collection high-lights

We have recently received a very interesting donation of a Fisholow Plasticrate from one of our regular researchers, Roger Walker. This yellow crate was constructed for Fisher and Ludlow Ltd. out of polyethylene on The Projectile & Engineering Company Ltd. (Peco) 60 MR injection moulding machine...

Decarbonisation is a theme in our current exhibition, Reuse . Carbon footprints are a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released over the full life cycle of a product. They are notoriously difficult to assess because there are many factors that need to be considered...

The concept of Design for Disassembly was first introduced in the early 1990s. It advocates for the environment by recommending products be designed in such a way that they can be easily taken apart at the end of their useful life, with parts then either reused or recycled. In practice this could...

The Merle Norman cosmetics box bag features in the current MoDiP Reuse exhibition as part of the Another Life case, which looks at other uses for packaging in which some products are offered for sale. AIBDC : 009526 Image credit: MoDiP The Merle Norman brand of cosmetics is not familiar in the UK...

Architecture and industrial design are two separate fields of study, but they do share similarities. In essence, both architects and industrial designers are problem solvers and focus on the way people live, but through the lens of different scales and perspectives. Many trained and/or practising...

In 1995 Dyson launched the Recyclone, the first vacuum cleaner to be made entirely of recycled plastics (refer image below). The DC02 Recyclone Image credit: https://www.dyson.co.uk/james-dyson/invention-a-life/07 Initially the cleaners were made from waste materials of the DC01 and DC02...

The collection of household plastics for recycling through the UK’s Local Authority bin collection service began exactly twenty years ago with the introduction of the 2003 Household Waste Recycling Act. Looking back, it now seems crazy that up until that point, we had all been throwing our plastics...

In the late 1950s, furniture manufacturer Hille approached Robin Day with the idea of producing a one-piece chair shell to add to their range. Up to that point, there were a limited number of materials that could achieve such a design, such as pressed metal, structural ply or glass-reinforced...

Since the introduction of the first disposable hot drinks cups by American company DART in the mid 20th century, the consumer has become used to the concept of single-use. Dart Manufacturing Company was established in 1937 in Mason, Michigan, USA making plastic key cases, steel tape measures and ID...

AIBDC : 008605 Image credit: MoDiP This bright and sunny, yellow coloured frisbee is in an amazing condition given that it is over 70 years old. That is largely due to the fact that it has been unused: 1600 of these Arcuate Vanes were discovered in a warehouse in 1977, where this example is believed...

Given that it is Nordic Day tomorrow, Thursday 23rd March 2023, I thought it would be apt for this blog to celebrate a lovely piece of Danish design from the MoDiP collections. AIBDC : 008850 and 008849 Image credit: https://www.modip.ac.uk/collections?columbo%5B0%5D=person%3A14306 The Margrethe...

This week we have been busy taking down our last exhibition, Endurance , and installing our new exhibition, Reuse . We have been joined by one of our volunteers, MA Fine Art student Sourabh Sharma, seen in the images below emptying the cases and wrapping objects for their return to storage. Although...