Materializing hidden labor in the administrative management of design: the case of Michael Farr (Design Integration)

Administering design: the hidden practices of design work Design History Society sponsored panel at 111th CAA Annual Conference.

Michael Farr (Design Integration) has been recognized as the first design management consultancy in Europe, yet the significance of their work is yet to be addressed by scholars. In this presentation I argue that their founder, Michael Farr, was a key progenitor of design management who helped to reify a hidden practice through his business and publishing operations.

As he began to conceptualize his new business in the early 1960s, Farr faced the issue of how to ascribe value to a practice that was largely invisible and unrecognized. There was little precedent from which he could draw upon and the immateriality of his work created problems in terms of evidencing the value of his labor to potential clients who were unfamiliar with such practices and could not identify their purpose. With help from associates, Farr developed the theoretical basis from which his consultancy could flourish. Terminology and naming were carefully considered, alongside diagrammatic representations that showed working processes and the labor relations between designers and their clients.

Through this work Farr and his associates began to inscribe particular ‘ways of practice’ unique to the administrative management of design. This process of reification began locally, but was soon shared internationally, as Farr disseminated his methods to a wider audience through several major publications. Drawing on original research from the V&A Archive of Art & Design I share examples showing how Farr used the process of inscription to reify practices associated with the administrative management of design, thus materializing an immaterial practice.