Front view of a helmet showing the bowl shape.

Plasfort helmet

View object
Top view of a Sony Walkman TPS-L2 personal cassette player showing the removable protective case and the closed cassette cover.

Sony Walkman TPS-L2 personal cassette player

View object
Side view of a Dropp bowl showing the matt outer surface and glossy inner surface.

Dropp! bowl

View object
Side view of a Valentine typewriter showing the red body and black keys.

Valentine typewriter

View object
Top view of a skateboard showing the fish shape.

Minnow Skateboard

View object
Side view of a storage container showing the head and tail.

Roomii

View object
Side view of a bangle showing the thickness of the material.

Trees cuff

View object
Side view of a basket showing the handles made of tubing.

Packing tape basket

View object
Side view of a shaver showing the shaving foil.

Remington 60 shaver

View object
Front view of a brooch showing the layered sections.

Lea Stein Attila cat brooch

View object
Top view of an umbrella showing the patternof the fabric.

Mary Quant umbrella

View object
Top view of a telephone numbers book showing the dial mechanism.

Telephone numbers book

View object
Front view of a telephone showing the dial.

GPO Model 746 telephone

View object
Side view of a knife rest showing the Dachshund shape.

Dachshund knife stand

View object
Side view of a ball showing the well used surface.

Parkesine snooker ball

View object
Side view of a bowl showing the coloured chips.

Orange Confetti bowl

View object
Front view of a brooch showing the floral design.

Lucite brooch

View object
Side view of a pair of Electric goggles showing the clear lenses and red frames.

Electric EG1 MX goggles

View object
Top view of a pair of salad servers showing the straight-edged handles.

Mottled green salad servers

View object
Front view of a hole punch showing the blue eyes.

Itza hole punch

View object
Side view of a pile of pellets showing the mainly black sample.

Recycled polyethylene pellets

View object
Side view of a cup and saucer showing the angular handle.

Orange Beatl cup and saucer

View object
Top view of a medallion showing the head of Queen Victorian.

Queen Victoria jubilee medallion

View object
Side view of a cable sample showing the stranded and plied outer armour.

Submarine cable

View object
Front view of a grater showing the arched back of the hedgehog.

Kasimir cheese grater

View object
Side view of a cable tidy showing the opening for the wire.

Cable Turtle cable tidy

View object
Side view of a transparency viewer showing the screens where the light is filtered through.

Sawyer's View-Master

View object
Side view of a pipe showing the ventilation spaces in the top.

Terrain Hydromax siphonic roof drainage system

View object
Top view of a snuff box showing the moulded portrait.

Oval Charles I snuff box

View object
Side view of an ear trumpet showing the funnel shaped opening.

Trumpet style hearing aid

View object
Side view of a bike wheel showing the deep set rim and the spoke pattern.

Reynolds 2010 Assault T

View object

Aramith snooker balls

View object
Front view of a clock showing the spherical shape.

Presta alarm clock

View object
Side view of a door stop showing the open shape.

Bergfield and Scwahn door stop

View object

Sport Ferrari folding sunglasses

View object

Kodak Instamatic 104 camera

View object
Front view of a pair of shoes showing the basket weave appearance.

Children's red jelly sandals

View object

Smiths QLR 300 kitchen timer

View object

Museum of Design in Plastics

MoDiP is a specialist research resource at the Arts University Bournemouth.

Have we helped you in any way? Please fill in our survey.

Stay in touch by subscribing to our mailing list after reading our Privacy policy.

Current exhibition

Being me: plastics and the body

March - September 2020

Being me: plastics and the body explores the ways in which plastics materials, and the products made from them, help us to be ourselves; by changing our shape, keeping us safe, aiding us when our bodies struggle, and by keeping us alive.

Before your visit to MoDiP please check for any planned closures advertised on the visiting us page.

AIBDC 004956

MoDiP collection

The MoDiP collection offers a wide spectrum of objects, from the 19th, 20th & 21st centuries, which illustrate the role of plastics against social and historical contexts.

Learn more
PHSL 1

PHS collection

The Plastics Historical Society, which was formed in 1986, is an independent society affiliated to the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Learn more
WCHL 455

Horners collection

The Worshipful Company of Horners is both an ancient craft guild and a modern City of London Institution promoting the interests of the polymer industry.

Learn more

Visiting MoDiP

MoDiP is open to the public and we welcome individual and group visits.

The museum is on the first floor of the Arts University Bournemouth library and can be accessed via a lift.  For more information about coming to the museum for a visit, to do research, or have a group session, click on the link below.

Learn more
Studying the collection

MoDiP Blog

My plastics at home: part 1.

15 Jul 2020

Inspired by a blog written by Carla Flack, Sculpture and Installation Art Conservator, Tate, I decided to investigate some of my own plastics at home, to see if I could identify what materials they are made from and (hopefully) find out more about their history. For my first object, I selected this toy piano and stool (see image below), both pieces…

Sewing Machines – fabulous in form and function

8 Jul 2020

In this current time of staying and working at home, certain objects have become increasingly important to our lives. We are advised to use certain objects, for example soap, hand sanitisers and masks. These objects have become vital to how we live. 

In our homes, certain objects may have become particularly significant as their use supports our different and changed ways of living…

Communicating loud and clear

1 Jul 2020

Continuing with our Life goes on… theme, I’d like to share the many ways in which we, the team at MoDiP, have been adapting and further developing our means of communication with students, staff and everyone we work with and for – not to mention our public audiences - over the last few months, as we embrace everything digital.

 

…

Current & Past Exhibitions

Being me: plastics and the body

-

The problems that plastics can create for the human body are now becoming better understood. Plastics materials cause health issues for people in a variety of ways, most notably through microplastics entering the food chain via pollution in our seas, and when chemicals, such as bisphenol-A (BPA), leach from containers through our food and into our blood streams. However, through good design and…

Output

-

Renowned industrial designer, A H ‘Woody’ Woodfull, stated in 1959 that ‘the designer must have a wide range of working knowledge of industrial processes of all kinds.’ By understanding manufacturing processes, designers can make the best decisions for their application.  They must ask themselves key questions: What material do I want to use? How many products do I want to make?  How much do I…

Revolution: environmentally conscious design in plastics

-

In 2018 Collins dictionary declared ‘single-use’ as the word of the year.  They define the term as describing items whose unchecked proliferation are blamed for damaging the environment:   Single-use refers to products – often plastic – that are ‘made to be used once only’ before disposal. Images of plastic adrift in the most distant oceans, such as straws, bottles, and bags have led to a…