Design Research Unit

During the Typo talks this weekend the studio 'A Practice for Everyday Life' mentioned the design research unit and its relevance to this project immediately grabbed my attention. This is a background into the history of the consultancy and how it could possibly fit into my own brief.
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The design research unit was one of the first generation of British design consultancies combining expertise in architecture, graphics and industrial design. Famous for numbers projects it was one of the first companies that engaged the different practices for the better good. I was thinking of converting my bookshop identity to a series of workshops that integrate professionals and students from the different practices to create interesting pieces that explore the relationships between each subject.
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"The Design Research Unit created some of the UK’s most iconic pieces of graphic design, from London’s street signs to the British Rail logo. A UK touring show, which has started at London’s Cubitt Gallery, celebrates four decades of the group’s work.
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The DRU was founded in 1943 by poet and art critic Herbert Read, advertising entrepreneur Marcus Brumwell, and designers Misha Black and Milner Gray. From the outset the group intended to consolidate design’s position in the world, expressing a desire to bring “artists and designers into productive relation with scientists and technologists”. The group were also highly unusual in the range of disciplines that their work spanned: they were the first practice to combine expertise in architecture, graphic design and industrial design." - Taken from Creative review

The integration of the practices produced a service equipped to advise on all problems of design.