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Dr Yoko Akama

Position	Lecturer
School / Work Unit	Media and Communication
Contact Details	+(61 3) 9925 2805 yoko.akama@rmit.edu.au
Location	Building: 9 Level: 5 Room: 7G City Campus
Portfolio	Design & Social Context

yoko akama

On this page:

Key activities
Qualifications
Professional interests
Research and scholarship
Research supervision
Accomplishments/achievements
Personal website

Key activities

Yoko is a postgraduate lecturer in communication design in the School of Media and Communication. She supervises several research students and leads several research projects. She is also a member of the MCD studio, which is a research cluster that explores practice-based investigations across fields of media, communication and design.

Qualifications

Ph.D. Communication Studies, RMIT University 2008

BA (Hons) Visual Communication, Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, UK, 1996

Professional interests

Design research collaborations include Victorian Eco Innovation Lab, Australian Graphic Design Association, Australian CRC in Interaction Design and Information Environments at London College of Communication, University of the Arts, UK

Research and Scholarship

Yoko’s research interest focuses on human-centred design practices of exploring design artefacts, language and processes, and their role as ‘scaffolds’ in facilitating the communication and engagement among people.

Her research blog can be accessed at: http://raws.adc.rmit.edu.au/~e48618 /blog/

Her PhD thesis can be downloaded from here: http://cat.lib.rmit.edu.au/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=568345

Her research paper abstracts are listed at: http://rmit.academia.edu/YokoAkama

Current funded research projects

Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre

Birds of a feather: emboldening community spirit and connectedness for bushfire resilience - Chief Investigator

The aim of the project is to strengthen networks within communities to enable more agile and resilient management of bushfires through facilitated design interventions. It explores how various design ‘scaffolds’ can initiate engagement, prompt thinking and discussion, facilitate awareness and reveal tacit knowledge among the community related to bushfire planning. The project is in partnership with the Southern Otways Landcare Network and Otway Health. http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=tf3nrmdmr6tm1

British Council Researcher Award

Aylesbury Kaleidoscope project, London, UK - Chief Investigator

The Aylesbury Estate is a council housing commission in South East London. The project aims to preserve the oral histories, transitions and sense of place of its residents as the Estate goes through a process of regeneration. Various design methods were explored to facilitate engagement and documentation of the stories. This project was undertaken with researchers from the Information Environments, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London during Yoko’s research residency. http://tellingyourstory.wordpress.com/

Design Research Institute – Geoplaced Knowledge

Exploring the diversity of graphic design Chief Investigator

This project aims to capture the diversity of individuals, practices and contexts that comprise Australian graphic design as a complement to the image portrayed by more visible, client-focused work. The aim is to develop and evaluate research tools and processes that capture designer’s perceptions of their individual and creative identity, revealing the breadth, distinctiveness and vibrancy of the Australian graphic design community to the public. This research is co-funded by Swinburne University of Technology and supported by AGDA. http://blogs.agda.com.au/suite7/view/post/australian-graphic-design-making-its-diversity-visible

ACID (Australasian CRC for Interaction Design)

Loupe - Chief Investigator

Loupe explores the visualisation of electronic spaces such as blogs, wikis, email lists, forums, etc that are used for Knowledge Management. It seeks new ways to view and manipulate large amounts of information so that relationships, trends and tacit social networks can be seen and used to create and retain knowledge.

Publications, conference presentations and exhibitions (2006 - 2009)

Journal Articles (refereed)

Akama, Y & Barnes, C, 2009, ‘Where is our diversity? Questions of visibility and representation in Australian graphic design’, Visual:Design:Scholarship, vol. 4, no. 1 pp. 29-40.

Vaughan, L & Akama, Y, 2009, ‘Visualisation as a method for knowledge discovery’, Studies in Material Thinking, vol. 3 (November 2009), pp. 1-14.

Akama, Y & Haslem, N, 2007, ‘Reflecting on Fashion City - learning from collaborative experimental design’, Visual:Design:Scholarship, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 39-47.

Akama, Y 2007, ‘Designers’ agency: human-centred design in communication design practice’, Design Principles and Practices: An international Journal, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 1-6

Akama, Y, Cooper, R, Vaughan, L, Viller, S, Simpson, M & Yuille, J 2007, ‘Show and tell: Accessing and communication implicit knowledge through artefacts, Artifact Journal, vol. 1, no. 3, pp.172-181.

