designboost ; telefonplan 9 – 11 FEBRUARY 2011
design beyond design
sharing design knowledge
DESIGN BEYOND DESIGN For a long time design has manifested an outdated consumer culture. It’s time to see through this dated mindset and identify design’s more important roles. There is a growing demand for authentic, emotive and conscious design. We have to scrutinise our routine-like way of life and design beyond design. Design beyond design is not just about minimising the negative impact on our environment. It is about looking at it from another, more proactive angle – to work on maximising its positive impact. Consumers want brands that are not only purveyors of goods but agents for good. Design beyond design is about blending different fields of thought to open up and develop new opportunitiies. This means changing the role of design and the designer through the use of hybrid thinking and multidisciplinary actions. Design beyond design looks to create an atmosphere in which outstanding creativity can flourish. Design beyond design means creating synergies for networking through sharing resources, knowledge and concepts. Design beyond design is a shared challenge in which everyone has the potential to make a difference.
Invisible design, is it worth it? Karin Robling - designer
Can we survive without?
To be or not to be?
Anders Runerheim - architect
Stefan Ytterborn - CEO and founder POC
Who reaches beyond the designer? Agnes Fries - co-creative ceramicist
What are the critical uncertainties of tomorrow? Johan Zetterquist - industrial designer
What is design beyond design? Katarina Häll - designer
Can Design be made for humanity, rather than for Milan? Brent Richards - creative monkey
Why are you so concerned with tradition? Jaime Hayon - designer
How could design give the planet what it needs instead of giving people what they want? Jonas Pinzke - sustainable innovator
Design beyond design, what can happen, will we forget and start again from beyond? Yvonne Rock - senior advisor TYP kulturkapital
”Where does politics end and design begin?” Could new science about our brain bring new design to the world?
Otto von Busch - researcher
How might the discipline of design stretch beyond the (material) limits of its past without losing its capacity for bringing beauty into people’s lives? Jennifer Leonard - design leader IDEO
Helene Dracke - design marketing director Iittala Sweden
What role will the designer have in society in year 2030?
Design beyond design - ideologies, religion, nature - or nothing to find? Jonas Rylander - designer
Is there a tool, a neutralizer, we could invent helping us to look at objects with a changed point of view, a different perspective to see another content? Katrin Greiling - designer
How can we ask the right questions to push the design beyond what is asked for? Jenny B. Osuldsen - landscape architect
Malin Lundmark - designer
How can we talk about design beyond itself without a responsible language and questioning approach? Frida Jeppsson - design critic and curator
How can design stimulate spiritual growth towards perfection of the individual without colliding with principles and forces that drive the evolution of the universe? Peter Hallen - permaculture architect
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Designboost Telefonplan WHY Design as a creative innovation process is one of the key ingredients in the Swedish industrial history. Our glory days were the latter part of the 20th century when we where both capable and profitable. Swedish companies were competitive both nationally and internationally and understood how to work long-term with design as an important means for competition. We were a design nation widely talked about. Since then something has happened. We have lost parts of our knowledge base. Sweden has partially lost its position as an innovation and design nation. It is time to increase awareness and make use of existing knowledge. We see a big opportunity for Sweden and Swedish industries to reconquer our design initiative. In our current transformation from production to learning society design is an important key for Sweden’s future position. Design creates long-term values rather than just short-term profit; a successful tool both for visualising business strategies and problem solving. Sweden has both the strength and the knowledge.
Design of the future is not about adding to the mountains of refuse, it is about decreasing it. It is a competitive challenge which Swedish companies are particularly well suited to take on. Through creative knowledge Sweden may yet again be a leading country. One that proves that good design is not about surface but innovative content. Knowledge of design pays off. The knowledge based creative industry could very well be Sweden’s new export, and create long-term successful companies.
WHAT It takes effort and collaboration between those companies, organisations and institutions that aim towards a greater vision for the Swedish creative industry. It is about innovation and design. It is not a short-term project but rather a long-term process. This needs a creative cluster where it is possible to let creative spirit and wealth of ideas flow freely. Giving the unexpected a free rein makes for inspiring and exciting meetings.
By gathering players within several different stages of the design process valuable synergies are created. The goal is to improve the conditions for design companies to grow and prosper.
