Julia Cassim
Senior Research Fellow
Tel: +44 (0)20 7590 4582
E-mail: julia.cassim@rca.ac.uk
Academic and Professional background
Julia Cassim studied Fine Art and Art History, at Manchester College of Art and Design and then at Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music as recipient of a Japanese Ministry of Education (Mombusho) postgraduate sculpture scholarship. She has an MPhil from the International Centre for Heritage Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
From 1971-1998, Julia was resident in Japan. She was arts columnist of The Japan Times, wrote widely for other publications and founded Access Vision, a non-profit organisation for visually impaired people engaged in research on alternative modes to access and interpret museum collections of art and artefacts. She also curated and designed award-winning exhibitions for audiences with visual impairments and learning disabilities. ‘Into the Light - Museums and their Visually Impaired Visitors’, her book published by Shogakkan in 1998, draws on this experience.
Her activity in this area has continued alongside her work in inclusive design with a further focus on the curation and design of exhibitions of work by visually impaired artists. ‘The Insightful Eye’ - a film she directed on this subject was commissioned for the Singapore Fringe Festival 2007.
Research interests
Julia joined the Helen Hamlyn Centre in 2000. Her main research focus since then has been the development of creative partnerships between people with disabilities and designers; ways to involve them in the design process to encourage innovative, inclusive thinking and the development and dissemination of knowledge transfer methodologies on inclusive design to the design and business communities.
She organises the annual DBA Inclusive Design Challenge, Challenge workshops and Inclusive Design Challenges of shorter duration based on the model. In these, disabled people are partnered with professional design teams in live design projects to develop innovative products and services for the mainstream market. The aim is to develop and disseminate replicable examples of inclusive design and appropriate methodologies to enable designers, design managers, engineers and marketing personnel understand the principles, practice and creative and commercial rationale for inclusive design and readily use that knowledge as a spur for innovation in their working practice.
Julia is visiting professor at the User Science Institute of Kyushu University, is a trustee of the charity Mobility Choice. She serves as a consultant on inclusive design to the Natural History Museum and lectures on inclusive design in the UK and internationally to organisations in the business, academic and voluntary sectors.
Current Projects
Julia organises Challenge workshops of differing iterations and lengths in academic, corporate and design contexts in the UK and overseas. To date, these have been run in the UK in collaboration with the College of Occupational Therapists, and on the theme of rheumatoid arthritis for Roche. In Finland and Denmark workshops have been organised for Nokia, in Japan with the Universities of Kyushu, Kyoto and Tokyo and in Israel with the Holon Academic Institute of Technology with further ones planned in Norway, Jerusalem and Sarajevo in 2009 .
In 2008 she ran three international Challenges - in Oslo, for the Norweigian Design Council, involving teams from Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark: in Hong Kong, with teams from China and the ASEAN countries, and in Tokyo, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of relations between Japan and the UK in collaboration with Nikkei Design, Tokyo University and Cambridge University.
Julia has been a member of the i~design project and remains as advisor. The i~design research seeks to provide tools that enable industry to design products and services that can be used effectively by the population as a whole, including those who are older or disabled. The team includes academic and sector partners including the University of Cambridge and the Design Council.
Julia’s role has involved the writing-up of inclusive design case studies drawn from the HHC Research Associates Programme and the DBA Inclusive Design Challenge. She is co-author with John Clarkson, Roger Coleman and Hua Dong of the book on inclusive design to be published by Gower in 2007. She is also involved in the development of a database of users, user personas and accompanying user-centred methodologies and protocols.
