Design and Creative Industries

Researchers from DSC’s design and creative industries domain work across all sectors in society, transforming the world and co-producing new knowledge in collaboration with our industry partners.

DSC has particular strengths in researching the relationships between culture and technology, the role of design in digital and automation and visa versa, sound design, social innovation and speculative hybrid futures. We also have a world-leading materials lab with garment design led by textiles experts who are researching the unique capabilities of materials innovation and future fashion with a focus on sustainability, safety and innovation. We also have a strong nonfiction lab research group and a sound and screen cultures research group.

Research Centres and Groups

Centre of Digital Ecosystems (CODE)

CODE works with partners across industry, government, and the cultural sector to create digital systems and experiences that improve how people live, learn, and connect. Our researchers combine design-led inquiry with rigorous evaluation to produce outcomes that are compelling, documented, and translatable into evidence our partners can use.

Centre of Material Design and Exchange (CO:MADE)

The Centre of Material and Design Exchange (CO:MADE) is RMIT’s collaborative Research Centre advancing material and design innovation to transform fashion and textile systems and support more just and sustainable futures.

Contemporary Art and Social Transformation

CAST produces art research that critically engages with social and public spheres with a particular interest in how artistic practices intersect with issues of equity, access and democracy. CAST is a hub for critical thinking, collaboration and the exchange of ideas, knowledge dissemination, practice-led artistic research and socially-engaged art practice. CAST engages on local and international levels by collaborating with practitioners, communities, industry, and government partners.

Creative Agency

The Creative Agency Research Lab is a thriving hub for multi-disciplinary studies of creativity across the life-course. We are an open community of researchers, educators, creative practitioners, and industry professionals who share a commitment to creativity as a catalyst for social change in response to global challenges. Our members are actively developing new ways to address the most pressing issues of our times, including climate change, socio-economic inequality, the mental health crisis, and rapid advances in science and technology.

non/fictionLab

The non/fictionLab is an interdisciplinary research ecology bringing together creative experimentation, critical practice and social engagement: we aim to reimagine and transform contemporary realities through language, mediations, poetics and collaborations. The non/fictionLab is an interdisciplinary Research Group in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University. Closely aligned with the discipline of Writing and Publishing, the Lab focuses on research into writing and allied creative arts and design practices.

News

New toolkit helps cultural organisations turn audience insights into impact

A new toolkit developed through the Museum Digital Social Futures project is helping museums, galleries and other cultural organisations make better use of the audience insights they already collect every day.

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A semester of global research: showcasing HDR excellence across three continents

From Ho Chi Minh City to Barcelona to Melbourne, DSC’s HDR Symposia spent the first half of 2026 engaging with RMIT’s global community of Higher Degree by Research (HDR) candidates through formal PhD examinations, milestone reviews and work in progress presentations.

RMIT leaves its mark on Melbourne Design Week 2026

Melbourne Design Week has drawn to a close for 2026, with record numbers of visitors attending 350+ events across Greater Melbourne.

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PhD and Masters by Research

Find out more about studying a research degree at RMIT and our current graduate scholarships

Research partnerships

RMIT builds partnerships to have a positive impact in the world. We form multi-disciplinary teams with government, community, industry and researchers to deliver innovative solutions.

Ethics and integrity

Learn more about how the Research Ethics and Integrity team facilitate ethical and excellent research at RMIT

CO:MADE image credit: Dress rehearsal of 'Urban Flâneur: Fashion Reimagines the City', co-produced by Dr Tarryn Handcock and Dr Tassia Joannides.

CAST image credit: Clare McCracken and Aslam Akram, Substation Mural, 2012. Commissioned by Department of Transport and RMIT University. Jackson Hill, Diggers Rest and Holden Road, Melbourne. Photo care of the Sunbury Electrification Project.

Design and Creative Industries