Head of Department: Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts, August 2007 to August 2015 Design, Design Management, Design Futures, Design Strategy, Design and Branding, Design Policy, Design Thinking, New Product Development
Martyn is Head of Department of Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts at Lancaster University. His research interests explore the strategic approaches designers use to consider the future, in particular the ability of designers to envision potential social, cultural, technological and economic futures. As a trained product designer, his research activities centre on design futures, trends and forecasting on which he has presented widely.
He is currently a lead investigator for Design For Europe which will develop the European Design Innovation Platform over 3 years and aims to accelerate design-driven innovation in order to boost innovation, growth and job creation across the EU. He is also Principal Investigator for the AHRC funded (£768k) Design Routes which explores the role of design in developing and revitalising culturally significant designs, products and practices in conjunction with Leeds University.
Martyn was also co-investigator upon Design 2020, an AHRC funded project looking at potential futures for the UK design industry. He has secured and supervised a number of government-funded knowledge transfer initiatives within the area of design and new product development. With extensive experience of leading undergraduate and postgraduate design curricula, Martyn is external examiner at a number of UK institutions and have acted as an academic advisor for curriculum development both nationally and internationally.
Located Making focuses on purposeful goods whose design, production and use are strongly related to the heritage, culture or geography of place. In this short film we explain the development of a practical framework for unlocking the potential of cultural heritage by design.
Call for Case Study Submissions
Holroyd, A., Cassidy, T., Evans, M., Gifford, E & Walker, S (2015)
Showcasing the diversity of Irish & UK creative enterprises and practices
6th Steering Committee Meeting and Consortium Meeting - Copenhagen 24-25 March 2015
Lancaster China Catalyst Programme Businesses meet masters Students on the MSc International Innovation program to develop International R&D projects
Come along to our fully funded Services in the City (Open Data) Design Jam on Tuesday 3rd of June 2014
We are building an international team, with hubs in both the UK and China and are seeking to recruit a Design and Innovation Manager to embed design driven innovation approaches in the Lancaster China Catalyst Programme (LCCP)
Following the announcement of €3.8m EU funding to build the European Design Innovation Platform, the consortium starts work and plans its launch event in Brussels
Kevin Roberts will inspire and inform an audience of creative and digital small and medium businesses
Design Council announced that it will be leading a consortium to deliver the European Design Innovation Platform (EDIP) with Lancaster University as key partner
Forty-five arts and humanities practitioners, academics and funding partners gathered at a N8 event in Lancaster to participate in a workshop that explored how the imagination is being used to influence social and cultural development in the North
N8 'New Thinking from the North' network holds its fourth workshop in Lancaster
N8 'New Thinking from the North' network holds its third workshop in Manchester
The Work Foundation welcomes back the DeEP Consortium
N8 'New Thinking from the North' network holds its second workshop in Sheffield
N8 'New Thinking from the North' network holds its first workshop in Durham
Lancaster University welcomes consortium members to progress work on DeEP European design innovation policy evaluation tool
First meeting between all six funded projects in the European Design Innovation Initiative (EDII) identified potential synergies between projects
Intensive workshop withThe Work Foundation and ImaginationLancaster lays groundwork for DeEP Design Innovation Policy taxonomy
The DeEP project has launched itself onto social media
DeEP Consortium members debate the European design innovation policy eco-system at intense 2-day workshop
DeEP host a high-level design innovation policy workshop in London attended by key UK stakeholders
Unlocking the potential of traditional material cultures and ensuring they are relevant and meaningful to contemporary needs
Stimulating reinvention and influencing economic growth across the North
Creating a blueprint for to map and analyse their design innovation ecosystems
Lancaster University is embarking on a new initiative to leverage its global reach for the benefit of UK businesses
Envisioning the future of culturally significant designs, products and practices
Evaluating and Sharing Design Innovation Policies for European Growth
AHRC Design Innovation Development Award
The effective use of design for sustainability in maker enterprises