The designer collective as a social system of professional learning and development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7577/formakademisk.6086Keywords:
Designer collectives, community of practice, learning, design practice, professional identityAbstract
This study examines designer collectives as social systems of professional learning and development. Based on a qualitative single case study of a contemporary Danish designer collective, the study analyses seven core members’ experiences of participation through the lens of Wenger’s framework of communities of practice. Eight distinct themes of participation are identified and described as accounts of Wenger’s modes of belonging as engagement, imagination, and alignment. These findings provide rich contextualized descriptions of experiences of participation, illustrating how designer collectives are conducive to both practice development and identity formation. Contributions to design practice and design education research are discussed concludingly, highlighting the role of designer collectives in fostering designers’ transformative learning beyond formal educational structures.
References
Bang, A., & Eriksen, M. (2019). Experiments all the way in programmatic design research. Artifact: Journal of Design Practice, 6(1–2), 8.1–8.20. https://doi.org/10.1386/art_00008_1
Bergman, B. J., & McMullen, J. S. (2022). Helping entrepreneurs help themselves: A review and relational research agenda on entrepreneurial support organizations. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 46(3), 688–728. https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587211028736
Bourdieu, P. (1993). The field of cultural production: Essays on art and literature (R. Johnson, Ed.). Columbia University Press.
Brinkmann, S., & Kvale, S. (2018). Doing interviews (2nd ed.). Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529716665
Brodshaug, I., & Reitan, J. B. (2021). Networking for strengthening design literacy. FormAkademisk, 14(4), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.7577/formakademisk.4641
Brosens, L., Raes, A., Octavia, J. R., & Emmanouil, M. (2023). How future proof is design education? A systematic review. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 33, 663–683. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-022-09743-4
Buchanan, R. (1985). Declaration by design: Rhetoric, argument, and demonstration in design practice. Design Issues, 2(1), 4–22. https://doi.org/10.2307/1511524
Cook, K. S., & Hahn, M. (2021). Social exchange theory: Current status and future directions. In S. Abrutyn & K. McCaffree (Eds.), Theoretical sociology: The future of a disciplinary foundation (pp. 179–205). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003141372-14
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed., International student ed.). Sage.
Dell’Era, C., Altuna, N., Landoni, P., & Verganti, R. (2018). Radical circles: The contribution of small groups of individuals challenging the dominant visions and transforming entire industries. International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, 12(2), 152–172. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTIP.2018.096102
Docherty, C., Fairburn, S., & McGillivray, D. (2019). Models of collective working: Insights on the Scottish context. The Design Journal, 22(sup1), 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2019.1595864
Edwards, C. (2016). Grapus 100. In C. Edwards (Ed.), The Bloomsbury encyclopedia of design (pp. 110–111). Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781472596161-BED-G052b
Farrell, M. P. (2001). Collaborative circles: Friendship dynamics and creative work. University of Chicago Press.
Flego, C., & Tei, A. (2024). Creative and cultural hub sustainability: From theory to practice. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2024.2372332
Illeris, K. (2014). Transformative learning and identity. Journal of Transformative Education, 12(2), 148–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344614548423
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice Hall.
Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2009). InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (2nd ed.). Sage.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815355
Lee, T. (2017). Too much fun: Contemporary aesthetic theory and design. Design and Culture, 9(3), 301–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/17547075.2017.1370669
Malpass, M. (2012). Contextualizing critical design: Towards a taxonomy of critical practice in product design (Doctoral dissertation, Nottingham Trent University). IRep, Nottingham Trent University. https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/280/
Meyer, M. W., & Norman, D. (2020). Changing design education for the 21st century. She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation, 6(1), 13–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sheji.2019.12.002
Nedergaard, N. (2018). Understanding structures of collaborative design innovation (CDI) management practices: A strategic brand alignment approach. Artifact: Journal of Design Practice, 5(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.14434/artifact.v5i1.25839
Nielsen, L. M., Reitan, J. B., & Hassel, R. M. (2023). Nettverk for formgiving, kunst og håndverk i universitets- og høgskolesektoren (KHUH): 10 år med praksisfellesskap i utvikling. FormAkademisk, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.7577/formakademisk.4966
Poynor, R. (2009, December 31). Utopian image: Politics and posters. Design Observer. https://designobserver.com/utopian-image-politics-and-posters/
Price, R. A. (2022). A review of resilience in higher education: Toward the emerging concept of designer resilience. Studies in Higher Education, 48(1), 83–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2022.2112027
Ramakers, R., & Bakker, G. (Eds.). (1998). Droog Design: Spirit of the nineties. 010 Publishers.
Thamrin, D., Wardani, L. K., Sitindjak, R. H. I., & Natadjaja, L. (2019). Experiential learning through community co-design in interior design pedagogy. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 38(2), 461–477. https://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12208
Torres, A. M. (2002). Marketing networks as a form of strategic alliance among craft enterprises. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 7(3), 229–243. https://doi.org/10.1002/nvsm.182
Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. State University of New York Press.
Verganti, R. (2016). Overcrowded: Designing meaningful products in a world awash with ideas. MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262035361.001.0001
Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology (G. Roth & C. Wittich, Eds.; E. Fischoff, H. Gerth, A. M. Henderson, F. Kolegar, C. W. Mills, T. Parsons, M. Rheinstein, G. Roth, E. Shils, & C. Wittich, Trans.). University of California Press. (Original work published 1922).
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511803932
Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization, 7(2), 225–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/135050840072002
Wenger, E., & Snyder, W. M. (2000). Communities of practice: The organizational frontier. Harvard Business Review, 78(1), 139–145.
Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods (4th ed.). Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412961288
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Nicky Nedergaard
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
- The author(s) must manage their economic reproduction rights to any third party.
- The journal makes no financial or other compensation for submissions, unless a separate agreement regarding this matter has been made with the author(s).
- The journal is obliged to archive the manuscript (including metadata) in its originally published digital form for at least a suitable amount of time in which the manuscript can be accessed via a long-term archive for digital material, such as in the Norwegian universities’ institutional archives within the framework of the NORA partnership.
The material will be published OpenAccess with a Creative Commons 4.0 License which allows anyone to read, share and adapt the content, even commercially under the licence terms:
This work needs to be appropriately attributed/credited, a link must be provided to the CC-BY 4.0 licence, and changes made need to be indicated in a reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests that the licensor endorses you or your use.
Cited by
