Art and design: history, theory and practice research
Explore our work across six areas of expertise
We've a long tradition of art and design at Portsmouth. Since 1870, the school of Art and Design has investigated the relationship between practice and research from a cultural context, using any concern in society and culture as a springboard for our work.
Our research goes beyond individual disciplines, applying research skills and methods across a range of issues. But at the heart of our projects is social awareness, and a commitment to positioning practice-based work critically in a social, cultural and historical context.
We're exploring image making, visual communication and design, and thanks to the outputs of our practice-led research, we're solving problems through active experimentation, and by analysing images and visual processes.
Our supervisors come from backgrounds in practice and theory, and are well-positioned to support research programmes. We offer PhD by practice as an option, and encourage qualitative or practice-led research, using skills such as historical research, semiotic analysis, user research, action research, iterative process and reflective practice.
Interested in a PhD in Art and Design?
Browse our postgraduate research degrees—including PhDs and MPhils—and find a supervisor at our Art and Design postgraduate research degrees page.
Our research groups
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This: Photography Research Group
Our photography research covers a wide range of topics, determined by the interests of the artist, their subject matter, and their working methods. Its scope is diverse, but is broadly concerned with the photographic image in its expanded context.
Explore our areas of expertise
Find out more about the facilities and research methods that shape our research in our areas of expertise. Learn more about our recent projects, the academic and industrial partners we collaborate with, and the major funders who fund our work.
Fashion and textiles
Our fashion and textiles research is addressing important issues around fashion and textile design and its associated industries.
History and theory of art and design
We're exploring the historical production and consumption of art and design in wider social, cultural, political and economic contexts, with a particular emphasis on curation and exhibitions.
Graphic and communication design
Our research is looking at the history of design, and ethnographic studies in relation to design, design usability, legibility studies, design knowledge, and epistemology.
Visual and Material Culture
Concepts such as taste are the product of cultural and social forces – and through our visual and material culture research, we're working to uncover the concepts at work.
Illustration and Art of the Book
We're exploring the historical production and consumption of art and design in wider social, cultural, political and economic contexts, with a particular emphasis on curation and exhibitions.
Photography
Our research looks at the portrait studio as a psychic space, how photography can be used to propose theoretical considerations, and how subjectivity is defined through photography.
