Design
This is a flourishing sector in North East England. However, the concept of design is being taken much further, by being incorporated into many aspects of business, public services and life in the region.
North East England has been recognised as a UK flagship for good design. It will host the first Design Biennial in 2007 in partnership with the Design Council. This will be known as Design of the Times, or Dott07.
Further developments in this field will be promoted by Design Centre North, being created in Gateshead. This will take a lead on design in the whole of the North of England. It will, for example, bring together new developments in science and technology with design.
Design excellence in the region has been long established by the work of Northumbria University’s Design School. Internationally famous graduates include Jonathan Ive, Vice-President of Industrial Design at Apple Computing (who led the team that created the I-Pod), Peter Horbury, Executive Director of Design with Ford in America, and fashion designer Scott Henshall.
The Design Innovation Education Centre is the development hub for the emerging discipline of service design and innovation. Digital Factory, meanwhile, offers industry training, technology support and rapid prototyping to assist with product development.
This company is developing unique technology for measuring pupil dilation in the eye in response to certain stimuli. ANL has worked with Northumbria University’s Centre for Design Research and the Microelectronics Industrial Centre to create and manufacture a commercial version of the technology. A factory in Cramlington, Northumberland, has been fitted out for the purpose. The product is being made for sale in the UK healthcare sector and then the European market, where it will have a range of applications in medical diagnostics.
Design Fact Sheet [pdf]
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