The Design History Forum was established in 1983 during a caucus on design historyat the College Art Association meeting in Philadelphia. Intending to connect academic researchers and teachers of design, Lloyd Engelbrecht and Herb Gottfreid were instrumental in founding the Forum. The first Design History Forum Newsletter, published in August of 1984, described the origin of the group, stating “about sixty persons attended including college teachers, administrators, graduate students, museum curators, editors, designers, and advertising agency personnel. The panel, chaired by Lloyd C. Engelbrecht, Univ. Cincinnati, included Barbara Young, Sheffield City Polytechnic, Sheffield, England; Herbert Gottfried, Iowa State University; Ann Lee Morgan, St. James Press, Chicago; and Victor Margolin, Univ. Illinois at Chicago Circle.” 1 As those interested in the study of design were spread across many academic disciplines, venues and institutions, the Design History Forum was founded as a vehicle for solidifying the field, exchanging ideas, and creating a discourse.
In Politics of the Artificial Victor Margolin notes key people in the early development of the DHF to be Lloyd Engelbrecht, Herbert Gottfried, Barbara Young, Ann Morgan, Clayton Lee, Ward Stanley, John Montague, Joe Ansell, Richard Martin and himself. In tandem with this development, the journal Design Issues was launched by the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois, Chicago in 1984. Between 1984 and 1987 the CAA meetings involved panel discussions and presentation topics including “studies in modern design,” “advanced technology and design history,” “teaching design history,” “the state of design history,” “design and industry,” and yearly business meeting to discuss the future of the group.
At the 1987 annual meeting at the CAA in Boston the group decided to petition the College Art Association for affiliate status. This meeting also saw the change in the group’s name following the suggestion of Herb Gottfried who wrote, “to encourage broader representation in the membership, we should change our name to: ‘Design Forum: History, Theory and Criticism.’”2 Those present at the 1987 business meeting in Boston included, Victor Margolin, John Montague, Clive Dilnot, John Heskett, Gelrge Sadek, Sigrid Weltge, and Lloyd Engelbrecht. In addition to changing the group’s name, they also planned a one-day symposium for the following year titled “After Modernism: Art, Architecture, Design.”
The spring 1988 CAA Newsletter announced the “Design Forum” as a new CAA affiliated society. In the fall 1989 CAA Newsletter the “Design Forum: History, Criticism andTheory (DF)” was listed in the Directory of CAA Affiliated Societies and read “founded in 1983. Membership 200. Annual Dues: $10. Chair: Clayton Lee, Department of Design, U.C.L.A., 405 Hilgard, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1615. Purpose: To nurture and encourage the study of design history, criticism and theory; and to provide through its various events, better communication among its members, the academic community, and the public at large. DF holds an annual meeting in conjunction with the CAA Annual Conference and a symposium on design. DF publishes a newsletter twice a year.”
Archival information related to the foundation and early years of the DSF are available. Inquiries should be addressed to Email editor@designstudiesforum.com.
1(Design History Forum Newsletter. 1984. as reprinted from the CAA Newsletter, Vol. 8, No. 2, Summer 1983)
2 Herb Gottfried in a letter to Victor Margolin April 29, 1987