Thinking about 'Impact'

The TVAD Research Group has recently met to consider the impact of the work we do, both academic and non-academic, informed by the 'Joint statement on Impact by HEFCE, RCUK and UUK.

The TVAD research group is committed to fostering research that has public benefit, and to extending its impact across academic and non-academic constituencies through activities and outputs aimed at a range of people. We address academic audiences with our monthly research seminar, TVAD Talks, and our conferences and symposia, such as Texts/Cities: From the 1970s to the Present (which has been filmed and will be made available via YouTube/Vimeo/SoundCloud etc.), as well as through our scholarly books and articles in highly-rated journals. However, several of our book projects interest a much wider readership. Dr Barbara Brownie’s PhD yielded three books, Type Image (Gingko Press, 2011), Type Object (Artpower 2014) and Transforming Type (Bloomsbury, forthcoming), all intended for a readership of art and design practitioners. Dr Grace Lees-Maffei’s edited book Made in Italy: Rethinking a Century of Italian Design (Bloomsbury, 2013) has been promoted via Monocle radio and magazine, thereby helping the book to connect with the design cognoscenti, and we have plans for tie-ins with the Estorick Collection, London and the Istituto Marangoni, as well as an Italian edition of the book (currently under consideration at Mondadori). Lees-Maffei’s Iconic Designs: 50 Stories about 50 Things (Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2014) is aimed at a general as well as an undergraduate readership. We expect a different fan base for Dr Ivan J. Phillips’ planned book on Doctor Who (under consideration at I.B. Tauris), while Dr Mark Broughton’s new book Brideshead Revisited (BFI, 2014) has the potential for a public book launch and screening at BFI Southbank and/or a related event at the National Theatre. 

Monocle radio's design programme Section D interviewed Dr Grace Lees-Maffei about her co-edited book, Made in Italy: Rethinking a Century of Italian Design - http://monocle.com/radio/shows/section-d/115/

Dr Pat Simpson initiated a project with the National Trust at Shaw's Corner, home of George Bernard Shaw - http://heritagehub.herts.ac.uk/projects/george-bernard-shaw.htm

Members of the TVAD research group have forged excellent links with museums and other cultural institutions regionally, nationally and internationally. Dr Pat Simpson initiated a project with the NationalTrust-owned Shaw's Corner and she is involved with the Heritage Hub's Connected Communities and new towns work. In addition, her research related to the Darwin Museum is informing the development of a documentary film about Trofim Lysenko being made by British filmmaker Ben Lewis. As an extension to Dr Steven Adams’ work on concepts of Utopia in Revolutionary  France, he is also involved with colleagues in the Heritage Hub and Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation on a project entitled 'Radical Letchworth', exploring ways in which radical politics of the past impact upon the cultural life of Letchworth citizens today. Kerry Purcell has curated a major exhibition, ‘Alexey Brodovitch & Richard Avedon - Astonish Me’ for the Museum of Design, Zurich (2015), and with plans to travel to MOMA, New York City, USA, and other major museums, with an accompanying catalogue/book. And, Dr Marta Rabikowska’s Directorship of the established community short film festival, Edge of the City, is increasingly informed by her related research. Carolyn Lefley was Artist in Residence at Timespan Heritage Museum and Art Centre in Scotland last summer. During her residency ran community workshops and kept a project blog, written for a diverse audience. Dr Phillips plans collaborative work with the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park and/or Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation.

Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich, venue for Kerry Purcell's 2015 exhibition 'Alexey Brodovitch & Richard Avedon - Astonish Me'

Dr Marta Rabikowska is Director of 'Edge of the City', a community short film festival - http://edgeofthecity.wix.com/filmfestival

TVAD researchers are increasingly using online platforms to disseminate our work to a broad audience. Dr Brownie’s Guardian blog directly informs, and is informed by, her academic research into the relationship between clothes and the body, as well as the research of other TVAD members. It averages 8-10,000 views per post, with a peak of 73,000 views and has led to a number of invitations and proposals for non-academic outputs. A textual introduction and a selection of images from Lees-Maffei’s research monograph Design at Home: Domestic Advice Books in Britain and the USA since1945 (Routledge, 2014) will be featured in the AHRC Image Gallery. Lees-Maffei plans a funded exhibition of domestic advice books, and she tweets @graceleesmaffei and @JoDesignHistory. Michael Heilgemeir’s practice extends from photography to the production of an Arts Council funded magazine with a digital dimension. Dr Dr Daniel Marques Sampaio 'Image of Revolution' project will be disseminated through a blog, and the TVAD research group’s blog is at http://tvad-uh.blogspot.co.uk/.

Dr Grace Lees-Maffei,

TVAD Research Group. 

Photographer and TVAD researcher, Michael Heilgemeir’s magazine Misery Connoisseur, published with support from the Arts Council England - http://www.miseryconnoisseur.co.uk

Dr Barbara Brownie write the 'Costume and Culture' blog for the Guardian - http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/costume-and-culture