Monographs, archives, and networks: representing designer relationships

The connection, visualization and interpretation of historical data inform the representation of design’s past, its digital present, and the possibilities of the future. This article introduces ideas about the arrangement and understanding of design historical information and documentation that has evolved through the critical stewardship of the University of Brighton Design Archives and its programme of digitization projects over a 20-year period. It argues that researchers need to understand better the inherently monographic form of many archives, the relationship between analogue and digital artefacts and environments, and the implications of this evolving and inter-connected landscape for design research and research across the humanities