Harriet Atkinson was one of six section editors for The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, working with overall editor Professor Clive Edwards (Loughborough University).
The Encyclopedia provides entries on design from 1800 to the present day, with global coverage by leading international design scholars and design historians. Harriet was responsible for commissioning all entries related to the dissemination of design ideas and methods: through museums and exhibitions, art and design schools, journals and department stores, amongst other means. She commissioned around three hundred entries from international historians (from Australia, to Japan, to India and the USA and beyond). Harriet also wrote a number of entries reflecting her particular research interests in exhibition design and design theory. Other entries in the volumes are on key topics in the history and theory of design, addressing a range of design forms including graphic, textile, furniture, metal, ceramic, fashion, stage and film, vehicle and product design, as well as national histories of design and key design movements. The Encyclopedia was chosen by Choice, the publication of the American Library Association, as one of their outstanding academic titles of 2016. Bloomsbury are currently in the process of creating the Encyclopedia as an online resource.