The Design Archives were represented at a symposium on design resources and research organized by the Design History Workshop Japan. At the invitation of Professor Iguchi Toshino of Saitama University, the work of the University of Brighton Design Archives was presented alongside that of the Musashino Art University Design Archives; the Tanaka Ikko Archive at the DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion; and with a discussion on intellectual property rights by artist Sachiko Kodama. A lively debate with researchers in the audience addressed issues relating to access to resources, the ways that research can be promoted, and the impact of digital environments for both catalogues and content.

We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to establish connections with colleagues in Japan. Longer term, we hope our collection descriptions may be connected too, for within the Design Archives a significant body of material relating to Japanese designers can be found in the files and poster collection of the Icograda Archive. A selection of the 148 Japanese posters held at Brighton was displayed in 2011 as part of the Design Archives’ exhibition Japanese Posters from the 60s and 70s. The posters have recently been uploaded to the Design Archives online catalogue.

Design History Workshop Japan

http://dhwj.org/en/contents-e/symposium/

Japanese Posters from the 60s and 70s

https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/brightondesignarchives/2011/06/09/japanese-posters-from-the-1960s-and-70s/

Design Archives Catalogue

http://microsites.archiveshub.ac.uk/brighton/searchHome

For more on connecting design archives around the world read about our Design Exchange project with RMIT, Melbourne:

https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/brightondesignarchives/2015/05/05/design-exchange/