Professor Lorraine Gamman
Title
Professor of Design and Director of DAC (Design Against Crime)
College
Central Saint Martins
Email address
Tags
Researcher Research
Biography
Lorraine's first degree (BA) was in the field of cultural studies (at Middlesex University). She later completed an MA in Women’s Studies at the University of Kent in Canterbury with a film and cultural studies focus before enrolling to deliver a PhD on shoplifting at Middlesex in 1999. This included the oral history of a woman whose main income derived from shoplifting which in-turn engendered a focus and abiding interest in oral history and ethnographic research methods as well as a spin off book Gone Shopping: The Story of Shirley Pitts, Queen of Thieves (Penguin, 1997). This was reissued by Bloomsbury in 2012 with a new afterword and in 2012 Tiger Aspect bought an option to acquire the TV/Film rights for the book.She has always had an interest in design, gender and visual culture and this came to the fore when teaching contextual studies primarily to product, graphic, ceramic, innovation and industrial design students for over twenty-five years at Middlesex, Goldsmiths and Central Saint Martins. Indeed, she has written numerous books and articles that discuss the significance of design, gender and representation on diverse topics; for example, from soap powder packaging (2001) to gangster suits in the TV series The Sopranos for the Fashion in Film Festival (2011), such as article If Looks Could Kill.
She is a Professor of Design at Central Saint Martins and the Director of the award-winning Design Against Crime Research Centre (DACRC), which she founded in 1999. She is regarded as an expert in the way she has addressed social issues through actual design practice by interpreting offender techniques and delivering design against crime interventions. She has contributed to building both operational and innovative capacity of designers in the national and international context by developing socially responsive design methods that give agency to designers who wish to address real world issues via ‘socially responsive design’. Lorraine has co-catalysed and/or curated at least twenty national and international exhibitions, delivered design benchmarks and design resources and papers that advise others how best to design against crime, some co-authored with colleagues from the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science at University College London, with whom we have developed several research projects. From 2007 to 2011 she was appointed as a business advisor and member of the Home Office/Design Council’s ‘Design Technology Alliance’.
Since 2002 Lorraine has also served as Vice Chair of the professional body, the Designing Out Crime Association (DOCA). Additionally, she is a Visiting Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, where she has advised the Assistant Attorney General of New South Wales regarding the setting up of the Designing Out Crime Research Centre, and regularly visited Sydney (with Adam Thorpe) between 2009-2012 to contribute to live action research projects. She has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Design Academy, Seoul, who hosted a keynote presentation by her and Adam Thorpe in November 2012 and with whom DACRC are developing a research relationship.
During the last fourteen years, as well as delivering research, papers and outputs funded by various research councils, she has been able to co-create several national design challenge competition briefs for the Design Council, the Royal Society of Arts and also the Audi Design Foundation. Additionally, in partnership with designers from the school of Communication, Product and Spatial Design at Central Saint Martins, she has catalysed several anti-crime product ranges including ‘Stop Thief Chairs’ which developed iteratively through field-testing with Starbucks UK and have been purchased for the permanent collection and exhibited by MOMA, in New York. With the designers Adam Thorpe (and Joe Hunter) she has developed Karrysafe ‘anti theft bags’ and ‘M’ anti theft bike stands, that were delivered to market in partnership with Broxap in 2008. She has also made the case that crime is not carbon neutral (Armitage and Gamman, 2009) and argued that sustainability agendas need to include address to the significance of the negative consequences of crime.
Her work with the Design Against Crime Research Centre and also as Vice Chair of the Designing Out Crime Association (2002-13) has sought to contextualise crime issues through the lens of design. It does this by asking what society needs more of as well as what it needs less of (e.g. crime), whilst also making the case that ‘secure design should not look criminal’. She has delivered numerous socially responsive or social innovation designs for sustainability projects linked to her work with Adam Thorpe and the UAL DESIS Lab. Their DESIS projects argue amongst other things that by design, sociable cities can lead to safer cities.