Selected publications
2008
- Cassim, J (2008) Challenge 2008, Helen Hamlyn Centre, London
2007
- Cassim, J (2007) 'The Touch Experience in Museums in Japan and the UK - a historical overview and the example of Access Vision' in The Power of Touch Handling Objects in Museum and Heritage Contexts, ed: Elizabeth Pye, Left Coast Press, California
- Coleman R, Clarkson J, Cassim J & Dong H. (eds.) (2007) Design for Inclusivity, Gower, Hants UK
- Cassim J. (2007) ‘It’s Not what you do it’s the way that you do it: the Challenge Workshop a designer-centred inclusive design knowledge transfer mechanism for different contexts’ Human Computer Interaction International (HCII) July 2007 Beijing, China
- Cassim J. (ed) (2007) Challenge 2007, Helen Hamlyn Centre, London
- Goodman, J, Langdon, P. Clarkson, PJC & J, Cassim (2007) ‘Engaging the Public in Inclusive Design’ Include 2007. RCA, London
2006
- Cassim J. (2006) ‘Beyond Ergonomics to Desirability: the Challenge Workshop model for inclusive design knowledge transfer to designers and industry’, Proceedings of IAUD, 2nd International Conference on Universal Design, Kyoto
- Cassim J. (ed) (2006) Challenge 2006: how designers respond to the demands of inclusion, Helen Hamlyn Centre, London,
2005
- Cassim J & Dong H. (2005) ‘The DBA Design Challenge: engaging design professionals with inclusive design’, Sigma ACM Journal, New York. 2005
- Cassim J. (ed) (2005) Challenge 2005: giving disabled people a voice in the design process, Helen Hamlyn Centre, London
2004
- Cassim J. (ed) (2004) innovate 6: why getting it right for people with disabilities means getting it right for all, Helen Hamlyn Centre, London
2003
- Cassim J. (2003 ‘Design Innovation for mainstream markets through “critical user” involvement: the DBA Design Challenge example’ in Include2003, RCA, London
- Cassim J. (2003) ‘Smart Wearables: a new frontier for inclusive design innovation’, Include2003, RCA, London
- Cassim J. (ed) (2003) innovate 5: can insights on disability help to design better products? Helen Hamlyn Centre, London
- Cassim J & Dong H. (2003) ‘Critical users in design innovation’, Inclusive Design: design for the whole population, Springer Verlag, London, pp. 532-553
2002
- Cassim J. (2002) ‘Cross-market Product & Service Innovation: the DBA Challenge Example’, in Keates S, Clarkson J, Langdon P & Robinson,P Designing for a More Inclusive World, Springer Verlag
- Cassim J. (ed) (2002) innovate 3: how a focus on human needs can generate great ideas, Helen Hamlyn Centre, London,
- Cassim J. (ed) (2002) innovate 4: obstacles and opportunities in inclusive design, Helen Hamlyn Centre, London
2001
- Cassim J. (2001) ‘The Muse Print: a new concept for raised images to be used as an interpretational aid for art collections by visually impaired museum visitors’ Include 2001, RCA, London.
- Cassim J. (ed) (2001) innovate 1: how 4 design teams faced the user challenge Helen Hamlyn Centre, London
- Cassim J. (ed) (2001) innovate 2: the business case for inclusive design Helen Hamlyn Centre, London
1999
- Cassim J. (l999) ‘Some Reflections on Able Art and the Achievements of and Challenges facing the Able Art Movement' (Japanese text) in Toyota Able Art Forum, Kara Kangaeru Able Art Movement no Kore Made - Kore Kara,Toyota Corporation & Able Art Japan, Tokyo, Japan
1998
- Cassim J. (l998) ‘A Comparative Overview of Creative Arts Centres for People with Disabilities in Japan, Europe and the United States’ (Japanese text) in Konna artspace ga attara ii-na - shogai no aru hito:art:machi, Association of Art, Culture & People with Disabilities, Tokyo, Japan, pp 156-62
- Cassim J. (l998) Into the Light - Museums & their Visually-Impaired Visitors, Shogakkan Press, Tokyo
Film
- The Insightful Eye (2007) – director and producer of film on the work of three contemporary UK artists with visual impairments as a commission for the M1Singapore Fringe Festival 2007
Curated exhibitions
- Gokan de Miru Kokusai Ten (2004-5) Travelling exhibition of work by six visually impaired artists at the Hayashibara Museum of Art, Okayama, Tanpopo Art Space, Nara & Gallery Artlier, Fukuoka, Japan
- Echoes of the Spirit (2001-2) - travelling exhibition of paintings, drawings and calligraphy by Japanese artists with learning disabilities at Diorama Arts Centre, London, Project Ability, Glasgow & Bolton Museum & Art Gallery. Exhibition coordinator.
- New Spirit of Japanese Calligraphy (2000) at the Richard Attenborough for Disability & the Arts, University of Leicester & Project Ability, Glasgow. Exhibition organiser. Won Japan 2001 Award.
- Dialogue of the Spirit (1997)- Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Access (Cognitive & Physical) Design for Exhibition, Education & Workshop Programme, Audio Guide and Raised Image Catalogue Folder.
- Art & the Inner Eye #1 (1994)- Nagoya City Art Museum, Japan. An exhibition of contemporary sculpture, painting and photography designed for a visually-impaired audience. Co-curator, wrote and designed catalogue (combined Braille, large-print, raised image and colour reproductions) and display. Won College Women’s Association of Japan 20th Anniversary Award.
Catalogue Texts
- Cassim J. (2001) ‘One May have good eyes and see nothing’ in Another Way of Seeing, catalogue for exhibition at Art Sonje Center, Seoul, South Korea, Korean Association of Blind Artists, Seoul (English & Korean text).
- Cassim J. (2001) ‘Image Ability’ in Adorn/Equip, catalogue for travelling exhibition, City Gallery Leicester pp 24-29
- Cassim J. (2000) New Spirit of Japanese Calligraphy catalogue for exhibition at the Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability & the Arts, University of Leicester & Project Ability, Glasgow. Tanpopo no Ye Foundation, Nara, Japan
- Cassim J. (1997) Raised images and audio guide for exhibition catalogue for Dialogue of the Spirit exhibition at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art (Japanese text - bilingual guide), Able Arts Japan, Tokyo
- Cassim J. (1994) Art & the Inner Eye # 1 (1994) exhibition catalogue (Japanese text), Nagoya City Art Museum, Japan