HOW To strengthen the cooperation between different operators within design, schools, economy and state as well as municipal decisionmakers by developing an strengthen mediating and networking. Thus tying together creative entrepreneurs and companies with clients, assigners and extended markets. Telefonplan is such a place; ready to receive companies and businesses with a focus on creative and innovative trades. It is possible to increase the successive transformation of Telefonplan from a LM-city to a future-city for design-, fashion- and communication businesses. Quite simply an incubator for Sweden’s “new” export.
WHO Just as San Francisco created Silicon Valley for technology
industries, Stockholm can create a centre for the creative industry. Vasakronan, Stockholm stad and Stockholm business region want to position, develop and market Telefonplan as a centre for creative industry. For all interested this could be a way to develop and sharpen the Swedish creative model through cooperating with the creative line of business. Today there is already a creative cluster at Telefonplan, with Konstfack and Hyper Island at the head. It will take effort and a long-term international process to create the right conditions for making a breeding ground for the “new” Swedish export industry. Designboost; Telefonplan may be the starting shot as well as the tool for this process. Designboost are experts on the concept of sharing design knowledge and have an international network to kick-start and maintain the process. The aim is to create a platform and atmosphere where trading knowledge leads to networking, synergies and action.
Sharing design knowledge. Designboost is a knowledge company in the fields of events, media, resources and concepts. We work with four inter-related platforms; BoostEvent, BoostMedia, BoostResource and BoostConcept. BoostEvent is a new way of sharing design knowledge. At our main DesignBoosts and several MiniBoosts around the world, a renowned international crowd of professionals, Boosters, meet to upgrade through our integrated and consistent formats: BoostChat (workshop), BoostTalk (lecture), BoostShow (exhibition) and BoostCast (films). BoostMedia is our accumulated knowledge. What we have shared on different platforms throughout the year is continuously applied to upgrade our site and is also documented in our BoostMag and as BoostCast. It becomes further developed in our BoostReview. BoostResource is a profound source of global knowledge. The Designboost BoostCommunity includes well-known personalities and highly professional individuals, Boosters, within design in its broadest and deepest sense. They represent worldwide competence. Our Partners make up an important network of companies and institutions. BoostConcept is the incubator for our ideas. The Sustainable Wheel, our vital conceptual tool and the basis of our reasoning, holds seven spokes each of which contribute to a holistic knowledge of sustainability. In BoostConsult we develop new concepts for application. Through BoostResearch we learn more about the preconditions for true sustainable development. Designboost is created by award winning communication strategist Peer Eriksson and international acclaimed design thinker and trend strategist David Carlson.
The more you give the more you get. At Designboost we believe in sharing knowledge. We use this thinking in everything we do. We have an open minded attitud to processes where interaction is in the core of the method. It can concern consultancy work, development of creative communication, an event or building a community. Groundbreaking ideas quite often arise in the intersection of knowledge from different industries and cultures. Designboost can be seen as a tool, catalyst and conceptual incubator. Designboost connects people; industry with schools with designers with politicians with future scientists with… the list is never ending. We are working hard to apply more ”open-source” thinking when designing the world we want live in. DesignBoost has developed a process consisting of four inter-related platforms. All four are equally important but can differ in size from time to time. We call them: BoostChat (formerly known as workshops) BoostTalk (formerly known as lectures) BoostShow (formerly known as exhibition) Boostcast (formerly known as broadcasting) Our goal is that Designboost shall be a humanistic arena and a big boost for you, both on a personal as well as on a professional level.
Creating a platform where people can meet, discuss and challenge the meaning of design, through workshops, talks, exhibitions and other media.
The sustainable wheel It’s important to have a holistic view on sustainability. Sustainability is not only about “green” and environmentalism, even if it is an important part of it. Sustainability is also very much about timelessness, new materials that push the envelope, storytelling, sensorial experiences and cultural awareness. Designboost has defined seven different themes that by itself or in combination are important in the definition of sustainability. The Sustainable Wheel can be used as a tool or why not a check list.
Environmental influence – to affect the environment as little as possible
Which material resources do we use directly or indirectly; does our product consume too much energy when in use? What waste do we produce directly or indirectly; recycling of our product is costly and/or reuse is complicated as it demands transport or substantial deconstruction?
