Design Principles & Practices International Award for Excellence

The Design Principles & Practices Journal Collection offers an annual International Award for Excellence for new research or thinking that has been recognized to be outstanding by members of the Design Principles & Practices Research Network.

Award Winner for Volume 18

Diagrammatics: Design Intelligence System, Methodology, and Strategy in Design Research and Science

The term Design Intelligence System, Methodology, and Strategy indicates a new digital modality of architecturally constructed and visualized diagrammatic research framework and environment. Aiming to facilitate, articulate, and support any kind of documentary, scientific, and creative investigative practice with large amounts of data in a formalized way, DI system, methodology, and strategy have been proposed for consideration to be included into the fields of Design Research and Design Science. It has been argued that they can offer a specific response to various research requirements and make a contribution at the level of methodology, instrumentation, and research strategy. Beside the control and guidance of data-operations in line with research subjects and questions, the system preserves design research procedures and dynamics of problem-solving and decision-making as formal inscription, or information-architecture, enabling one to visualize maps and lines of inference and connectivity between different information and arguments, and to acknowledge main issues in delivering a proof and carrying out valid reasoning. Regarding the fact that, alongside extensive use as a means of artistic exploration, this kind of digital framework, formalization, and system has not been substantially questioned as a means of reliable and functional scientific research in the targeted Design Research and Design Science fields, the paper will address these issues through comments on the system’s attributes, arguments, relevance, and contributions, and analysis of the performed test-studies, their development stages, and the system’s determinants, which have led to its final eleven criteria-form. The field of Diagrammatics has been proposed as a broader context due to the Design Intelligence System’s central diagrammatic properties and modes of operation.

Past Award Winners

Volume 17

Fashion Design Education: A Study of Fashion Design Educational Systems of Italy and China

Xiaozhu Lin, The International Journal of Design Education, Volume 17, Issue 1, pp.199–212


Volume 16

Crispi: A Model for Designing Toys That Facilitate Immersive Play Experiences

Jesper Falck Legaard, The International Journal of Designed Objects, Volume 16, Issue 2, pp.75–87


Volume 15

Motion Design Teaching Strategy: Between Theory, Practice, Technology, and Distance Learning

Vincenzo Maselli, and Giulia Panadisi, Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal—Annual Review, Volume 15, Issue 1, pp.19–31


Volume 14

Sounding the Fuzzy Edge between Research Insights, Design Hints, and Design Concepts

Margherita Pillan, Laura Varisco, and Milica Pavlovic, The International Journal of Design Management and Professional Practice, Volume 14, Issue 4, pp.23–39


Volume 13

Alternatives to the Life of the Submissive: Working Collaboratively to Create the Conditions for the Development of Multiple Alternatives

Barbara Predan, The International Journal of Design in Society, Volume 13, Issue 4, pp.49–59


Volume 12

Pure Form: The Interior of the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC

Stephanie Travis, The International Journal of Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design, Volume 12, Issue 2, pp.1–14


Volume 11

Reconceiving Creativity in Design Studio Education

Lisa Zamberlan and Stephanie Wilson, The International Journal of Design Education, Volume 11, Issue 3, pp.1–16


Volume 10

A Catalyst for Change: Understanding Characteristics of Citizen-driven Placemaking Endeavors Across Diverse Communities

Normoyle, Catherine, and Cotter Christian, Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal—Annual Review, Volume 10, Issue 1, pp.41–58


Volume 8

Design Collaborations: The Good, the Bad, and the Unthinkable

Joe McCullagh and Jane McFadyen, Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal—Annual Review, Volume 8, Issue 1, pp.17–29


Volume 7

Drawing Conclusions: A Student’s Introduction to the Realities of Their Designs

Chad Schwartz, Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal—Annual Review, Volume 7, Issue 1, pp.9–28


Volume 6

Design Dramaturgy: A Case Study in New Media, Humor and Artificial Intelligence

Michael M. Meany and Tom Clark, Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal—Annual Review, Volume 6, Issue 1, pp.59–71


Volume 5

Framing Futures for Visual Communication Design Research

Ian Gwilt and Jennifer Williams, Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal—Annual Review, Volume 5, Issue 5, pp.81–98


Volume 4

Prefab-Interiority: Design Principles for a Sensuous Prefab Practice

Marie Frier, Anna Marie Fisker, and Poul Henning Kirkegaard, Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal—Annual Review, Volume 4, Issue 2, pp.415–426


Volume 3

Building a ‘box’: Discourses of School Design in the UK

Olga den Besten, John Horton, Peter Kraftl, and Peter Adey, Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal—Annual Review , Volume 3, Issue 5, pp.95–104