Design Materials and Making for Social Change: From Materials We Explore to Materials We Wear

Design Materials and Making for Social Change spans the two interconnected worlds of the material and the social, at different scales and in different contexts, and explores the value of the knowledge, skills and methods that emerge when design researchers work directly with materials and hold making central to their practice.

Through the social entanglements of addressing material impacts, the contributors to this edited volume examine homelessness, diaspora, migration, the erosion of craft skills and communities, dignity in work and family life, the impacts of colonialism, climate crisis, education, mental health and the shifting complexities in collaborating with and across diverse disciplines and stakeholders. This book celebrates the role of materials and making in design research by demonstrating the diverse and complex interplay between disciplines and the cultures it enables, when in search of alternative futures.

Design Materials and Making for Social Change will be of interest to scholars in materials design, textile design, product design, fashion design, maker culture, systemic design, social design, design for sustainability and circular design.

Rebecca Earley is UAL Chair of Circular Design Futures and Co-Founder of Centre for Circular Design at Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London.

Rosie Hornbuckle is Senior Researcher in Complex Design Collaborations at Centre for Circular Design at Chelsea College of Arts and Associate at the Service Futures Design Research Lab at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London.