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designarchives.bsky.social
University of Brighton Design Archives
@designarchives.bsky.social
2.5K followers 470 following 140 posts
Award-winning archive of British & international industrial & communication design
designarchives@brighton.ac.uk
https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/brightondesignarchives/
https://linktr.ee/design_archives
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designarchives.bsky.social
Theo Crosby: 100 Lives

An exhibition about designer Theo Crosby (1925-1994) is on now through 11 December at Osh Gallery, London
@pentagramdesign.bsky.social
More about the exhibition here: www.oshgallerylondon.com

And more about the Crosby archive here: blogs.brighton.ac.uk/brightondesi...
architectural drawings of a chair designed by Crosby
November 10, 2025 at 4:02 PM
designarchives.bsky.social
Cronmatch Colour Scale, from the Willy de Majo Archive.
WDM/2/4/10
A grid of 4 x 6 diamonds each with a different colour and number inside, inbetween each diamond is the Cronmatch logo. To the right of the grid is text about the Cronmatch Colour Scale.
November 5, 2025 at 1:59 PM
designarchives.bsky.social
Design, November 1955
Cover designed by FHK Henrion
@designcouncil.bsky.social archive
Cream magazine cover has a vertical blue rectangle on the left side that overlaps an olive green square in the middle. Inside the coloured blocks is an image of a light and a large desk with lots of knobs on it Design is written at the top in olive green.
November 3, 2025 at 11:07 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
The Discipline of Design in Cold War Brazil: Professionalization, Modernization and Authoritarianism (1947-1985)

A talk by Dr Livia Rezende, Senior Lecturer in Design History & Theory at UNSW Sydney, part of the IOTA II series, more info available here:
blogs.brighton.ac.uk/brightondesi...
Colour photograph of the back of a cream-coloured car with stickers on the back. Original image caption is: 'GK 0406' the ethanol-powered car in the world, designed in Brazil.’ Source: O Desempenho Da Secretaria de Tecnologia Industrial, Período 1974/1978. Ministério da Indústria e Comércio, Brasília, Jan 1979, p34.
October 27, 2025 at 11:00 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
Women In Print: 150 Years of Liberty Textiles

At the William Morris Gallery through June 2026, including this portrait of textile designer Jacqueline Groag from the @designcouncil.bsky.social archive
More information here: www.wmgallery.org.uk/event/women-...

DCA/30/1/POR/G/50/1
black and white photograph of a woman with light hair and a fringe. She is resting her chin on top a closed fist with a cigarette in the other hand.
October 21, 2025 at 8:36 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
Publishing your Research Workshop
Led by Dr Livia Rezende, Senior Lecturer in Design History & Theory at UNSW Sydney
Thurs 23 October, 12-1pm, more info here:
blogs.brighton.ac.uk/brightondesi...

Image ID: Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎, Three Figures Reading, Freer Gallery of Art Collection
October 16, 2025 at 11:20 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
Exploring Sustainability in Archival Conservation

Postgraduate student Hollie-Sophia Stoner conducted her student placement at the Design Archives, where she explored how archives care for the past and the present - read her reflections on our site here
blogs.brighton.ac.uk/brightondesi...
image of unsorted photographs waiting to be repackaged
October 14, 2025 at 10:02 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
For this month's @exploreyourarchive.bsky.social theme #EYAMonsters, these illustrations by Dorrit Dekk for a mural for the Trust Houses Forte Edinburgh, now known as the Balmoral Hotel

