Designs don’t just have utilitarian or aesthetic functions they can also have economic, social and political ones. Here Emma Curtis, of the Design Museum, discusses examples of designs that are driven by social responsibility.

Design Essentials: are you sitting comfortably? - for iPod/iPhone

Protest, provocation and social responsibility: Gerrit Rietveld’s Crate Chair

Theo Zamenopoulos, of the OU design faculty, offers a glimpse into the ideological and historical context of design ideas and principles. With Emma Curtis, curator of the Design Museum, and Nathaniel Hepburn, curator of the Mascalls Art Gallery, Theo looks at the key ideas that emerged as the driving force behind design using specific examples from the history of chair design. This material forms part of The Open University course T217 Design Essentials.

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Design Essentials: are you sitting comfortably? - for iPod/iPhone