Justification of the scientific discipline «Design studies»

Abstract

Appeal to the study of design and determination of scientific discipline of design research, dictated by the need to comprehend the problems associated with changes in modern culture, which has entered the post-industrial era. The subordination of design to the general trend of transformation is revealed by the obvious multidirectional and multiscale processes both within the practice of design and in the process of its comprehension and theorising. The transformational processes taking place in design are the result of the general trend of civilisation development and are revealed by the polyphony of practice, expansion and blurring of the phenomenon boundaries, as well as institutionalisation of the scientific discipline. Design as an active participant in the processes occurring in society and culture is subject to structural and qualitative transformations. Developing design practice and a growing interest in the phenomenon of design by researchers from various fields of knowledge form new approaches to its study and justification and actualise a new discipline «Design studies». The growing interest to design on the part of humanitarian studies reflects the results of its influence on social life and proves its total character. The processes of such penetration we can observe everywhere in the public, professional and individual-personal spheres, as from a type of activity on design of communication design turns into a language of communication, performing the task of socio-cultural integrator of social interaction. The relevance of the study is due to the need to introduce the term design research as a new area including all aspects of design practice and design theory in the Russian-speaking space. The application of the comparative method allowed determining the research of design as a discipline in different contexts and noting the relevance of the inclusion of Russian-speaking scholars in the global processes of studying such a complex and transforming phenomenon as design. The main result of the study is the conclusion that design research appears to be a space that can be characterised as expanding and frangible. As a result of the inclusion of other disciplines in this space and the often frontier position of research, design research may well be considered interdisciplinary.