A new design research journal, Current, is set to launch this month at Icograda Design Week in Vancouver. The journal is produced by students at Vancouver’s Emily Carr University of Art + Design. It’s focused on illuminating the value of design.

“It’s about exposing the design process,” says assistant editor Brooke Allen, who teaches the class wherein students produce the journal annually. Highlighting the steps behind design fosters an appreciation for good design and what it contributes to society, she says.

The inaugural issue’s themes are branding and identity, human-centred design, sustainability and co-creation and co-design. It includes articles written by faculty, MAA students and undergraduate design students.

Faculty oversee and edit the publication while students in the “publication workshop” class are responsible for planning, designing, marketing and production. “I am extremely proud of the students and that it all came together really well and I’m excited to see the final version and I hope the design community is excited about it,” she says.

Allen expects Current to gain an audience with the design community, students, alumni and the broader public. She notes that academic design journals are absent from the Canadian landscape, and hopes Current can stake out a place beside renowned journals from Stanford and New York’s School of Visual Arts.

Current will also have an online presence with a blog, set to launch on April 7, and PDF versions of the journal.

Contact: Current, Emily Carr University of Art +Design