Quality
– to own multi-quality capacities Do we recognise that quality is a multi capacity? Have we tried to specify our products capacity beyond the most obvious; material quality and physical functionality? Is quality relative to intended use? Have we recognised quality as lasting meaning and appeal and considered if our product makes sense: is meaningful or appears merely strange: new and cool?
Innovative development – to develop unique attributes on several levels
Is our product merely innovative or does it contribute to development; an improvement of our lives, and not only to a demand for newness? Innovation is about seeing things in different ways, thinking out-of-the-box, thinking for renewal and change, removing blinders, boldly processing new and old information. How can we break innovation barriers and push the envelope concerning technology and production?
beyond temporary lifestyles and makes us associate and recognise? Meaning is paramount for affectivity; the moderator of emotions and feelings, and thus for long-term attachment.
Aesthetics – to age with grace
Have we realised that the aesthetic is about immediate but also lasting appeal? Do we confuse aesthetics with beauty? Are we aware that beauty is something negotiated and what is judged as beautiful one day might not be the next? There are things that survive year after year, are inherited by the generations to come and excellent examples of truly durable objects; “they truly age with grace”. What’s the secret?
Authenticity
– to be able to tell a credible story How do we define authenticity? Is it a product which is as close to the original version as possible? Or is an authentic product is an object which is true to its meaning and its function? An object without history is fiction and an object which has not moved on from history is retrospective. An authentic product could be seen as a mix of the two. How do we create authentic experiences that has meaning and value and a strong sense of cultural identity?
Compatibility
– to be part of a bigger coherence
Affectivity
– to be a part of the user Does our product have a chance not only to connect emotionally; create attachment, but also to retain it? Have we considered that emotions are much less sustainable than feelings? Emotions make us buy, whilst feelings make us keep. Has our product a meaning; tell a story which goes
What is at stake if we make our product compatible with that of our competitor or neighbour? Is it a long term negative, a short term or no negative at all? How can we connect the history, with the present and the future? And how can we create common platforms (designers, materials, technology etc) with several outcomes and, out of that, get sustainable co-ordination advantages? Isn’t compatibility also about supporting human to human relationships?
In the end, a product is nothing worth if it is not put in a humanly context. We have to remember to always look through the lens of humanity when we develop, or trying to define a sustainable product or service. Because, we always have to extend sustainability beyond materials.
”Beyond design there is even more design, but what do we call it?”
Is the insular nature of the design industry preventing it from enriching the lives of those who it could and should be helping the most?
Claes Frössén - designer and policy maker
Do we need to control design? How can we unleashed the people’s imagination in helping to create the Kajsa G. Eriksson - artist and designer cities of the future? What are the planning and participatory mechanisms needed for such creative processes to become mainstream? Lia Ghilardi - CEO Noema Research and Planning What can the sales forces behind design learn from designers? Mattias Hansson - media growth creative
Richard Prime - trend and colour trend forecaster
Will design be personalized apps in the future?
Isn’ it obvious: Beyond Design there are humans? And humanity?
Max Dager - CEO Nordens hus
Kristina Börjesson - design researcher and debater
The role of designers in times of great social, political and economical changes? Halla Helgadóttir – graphic designer and manager of the Iceland Design Center
How can nature’s creative solutions bring more resilience in our effort to Do we need a new word for what lies beyond design? create design beyond design. What is creativity in this context? Marcus Fairs - publisher of Dezeen
Why do we need designers?
John Manoochehri - sustainability designer
Anna Maria Orru - architect and research curator
Neville Brody - designer, typographer, art director and brand strategist
Design Beyond Design, Life Beyond Life ? Vesa Honkonen - professor Konstfack
How can design best support innovation?
Katarina Häll - designer
Design beyond design - does that mean we need to design a new word for design? Johanna Ericsson -- design manager Höganäs Keramik/Rörstrand
Bob Jacobson - innovator and impresario
What is the common challenge of all creative industries?
When do we stop designing objects and begin designing atmospheres? Lisa White - head of interiors at WGSN/HomeBuildLife
How can we inspire people to stop mass-consumption?
Does the graphic designer still exist?
