Dr Anke Jakob

Kingston School of Art
Department of 3D Design
School of Design

Senior Lecturer

[email protected]

ORCID

About

I am an educator, researcher and practitioner with a continued interest in, and commitment to, human-centred design for wellbeing, health, social innovation and sustainability.

A textile designer by background, my work and research are interdisciplinary by nature with special expertise and experience in sensory design and designing therapeutic environments. I am interested in exploring the value of material, light and digital technology in this context, and how optimisation of sensory experiences through design can positively impact our wellbeing.

I am an experienced research leader currently focusing particularly on design for dementia care environments. In this context, I led a major AHRC-funded project as principal investigator, embarked on several research funding bids in collaboration with other academic institutions and partners, and authored/co-authored several publications on this subject.

I currently teach on the Sustainable Design master course at Kingston School of Art, leading the modules Design for Social Innovation and Creative Futures. Apart from teaching I am also the Academic Liaison Officer for KSA's collaborative partnership with the British Academy of Jewellery (BAJ) who run a KU-validated BA course for Jewellery Design and Production.

Alongside academic engagements, I co-directed an architecture and design practice for 10 years and worked in textile industry before embarking on interdisciplinary projects and research.

Qualifications

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
PhD Design (Bath Spa University)
MA Textile Design (Central St Martins College of Art & Design, UAL)
Diplom (Master) Textile and Fashion Design (Burg Giebichenstein - University of Art & Design Halle, Germany)

Domains

My teaching practice is committed to pedagogy of the highest level. In my position as a senior lecturer for design within the 3D Department, I have contributed across all levels in terms of teaching, assessments, and evaluations. I embrace interdisciplinary and collaborative working, and approach teaching with empathy and an open mind.

I currently teach on the Sustainable Design and Product & Furniture Design masters courses across all modules supporting the students in their learning through the delivery of workshop-based learning activities, lectures, tutorials, and formative and summative feedback, in particular for following modules:

Design for Social Innovation DE7502 (Module leader) - Design for Social Innovation is the emerging mode of design practice and theory in which Design Thinking is applied to social and societal challenges. Students are introduced to human-centred design research and research methods (including ethnographic design, participatory design), and develop design outcomes based on their research.

Creative Futures DE7301 (Module leader) – This module seeks to enable students to develop an informed approach and clear focus to their future careers as creative practitioners. The first half of the module is dedicated to the Practical Project with students working in interdisciplinary groups across both courses developing projects according to specific live briefs. Here, I co-deliver the Design for Health project, focusing on designing solutions that support and potentially improve people's physical and mental health. The second half of the module centres on developing a detailed proposal for the Major Project that students work on in TB3.

The Major Project DE7302 – During this module students develop their capstone project consolidating the knowledge gained in earlier modules. Informed and supported by prior learning, students produce a body of self-initiated work addressing a range of topics related to sustainability in the broadest sense, demonstrating originality and critical analysis.

My experience at PhD level includes supervising, examining and interviewing candidates focusing on practice-based research in design. I welcome MRes and PhD students who are interested in undertaking research in areas of sensory design, design for health and wellbeing, therapeutic environments and innovative spaces, social innovation, sustainability, and textile and surface design. However, through my experience in developing research methodologies and delivering research outputs, I believe I can support students within a wide range of design research.

Qualifications

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Courses taught

Broadly interested in sensory design and design for therapeutic environments, my current practice-based research centres on designing for dementia care in particular, investigating the design of sensory enhanced environments and the facilitation of multi-sensory enrichment benefiting people living with dementia their carers (see image gallery below). Collaborating with experts from health science and care for older people, I led the AHRC-funded, interdisciplinary research project "Multi-sensory Environments in dementia care: the role of design" as Principal Investigator.

Research Through Design Group – Sensory rooms
Case study – Improving the design of multi-sensory environments for people living with dementia

Recently, I have become increasingly interested in revisiting experimental digital textiles and advanced material technology to inform sensory design solutions and exploring their potential for design for dementia.

I welcome PhD/ MA by Research applications in the areas listed below. Apart from my expertise, I believe I can be of help to any research student in design through my experience in developing research methodologies and delivering research outputs. I embrace trans-and interdisciplinary and collaborative working, and approach research supervision with empathy and an open mind.