Grants and awards
(Figures indicate amount awarded to UAL)
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Disseminating 'Design Thinking for Prison Industries' through Teaching Resources, Business Models and Training for Trainers, £79,838.10, (2017-2018)
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Design Thinking for Prison Industries: Exchanging design tools, methods and processes with prisons in London and Ahmedabad to build inmate resilience, £20,732.71, (2014-2015)
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Extending Empathy - A Network to Exchange Tools/Methodologies and Processes from Design, Performance and Restorative Justice, £36,192.17, (2014-2015)
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Arts and the Criminal Justice System: Expert Workshop, £4,800.17, (2014-2014)
- Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City, £15,112.51, (2011-2011)
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Bike Off 2 - Catalysing anti theft bike, bike parking and information design for the 21st century, £323,918.00, (2006-2008)
Research Outputs
Art/Design item
- Gamman L. A wry look at design & crime (2008)
- Gamman L, Willcocks M, Thorpe A, Thomas C, Wischusen J, Hansis G, Yuille P. Design Against Crime (2007)
- Thorpe A, Gamman L, Hunter J. Karrysafe Bags and Accessories Collection: Performance Design to Combat Crime (2002)
Article
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Makeright - Bags of Connection: Teaching Design Thinking and Making in Prison to Help Build Empathic and Resilient Communities (2018)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Building Resilience of Returning Citizens: Creative ways to survive prison and thrive outside without crime (2015)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Design for Democratic Crime Prevention (2014)
- Thorpe A, Gamman L. Walking with Park: Exploring the ‘reframing’ and integration of CPTED principles in neighbourhood regeneration in Seoul, South Korea (2013)
- Gamman L. Shoplifting Scams and Designing out Crime (2013)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A, Malpass M, Liparova E. Hey Babe – Take a Walk on the Wild Side!: Why Role-playing and Visualization of User and Abuser “Scripts” Offer Useful Tools to Effectively “Think Thief” and Build Empathy to Design Against Crime (2012)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Editorial: socially responsive design (2011)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Design with society: why socially responsive design is good enough. (2011)
- Gamman L, Armitage R. Sustainability via Security: A New Look (2009)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Less Is More: What Design Against Crime Can Contribute To Sustainability (2009)
- Gamman L. Seeing is Believing: Notes Towards a Visual Methodology and Manifesto for Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (2004)
- Hughes B, Gamman L. Thinking Thief - Designing out Misuse, Abuse and 'Criminal' Aesthetics (2003)
- Gamman L. test document
Book
- Gamman L. Gone shopping: the story of Shirley Pitts - queen of thieves (2012)
- Gamman L, Bowers KJ, Johnson SD, Warne A, Mamerow L. Theft of customers’ personal property from cafes and bars (2010)
Book Section
- Thorpe A, Gamman L. Power (2020)
- Gamman L, Fisher T. Design’s Tricky Future (2018)
- Gamman L, Gunasekera P. Understanding suicide and assisted dying – why “design for death” is tricky? (2018)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Is ‘nudge’ as good as ‘we think’ in designing against crime? - contrasting paternalistic and fraternalistic approaches to design for behaviour change. (2017)
- Thorpe A, Gamman L. What is "Socially Responsive Design and Innovation"? (2016)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Could Design Help to Promote and Build Empathic Processes in Prison? Understanding the Role of Empathy and Design in Catalysing Social Change and Transformation (2015)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. "Design for Empathy" – Exploring the Potential of Participatory Design for Fostering Restorative Values and Contributing to Restorative Process (2015)
- Gamman L, Ehn P, Davis S, Wong V. OPEN MIND: Shake Up Taboo by Design! (2015)
- Gamman L. Female Slenderness and the Case of Perverse Compliant Deception - or Why Size Matters... (2013)
- Thorpe A, Gamman L. Learning Together: Students And Community Groups Co-Designing For Carbon Reduction In The London Borough Of Camden (2013)
- Gamman L. Afterword - The lie that told the truth? Reviewing Shirley Pitts shoplifting scripts and criminal masquerade as creative practice (2012)
- Ekblom P, Bowers KJ, Gamman L, Sidebottom A, Thomas C, Thorpe A, Willcocks M. Reducing bag theft in bars (2012)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Criminality and creativity: what’s at stake in designing against crime? (2010)
