A colour photograph showing two children playing with 'Those Things': a self assembly fibreboard for children, winner of Council of Industrial Design Award in 1968. Designed by Peter Murdoch and manufactured by Perspective Designs Ltd. Taken from the Design Council Archive housed at the University of Brighton Design Archives.

‘Those Things: self-assembly fibreboard for children’. CoID Design Awards (1968). Designer: Peter Murdoch. Manufacturer: Perspective Designs Ltd. Catalogue number: DCA-30-7-1960-3-1.

This major collection charts the extensive activities of the Council of Industrial Design, founded in 1944, through to its re-designation as the Design Council in 1972 and its restructuring in 1994. It includes material relating to all spheres of the Council’s activities, particularly design promotion in industry, national and overseas exhibitions, publications, education and the administration of design competitions and awards.

A black and white photograph showing a room at Number 2 Willow Road in Hampstead, London (1939). Designer and architect: Ernő Goldfinger DPLG. Taken from the Design Council Archive housed at the University of Brighton Design Archives.

‘No 2 Willow Road’. Hampstead, London (1939). Designer and architect: Ernő Goldfinger D.P.L.G. Catalogue number: DCA-30-1-INT-MI-9

The collection of photographs, posters, publications and ephemera reflects many aspects of social and cultural change throughout the twentieth century. The collection includes the Council’s picture library, a comprehensive photographic survey of products and interiors from Britain and abroad and of landmark exhibitions such as Britain Can Make It (1946) and the Festival of Britain (1951). Over three thousand photographs from the Design Council Archive, alongside images from the Design Council Slide Collection at Manchester Metropolitan University, can be searched on-line at VADS. The Council’s library, comprising books and journals it published, as well as those collected for reference by Council staff,  is fully searchable on the University’s Library system.

 

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A colour photograph showing Fiesta melamime plates, winner of Duke of Edinburgh's Prize for Elegant Design in 1960. Designed by Ronald E Brookes and manufactured by Brookes and Adams Ltd. Take from the Design Council Archive housed at the University of Brighton Design Archives.

‘Fiesta melamime plates’. Duke of Edinburgh’s Prize for Elegant Design (1960). Designer: Ronald E Brookes. Manufacturer: Brookes and Adams Ltd. Catalogue number: DCA-30-7-1960-3-1.

A black and white photograph of the Dome of Discovery at the Festival of Britain (1951) at night. Architect: Ralph Tubbs. Taken from the Design Council Archive housed at the University of Brighton Design Archives.

‘Dome of Discovery’. Festival of Britain (1951). Architect: Ralph Tubbs. Catalogue number: DCA-30-1-FOB-DD-18.