Dorrit Dekk Archive
DDK/4
colourful illustrations of mythological or medieval creatures like a sphinx with wings, beaked armadillo, a winged goat, a dragon, and so on
October 9, 2025 at 9:07 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
For a glimpse into university life in the late 19th century, this complaint letter from May 26 1893 from the Brighton School of Art archive. Needless to say campus life in Brighton has come a long way since then!
A typed letter that reads, 'May 26 1893, Dear Sir, I have if you will remember complained more than once of the great nuisance caused by the childrens playing on the school steps, & throwing rubbish, dead cats & fish etc. down the front area: the caretaker has just called my attention again to the state of the area; there are at present six heads of mack[erel] with a quantity of other fish refuse on the ground together with a rotten herring on one of the window panes, & a quantity of entrails hanging from the brickwork of the other win[dow]. Cannot this state of things, constantly re curring be put an end to? or would it be advisable [to] write to the Watch Committee about the same. Yours faithfully
October 6, 2025 at 11:20 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
Design, October 1955
Symbol for The Design Centre by Hans Schleger
@designcouncil.bsky.social archive
blue journal cover with the word Design written at the top in black, with a large white diamond in the middle. Inside the white diamond is an arrow pointing right made out of black lines, and inside that is the shape of an eye, in red.
October 1, 2025 at 10:46 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
A look a some of the material taken out for a special visit from the attendees of the Dress and Textiles Specialists (DATS) Conference 2025 including material from the FHK Henrion, Alison Settle, Dorrit Dekk, HA Rothholz, Vokins, and @designcouncil.bsky.social archives
metal mid-century sewing machine designed by FHK Henrion Table with archival material laid out including photo albums, advertisements, books, draft artwork, textiles, newspaper clippings, photographs and magazines two pages of a book of textile samples. Each swatch is a rectangle and has an ID number of some sort printed or stamped next to it. On the left-hand page are black, green, red and yellow plaid fabric swatches, on the right are multicoloured striped swatches A selection of Council of Industrial Design / Design Council award winning fabrics from 1958 and 1960 including (top to bottom) 'Adam' furnishing fabric designed by Keith Vaughn which is olive green, black and white, a cream lace curtain, and 4 colourways - black, yellow, blue and pink - of the print Le Bosquet designed by Shirley Craven
September 26, 2025 at 8:41 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
There's still time to see 'VE Day 80: Lisburn, War, and Victory, 1939-45' at the Lisburn Museum, Irish Linen Centre featuring this picture of the Farm & Factory exhibition from the Festival of Britain, 1951
www.lisburnmuseum.com/events/ve-da...

@designcouncil.bsky.social Archive
DCA-30-1-FOB-FF-2
September 24, 2025 at 9:13 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
How They Fly, written and illustrated by James Gardner, 1939.
A gift from our new archive assistant to join the James Gardner archive.
Book cover with an illustration of a moth, plane and duck flying in the sky, surrounded by clouds. The title is written in yellow and black at the top.
September 23, 2025 at 2:05 PM
designarchives.bsky.social
This portrait of textile designer Jacqueline Groag (1903-1986) features in the Belvedere Museum's exhibition Radical! Women*Artists and Modernism 1910-1950, on through 16 October - more info here: www.belvedere.at/en/radical

@DesignCouncil archive
ID: DCA/30/1/POR/G/50/1
black and white photo of a woman resting her chin on top her hand, looking into the camera with a lit cigarette in her other hand.
September 16, 2025 at 1:47 PM
designarchives.bsky.social
#DYK that @uniofbrighton.bsky.social started out as the Brighton School of Art in 1859? The BSA archive contains early 20thC prospectuses, so for #EYAEducation, the 1936-7 prospectus & list of courses for some insight into arts education at the time @exploreyourarchive.bsky.social
red and white vertically striped cover with repeating illustrations of a horses Contents of Prospectus including general information, courses, and subjects of study.
September 15, 2025 at 9:18 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
Modernist architect and designer Erno Goldfinger was born #OTD in 1902. Here is the interior of 2 Willow Road, his self-designed residence in Hampstead, now part of the @nationaltrust.org.uk which was completed in 1939.

Image IDs: DCA/30/1/INT/MI/4 & 9
@designcouncil.bsky.social archive
black and white photo of a modernist room. To the left is a wall of windows, visible is a chair, some lamps, artwork on the wall, as well as parquet wood floors and a large rug black and white photo of room. Visible is a bookshelf, desk and chair, as well as an upholstered arm chair, larger dining table and fireplace.
September 11, 2025 at 10:57 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
It’s day one of the World Design Congress hosted by @designcouncil.bsky.social and @wdo.org at @barbican.bsky.social