- Gamman L, Raein M. Reviewing the art of crime - what, if anything, do criminals and artists/designers have in common? (2010)
- Thorpe A, Gamman L, Ekblom P, Johnson SD, Sidebottom A. Bike Off 2 – catalysing anti-theft bike, bike parking and information design for the 21st century: an open innovation research approach (2009)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Less is more: what design against crime can contribute to sustainability. (2008)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Liberty versus safety: a design review (2007)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Design Against Crime as Socially Responsive Theory and Practice (2006)
Conference, Symposium or Workshop item
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Open innovation and participation in socially responsive art and design practice (2011)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. You’re not my Dad - and I wouldn’t do what you told me to even if you were – design fraternalism versus design paternalism (2011)
- Gamman L, Willcocks M. Dialogues with graffiti workshop: codes of practice linked to the dark side of creativity (2011)
- Gamman L, Willcocks M. Dialogues with graffiti: innovating and negotiating new 21st century approaches to an old “problem” (2011)
- Willcocks M, Gamman L. Greening not cleaning graffiti walls (2011)
- Thorpe A, Gamman L. Retail loss prevention and safety seminar for small business (2011)
- Thorpe A, Gamman L. Expected future trends in retail theft and prevention (2011)
- Thorpe A, Gamman L. Design Against Crime: a review (2011)
- Gamman L, Willcocks M. Dialogues with graffiti workshop: crime prevention, restorative justice and creative social police (2011)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Green week (2011)
- Gamman L. Reviewing ethnographic approaches of design against crime as socially responsive design (2011)
- Gamman L, Willcocks M. Dialogues with graffiti workshop: connected environments, communities, materials and technologies (2010)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Design Against Crime as socially responsive design (2010)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. Design against crime as socially responsive design for public space (2007)
Other
- Gamman L. Design out shoplifting: student challenge 2010 (2010)
- Gamman L. Design out shoplifting (2010)
Report
- Willcocks M, Gamman L. Cashpoint art safety zones (2011)
- Willcocks M, Gamman L. The Camden bench (2011)
- Willcocks M, Gamman L. The Stop Thief Chair and Grippa Clips (2011)
- Gamman L, Willcocks M. The Anti-bag Theft and ASB-resistant “Camden Bench" (2011)
- Gamman L, Willcocks M. ATM and cashpoint art: what’s at stake in designing against crime (2010)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A. London higher social engagement case studies: Camden M stands by Bikeoff (2010)
Show/Exhibition
- Willcocks M, Gamman L, Thorpe A. Makeright: making bags to make good (2017)
- Gamman L, Thorpe A, Willcocks M. Design Against ATM Crime (2011)
- Gamman L, Willcocks M. Demonstrating the role of design in crime reduction (2011)
- Gamman L, Willcocks M, Thorpe A, Ekblom P. Demonstrating the role of design in crime reduction (2011)
- Willcocks M, Gamman L, Piper J. Stop thief chair (2011)
- Gamman L, Willcocks M. Stop Thief Chair and Grippa Clip (2010)
- Gamman L, O'Mara S. Dirty Washing - The Hidden Language of Soap Powder Boxes (2001)
- Palmer V, Gamman L. Talk dirty to me (2001)
- Gamman L, Palmer V. Don't tempt me/non tentami (2001)
- Gamman L. Don't Tempt Me (2001)
Teaching
Current research students
- Carlotta Allum, Grasping the Soul: A Practice-led Investigation of Storytelling, Design and Crime (Lead supervisor)
- Roxanne Alves Leitão, Intimate partner abuse, technology, and cyber-aggression: co-designing support around issues of cyber-security and privacy (Lead supervisor)
- Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad, Becoming Strangers: Defamiliarisation as Critical Research Method in Participatory Design (Lead supervisor)
- Katrin Ho, Fostering Discursive Civility by Creating Hybrid Artefacts (Lead supervisor)
- Lucy Russell, WHAT I SEE I OWN? Can fashion/media body images via the process of drawing be re-appropriated to positive effect as part of the creation of a social innovation design tool that can be accessed or shared with groups to question negative body image/s and to build well-being and “body confidence”? (Lead supervisor)
- Alistair Steele, Through the Hole in the Wall: the ATM as Tool of Users or Criminals in Digital/Public Space. (Lead supervisor)
Subjects
3D design and product design
Communication and graphic design