Brian Dixon

Background

About Brian Dixon

Brian is Head of Belfast School of Art at Ulster University in Belfast. Until August 2022, he was Ulster University's Interim Research Director Art and Design (UoA32). Recent research experience has seen him act as co-investigator on the AHRC-funded Design Innovation and Land Assets project, which fed into a broader arts and humanities based exploration of landscape decision-making in the UK. In 2020, he was awarded Ulster University's ECR, Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Distinguished Research Fellowship. Prior to joining the Belfast School of Art, he held academic positions in Central Saint Martins and the Glasgow School of Art. At GSA, he led studio teaching across a portfolio of three masters programmes in the areas of Service Design, Environmental Design and Citizenship. During the same period, he delivered a series of design research projects across the Highland and Islands region, focusing on SME-support, public sector innovation and digital health. He has published widely, with his work appearing in major journals such as Design Studies, Design Issues, CoDesign and Design Management. His first book, Dewey and Design, written for Springer-Nature’s Design Research Foundations series, explores the relationship between John Dewey’s philosophy and design research. His second book appears in Routledge's Design Research for Change Series, entitled Design, Philosophy and Making Things Happen. Forthcoming is Philosophy through Design to appear in Bloomsbury's Design in Dark Times series (2026). He sits on the editoral boards of CoDesign and DRS's new publication Designing. He is a senior fellow of the HEA. He acts a peer reviewer for the AHRC, the Leverhulme Trust, Bloomsbury, Routledge, Design Issues and CoDesign among many others. He external examines and evaluates across the UK, Ireland and wider Europe. He received his PhD from Central Saint Martins, investigating how digital maps could be designed to support urban tourists’ and walkers’ situation awareness. His research interests now span: the potential role of philosophy in the context of practice; the positioning of the philosophy and theory within the context of contemporary design research methodologies; and potential role of design in the context of community based decision-making for policy.