Event contact Alison Honnor

The success or failure of new products depends upon many often competing demands. These range from market conditions, availability of technology, psychology of user acceptance to the fundamental rationales behind why a particular product or technology exists in the first instance.

Through a number of short case studies based on both commercial commissions and research funded experience this presentation aims to illustrate and communicate the different roles and values, gaps and bridges associated with creative, three dimensional design practice when it is part of the development mix and importantly, in a university setting. The work is part of an ongoing enquiry that aims to develop a theoretical model to supports better understandings of university based design practice.

Heath Reed is an Industrial Designer and Design Researcher embedded within Sheffield Hallam Universities commercially focused product design consultancy, Design Futures and the Art and Design Research CentresLab4living initiative. He graduated with a first class honours degree in ID in 1999 and subsequently undertook a Master's Degree in Design (Sustainability). Working for over 15 years in these fields he has developed expert knowledge of product design services and processes applied to new product development underpinned by design research and works across sectors as diverse as healthcare devices and assistive technologies to furniture and robotics, from concept to design for manufacture.

For details of other seminars in this series please see here.