATTA WA
  Select from options on the Home Page. These include resources, calendar, professional learning. CNC projects, more.
• Design Directory
• Design Institute of Australia
  ‘The Voice of Professional Design’. Information about design, events, services, networking, links, more.
• Design & Technology
  ‘The following resources have been developed to support Stage 5 Design & Technology’. Digital Education Revolution, Department of Education & Training, NSW.
• Design and Technology Online
  Information on areas including electronics and pneumatics.
• Design & Technology Teachers’ Association
  Western Australia. Subject information, links, information archive, conference information, display cabinets, Good Buys, more. Links to Resources are found here.
• F1 In Schools
  ‘Through the appeal of Formula One, F1 in Schools is engaging and inspiring young people, piquing their interest in engineering related careers, connecting students to industry and making learning relevant and fun !’
• Form
  ‘Form is the website of the long-running Swiss-German design magazine of the same . The website is available in both English and German. In early 2007 Form published its complete magazine archives online, for free and without the need for registration. These back issues can be found from the main menu item ‘Magazine’ / ‘form-Archive’, and they form a complete run of the magazine from 1957 until 2007’.
• How Do You Design ?
  ‘A Compendium of Models’. A free online ebook by an American designer.
• HSC Design & Technology Site [NSW]
  Topics, resources from Innovation to the impact on Australian society. Worth visiting.
• Industrial Technology & Design Teachers
  Queensland Association. News, curriculum links, information about the association, projects, materials, documents. Their Resources are particularly good.
• International Directory of Design
  Click on Search button for this area.
• Institute of Industrial Arts Technology Education [NSW]
  This page links to 2 sets of links and Professional Development. Members have access to Resources and downloads.
• Links for Learning
  Stage 5 Design & Technology. Design and Product Safety, Design Criteria, Designers, Enterprising Activity, Ethical and Responsible Design, Life Cycle Analysis, Production Processes, Trends in Technology Design. Digital Education Revolution, Department of Education & Training, NSW. Also has Stages 4 and 6.
• Links to Design and Technology Sites
  Briefly annotated links to site, some of which are already included here.
• Tech it Out [UK]
  Everything for Design Technology - Free for Everybody, Anywhere, Anytime. Two sections covering Knowledge and Projects. Knowledge section has 26 topics incorporating text, pictures, animations, websites. Projects section includes histories, pictures, websites, student work samples, animations, quizzes, planning, more.
  Highly Recommended !
• Technology Teachers
  ‘Everything for Design and Technology Education’.
• The Design Museum
  Education, research, Kid’s Activities, news, surveys, exhibitions, more.

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History of Design

Design over different periods of time, different cultures & regions, areas of design.

• Design History
  ‘An Interactive Timeline’.
• Design History Society Forum
  ‘A forum for the discussion of design historical issues, and the exchange of related information and reviews’.
• Design is History
  ‘This site was created as a teaching tool for young designers just beginning to explore graphic design and as a reference tool for all designers. It is supposed to provide brief overviews of a wide range of topics rather than an in-depth study of only a few’.
• Design Museum
  ‘Discover more about the designers, architects and technologies featured at the Design Museum in Design Library, our online research archive of modern and contemporary design’.
• Journal of Design History
  ‘Provides access to table of contents and abstracts of articles in issues from Volume 1 [1988] onwards. Abstracts articles in PDF format are provided from 1998 to 2004, with full text and abstracts available from 2005 onwards’ [Intute].
• The Design History Society
  ‘Works nationally and internationally to promote and support the study and understanding of design history’. Early tertiary level, but useful for teachers. Links section is extensive.
• JetsetModern
  Free e-magazine, published 6 times a year. Design, and reactions to the designs of the 1950s to the 1970s. Links page is extensive while articles included are varied.
• Retrolounge
  This is the ‘Design’ section of the Retrolounge site.
• Retrowow
  ‘Retrowow offers abroad introduction to design in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. It is a well-illustrated tour of various design classics of these eras, broken up thematically into sections’ [Intute].

Impact of Technology

Includes past, present & emerging technologies.

• Australia Innovates
  ‘An online guide to innovation in Australia’s industries’. Innovations over the last century [20th].
• BUBL : Impact of Technology
  Links to journals, information, discussions based on this topic. More suited to senior secondary and tertiary. However, could provide good background information for teachers.
• Great Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century
  ‘How many of the 20th century’s greatest engineering achievements will you use today ? A car ? Computer ? Telephone ? Explore our list of the top 20 achievements and learn how engineering shaped a century and changed the world’.
• Information Technology Impacts
  ‘Provides an overview of some of the most important ways in which IT is having an impact on people’. Roger Clarke, Australian National University.
• Lemelson Centre, Smithsonian Museum
  ‘For the Study of Inventions and Innovation’. Stories about inventions and their impact, video & audio, other resources, FAQs, newsletter, more.
• The Impact of Technology : Society
  Quicktime movie, suggested activities for use with it.
• Theory & Science
  ‘Peer-reviewed journal devoted to the discussion of theory, science and Social Change’.
• UNESCO Communication & Information
  Themes, Activities, Portals, Programs, information on the sector, resources more. You need to spend some time trawling through the site to get to all the gems of information. Senior Secondary, tertiary.

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