Find the Design Archives in the Host Hub with a small table of original material in addition to other documentation about both ICSID/WDO & the Design Council. #designforplanet
Small table with a small selection of archival material including the journal Design and other books Photo of exhibition panels, a table and computer, and a tv screen with a slideshow. Both the panels and the slideshow are from the World Design Org and contain images of material from their archive Photograph of a yellow World Design Congress banner and the ceiling of the Barbican which is made up of different coloured lit squares.
September 9, 2025 at 10:23 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
Design, September 1955
Cover by FHK Henrion
@designcouncil.bsky.social archive
Red cover of a magazine with an image of a railroad track. Superimposed on top is a black image of an old fashioned train car
September 8, 2025 at 8:52 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
The Design Archives' own Sirpa Kutilainen @sirps.bsky.social & Jen Grasso @brightonphotobooth.bsky.social are speaking at the Archives and Records Association 2025 Conference @araconference.bsky.social in Bristol next week. Read more about their research here:
blogs.brighton.ac.uk/brightondesi...
37 black and white photographs tiled, photos range in subject from packaging to products like scissors, cups, toilets, cameras and other types of product design. All images © Design Council Archive
August 21, 2025 at 8:36 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
Taken out for a researcher today are the architectural plans for the Grand Parade building from 1962 for Brighton College of Art & Crafts that is now our home as well as home to the School of Art and Media at @uniofbrighton.bsky.social, from the Brighton School of Art Archive.
black ink architectural drawing of the ground floor of a building and its courtyard architectural drawing of the mezzanine level of a building
August 19, 2025 at 8:24 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
Peter Kneebone (1923-1991) was heavily involved in founding of Icograda (now the ICoD) & its activities. For
#EYAHumour a few of Kneebone's amusing illustrations from 'How to Interview' (1975) ©British Institute of Management from the Icograda Archive, ICO/7/1/11
@exploreyourarchive.bsky.social
Light blue cover of a small book titled How to Interview. The title is printed in white, the authors S Mackenzie Davey and P McDonnell as well as 'Illustrated by Peter Kneebone' are printed in black, and there are two white squares below the title, side-by-side, each with a line drawing of a neutral/unhappy face black ink line drawing of a seated person facing another, the second has a black-ink spill for a face as the former is 'spewing' criticism at them. The image accompanies a small paragraph titled 'Don't Criticise' Black ink line drawing of a figure with a pick-ax trying to dig themselves out of a hole. The illustration accompanies a paragraph titled 'energy and perseverance'
August 14, 2025 at 11:17 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
Part of History Day North, @jisc.bsky.social's ArchivesHub shared resources from the many catalogues they host, including ours, on the theme 'Railway 200' that celebrates 200 years of rail history. More here:
blog.archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/2025/07/16/f...

Poster from the ICOGRADA archive
ICO/3/14/166
Poster for the Isle of Wight is approximately 2/3 an orange-yellow shade to represent sand and is in the shape of a sandcastle with the words 'Isle of Wight;in the middle in dark blue. In the background or top third of the poster is a lighthouse and 4 white rock formations in a deep blue sea which are known as the Needles.
August 13, 2025 at 1:14 PM
designarchives.bsky.social
Design, August 1955
@designcouncil.bsky.social archive
bright pink cover with a photograph of a curtain or texile with a bamboo-like print
August 11, 2025 at 11:48 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
Before Teams, Zoom or even Skype, there was the Bell Telephone Co picture-phone. This early prototype was the precursor to the more famous model unveiled at the New York World's Fair in 1964.

Featured in the journal Design, December 1957
@DesignCouncil Archive
ID: 57-3351
black and white photograph of a man holding a telephone receiver to his ear while looking at a box with a miniature screen showing a live feed of the caller on the other end.
July 23, 2025 at 11:57 AM
designarchives.bsky.social
Before emojis was the Zeichensystem or 'Sign System'- pictograms designed by Otl Aicher to easily communicate w/ international visitors during the Munich 1972 Olympics & which influenced the DOT pictograms developed by the US Dept of Transportation
Icograda/ICOD Archive
ICO/3/13/120
#WorldEmojiDay
grey poster with many white squares with simple black symbols/illustrations inside such as a telephone, a person, a tea cup, a shower, and so on.
July 17, 2025 at 8:33 AM