What is the task of the thinking designer? Jeroen van den Eijnde - design historian
Patrik Larsson - independent music manager and consultant
If design would be a story, who would bother to listen? Per Cromwell - CEO Studio Total
Are politics the only solution for every problem or are we jointly responsible for our future?
Design beyond design - is that design or something else? Katarina Graffman - anthropologist
Beyond design, how can we stimulate social responsibility to the design community?
Marcus Hartmann - political advisor
Is design capable of going beyond design? Robin Edman - managing director SVID
Andres Fredes - founder Pure Austrian design
Boost chat
9th february Who will chat? We don’t have the truths. The question is, does anyone?
On the other hand there are plenty of questions and possibly some answers. When it comes to ”Design Beyond Design” there are probably many things that needs to be questioned, left could very well be right. The objective of DesignBoost Telefonplan 2011 is to make everybody question, reach awareness and think in new paths when it comes to creating better lives for lots of people. This is after all the ultimate goal for all design, isn’t it? As earlier years we have carefully selected and then invited Boosters (as we call the participants) from all over the world which represent the true frontline within design in its broadest context; designers, architects, anthropologists, future scientists, artists, brand strategists, creative thinkers etc. All are authorities in their field of expertise and our selection reflects the principle that design is multidisciplinary reaching way beyond the obvious.
The objectives for the BoostChat at Designboost ; Telefonplan – To reflect the principle that design is multidisciplinary reaching way beyond the obvious. – To make everybody question, reach awareness and think in new paths when it comes to creating better lives for the many. – To provide for better and more culturally connected design solutions. – To find new ways for creating long time value instead of short term profit. – To improve cooperation among companies, institutions and organisations and practitioners of design in its broadest context. – To improve diversity, justice and integration.
BOOSTERS 2011
Jaime Hayon - Designer Jennifer Leonard - Design Leader, IDEO Jenny B. Osuldsen - Partner Snøhetta Marcus Fairs - Publisher Dezeen Stefan Ytterborn - CEO and founder POC Lia Ghilardi - CEO Noema Martin Videgård - Architect Andrea Ruggiero - Designer Bolle Tham - Architect Per Cromwell - CEO Studio Total Sante Poromaa - Zen Buddhist master Frida Jeppsson - Design critic and curator John Manoochehri - Sustainability designer Peter Hallén - Permaculture architect Ida Sjöstedt - Fashion designer Jonas Wagell - Designer and architect Agnes Fries - Co-creative ceramicist Andreas Engesvik - Designer Clara von Zweigbergk - Graphic designer Anna Maria Orru - Architect/research curator Johan Zetterquist - Industril designer Johan Hjerpe - Design strategist Elisabeth Björkbom - Designer Marcus Hartmann - Political advisor Tomas Bokstad - Project manager Christine Hedström - Creative advisor Bob Jacobson - Innovator and Impresario Ewa Kumlin - General manager Svensk Form Max Dager - CEO Nordens Hus Jani Kristoffersen - Architect Andreas Ferm - Architect Anders Runerheim - Architect David Sim - Architect Andres Fredes - Founder Pure Austrian design Cecilia Kramer - Architect Jan Peter Bergkvist - Sustainability advisor Shawn Westcott - Social enterprise Jonas Pinzke - Sustainable innovator Lasse Winkler - Editor-in-chief Svensk Bokhandel Anders Ekberg - CEO Fälth & Hässler Nina Ulmaja - Design manager Bonnier Jeppe Wikström - publisher Max Ström Staffan Bengtsson - Journalist and writer Estelle Westling - Social innovator Ted Persson - Chief creative officer Greatworks Katarina Graffman - Anthropologist Ingrid Sommar - Journalist & writer Vesa Honkonen - Professor Konstfack Christian Larsen - Gallerist Jens Pamp - Brand strategist Anne Mieke Eggenkamp - Chairwoman Design
