Temes de Disseny

Print ISSN: 2604-9155
Online ISSN: 2604-6032

A DESIGN RESEARCH JOURNAL by ELISAVA BARCELONA SCHOOL OF DESIGN AND ENGINEERING

Temes de Disseny was created in 1986 as a channel for communication and reflection among students, professionals and researchers involved in the culture of design. 

It is now an indexed, peer-reviewed, diamond open-access and multilingual design research journal. It addresses current and future social, environmental, cultural, technological and economic challenges for design and engineering, with scientific rigor along with appealing graphics, which are both the core of Elisava’s publications. The publication has the purpose to strengthen design as a research discipline that merits attaining the same value as any other discipline to become an area and a field of knowledge. A special emphasis has been placed in including research through design due to its great potential as an integrating agent amongst disciplines. 

The journal welcomes scientific contributions by local and international researchers who would like to share their theoretical or practical work in relation to (but not limited to) the following design disciplines and approaches: product design, graphic design and communication, design engineering, interactive experiences design, spatial design (preferably not Architecture), design for sustainability, materials design, social design, service design, design anthropology, design history, food design, design for health, design philosophy. Temes de Disseny offers two paths for publishing: 

  • Regular edition (online): a permanent open call welcoming contributions related to all aspects of design.
  • Special issues (online and printed): biennial open calls linked to specific topics, guest-edited by renowned international researchers. 

Announcements

2026 Special Issue - Call for Papers

2025-02-13

Design Practices Transitioning Towards Embracing Systemic Worldviews

This special issue of Temes de Disseny responds to the urgent need for design approaches that address the complexities of sustainable transitions. It explores how design can support these transitions by adopting frameworks that account for the dynamic, multi-scale, multi-species and cross-disciplinary challenges inherent in transforming complex socio-ecological and socio-technical systems. Drawing on principles from transition design and recognising the agency of diverse forms of intelligence (i.e. ecological, human, computational), this issue focuses on the role of design in fostering systemic change.

Temes de Disseny welcomes a diverse range of contributions from all fields of design, and the arts that explore new, life-centered design perspectives embracing the plurality of all life forms. We are particularly interested in contributions that present theoretical insights, practice-based research, and experimental approaches, embracing a plurality of perspectives in design, especially focusing on:

  • Multilevel perspective on sustainable transitions
  • Knowledge systems
  • Develop place-based transitions
  • Service systems and policies (as enablers or blockers)
  • Participatory Approaches
  • Design Practices

 

This issue will be published on Summer 2026, and the Guest Editors will be:

  • Laurene Vaughan, PhD – RMIT University
  • Marzia Mortati, PhD – Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano
  • Isabel Ordóñez, PhD – Elisava, Barcelona School of Design and Engineering (UVic-UCC)

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Download here the Call for Papers PDF with additional information.

Read the Special Issues Guidelines here.

Submit your proposal at the journal’s website, under TdD2026 section.

 

Deadline for full papers: (6 June) extended until 23 June 2025.

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Current issue

In Press

The "In press" section includes articles that have been reviewed and accepted for publication but are awaiting to be assigned to a specific and definitive issue of Temes de Disseny regular edition. The objective is to make the research results available as soon as possible. The articles will be eventually assigned and transferred to a specific and definitive issue of Temes the Disseny.

The works published here are definitive and citable: they have a functional DOI which can be used for referencing. There may be minor differences in format and metadata between the "In press" version of an article and its version published in a specific issue, such as information regarding the number, pagination, and publication date.

State of the Art Papers

Oikos, sensemaking and the role of design: A historicist look at contemporary design practice

Joan Vellvé, César Martín-Gómez

Original Papers

Pascual Canós Cotolí: The role of the designer as a driving force behind the Spanish ceramic industry in the 20th century

Patricia Rodrigo Franco, Beatriz García Prósper

Case Studies

Fashion Folies: Redesigning the mythical temporality of Parisian Department Stores

Alex S. Ollero, Rodrigo Delso Gutiérrez
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A DESIGN RESEARCH JOURNAL by ELISAVA BARCELONA SCHOOL OF DESIGN AND ENGINEERING (UVic-UCC)