Vaughan, L, Viller, S, Simpson, MR, Akama, Y, Yuille, J & Cooper, R 2007, ‘Design plus People’, Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 131-138.

Akama, Y 2006, ‘Dear John: Design as catalyst for action’, Antithesis, vol. 16, pp. 112-123

Conference papers published in proceedings

Akama, Y 2009, ‘Warts-and-all: the real practice of service design’, First Nordic Conference on Service Design and Service Innovation, Oslo, Norway, Nov 24 - 26, 2009.

Akama, Y & Haslem, N, 2009, ‘Design that keeps designing: designing for participation’, ACUADS conference, Queensland College of Art Griffith University Brisbane, Australia, Sept 30 – Oct 2, 2009.

Vaughan, L & Akama, Y, 2009, ‘Engaging with Ku˜: from abstraction to meaning through the practice of noticing’, Architecture and Phenomenology 2 conference, Kyoto Seika University, Japan, June 26 – 30, 2009.

Akama, Y, 2008, ‘Politics makes strange bedfellows: addressing the ‘messy’ power dynamics in design practice’, Undisciplined – Design Research Society Conference, Sheffield, UK, July 16-19, 2008.

Akama, Y, 2007, ‘Kaleidoscope of roles: valuing the agencies of the audience, client and the designer’, Include 2007 conference, Designing with people, Royal College of Art, London, UK, April 2-4, 2007.

Vaughan, L. Viller, S. Simpson, M. Akama, Y. Cooper, R. & Yuille, J. 2007, ‘Design: Ethnography’, International Conference on Design Principles and Practices, Imperial College, London, Jan 4-7, 2007.

Vaughan , L. Akama, Y, 2006, ‘Designing a Design-based Consulting Methodology’, Wonderground, Design Research Society Annual Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, Nov 1-4, 2006.

Book chapter (refereed)

Vaughan, L & Akama, Y, 2010, ‘24 Hours Noticing: Designing our encounters with place’, in GEO-Placed Knowledges and Design, De-sign Design, IAPL (due to be published)

Workshops (refereed)

Simpson, M., Viller, S., Vaughan , L., Cooper, R., Akama, Y. & Yuille, J. 2006, The Action of Interaction, OZCHI 06, Sydney, Nov 20-24, 2006.

Guest Lectures

2009: Information Environments Unit, University of the Arts, UK

2009: London College of Communication, University of the Arts, UK

2009: MA Design for Communication, University of Westminster, UK

2009: Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

2007: London College of Communication, University of the Arts, UK

Exhibitions

Vaughan, L., Triggs, T. & Akama, Y. (curators), 2008, New Views 2: Conversations and Dialogues in Graphic Design, The Well Gallery, University of the Arts, London, July 9-20, the Museum of Melbourne, Melbourne, November 15 - February 20, 2009. (www.newviews.co.uk)

Vaughan, L., Akama, Y, Deverell, K, Dunbar, M, Ivanka, T, Haslem, N, Rahman, N, Glickfeld, E, 2006, Fashion City, Federation Square, conjunction with the Melbourne Fashion Festival, Melbourne, Feb 26 – March 4, 2006.

Research supervision

Yoko currently supervises Masters and PhD students who are all undertaking practice-led research in communication design.

Accomplishments/achievements

2009: Ian Permezel Memorial Award to present a research paper at the Conference on Service Design and Service Innovation, Oslo, Norway, 2009.

2008: British Council Design Research Award funded by the Prime Minister’s Initiative, to undertake research projects with the Information Environment research unit at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, UK.

Personal website

Yoko’s professional design practice (www.akamadesign.com) and knowledge centres on designing, managing and creatively thinking of ways to engage the public on social and environmental issues. Much of her experience is working with Non-Profit Organisations in the UK and Australia ranging from human rights, education, community engagement, sustainability and political activism, which has given her a broad, grounded understanding of this sector.

Her design practice integrates research methods and processes that facilitates how clients and designers consider the people they are designing for and with. This approach to projects enables clarity and effectiveness of decision-making, communication and management to ensure meaningful engagements for all concerned.