Academy Eindhoven Magnus Jonsson - Senior production manager Interactive Institute Lisa White - Head of Interiors WGSN/HomeBuildLife Neville Brody - Designer, typographer, art director and brand strategist Kalle Söderqvist - Creative Susanne Helgeson - Journalist & writer Mikaela Dyhlén - Trend analyst Patrik Larsson - Independent music manager and consultant Johanna Skantze - General manager Generator Emma Stenström - Associate Professor and dean Katrin Greiling - Designer, architect and photographer Johanna Ericsson - Design Manager Product Development Kristina Börjesson - Design researcher and debater Sanjoo Malhotra - Food artist Richard Prime - Trend and colour trend forecaster Kajsa Eriksson - Artist and designer Robert Nilsson - Officer Ministry of culture Karin von Hedenberg - Head of Section Ministry of culture Ingrid Lomfors - Chief secretary Ministry of culture Tore Larsson - General manager Fox design Oliver Schmidt - Material expert Mattias Hansson - Media growth creative Jeroen van den Eijnde - Design historian Liljana Forssten - Range development manager Nobia Brent Richards - CEO and Creative Director of The Design Embassy Europe Johan Ronnestam - Creative Director, entrepreneur and professional speaker Halla Helgadottir - Graphic designer and manager of the Iceland Design Center Marie Arvinius - Head of the publishing house Arvinius Ilona Garamaj - Boardmember Svenska designinstitutet Peter Wilcke - Head of the publishing house Norstedts Robin Edman - Managing director SVID Claes Frössén - Designer and policy maker Helene Dracke - Design and marketing director Iittala Sweden Per Key Björke - Director and design management Key Future Christina Molander - Key future Yvonne Rock - Senior advisor TYP kulturkapital Jonas Rylander - Designer Malin Lundmark - Designer Karin Robling - Designer Katarina Häll - Designer Tanya Kim Grassley - Brand development strategist and copywriter Therese Sennerholt - Graphic designer Andreas Lindberg - Art director Johan Polski - Interaction designer Ingrid Unsöld - Designer Fredrik Helgöstam - CEO and founder Kolonien Sabrina Stiegler - Product designer Karina Vissonova - Business developer Jeanette von Arnold - Projekt manager Stockholm business region Malin Groop - Marketing director Marimekko
BOOST TALK
10th february 9.30 Welcome 10.00 Session one Inaugural speech Frida Jeppsson Brent Richards Lisa White Jennifer Leonard Neville Brody 12.00 Lunch break 13.00 Session two Jaime Hayon Jenny B. Osuldsen Marcus Fairs Lia Ghilardi Anne Mieke Eggenkamp Sante Poromaa 14.50 Energizing break 15.20 Session three Per Cromwell Ted Persson Stefan Ytterborn Johan Ronnestam Wind-up: David Carlson and Peer Erikson 17.00 THE END
The Designboost BoostTalk (formerly known as lectures) is for you who want to widen your scope and see the opportunities in diversity rather than in speciality when approaching and discussing a complex subject. The BoostTalk are focused on best practise: ideas, concepts and projects which individually or when put together offers new insight in what contributes to a long and prosperous life. You will leave DesignBoost;Telefonplan 2011 with a fresh consciousness on how you can make a difference, become a booster, professionally or privately.
SPEAKERS Jaime Hayon – Designer Jaime Hayón Spanish artist-designer was born in Madrid in 1974. As a teenager, he submerged himself in skateboard culture and graffiti art, the foundation of the detailed, bold-yet-whimsical imagery so imminent in his work today. In 2005, Jaime broke out on his own, first with collections of designer toys, ceramics and furniture, followed by interior design and installation. His singular vision was first fully exposed in ‘Mediterranean Digital Baroque’ at London’s David Gill Gallery. These collections put Jaime at the forefront a new wave of creators that blurred the lines between art, decoration and design and a renaissance in finely-crafted, intricate objects within the context of contemporary design culture.
Neville Brody – Designer, typographer, art director and brand strategist Neville Brody is known for his work on The Face magazine (1981–1986) and Arena magazine (1987–1990), as well as for designing record covers for artists such as Cabaret Voltaire and Depeche Mode. He created the company Research Studios in 1994 and is a founding member of Fontworks. He has been announced to be the new Head of the Communication Art & Design department at the Royal College of Art commencing in January 2011.
Marcus Fairs – Publisher of Dezeen Marcus Fairs is a design journalist and entrepreneur. He is founder and editor-in-chief of online architecture and design magazine Dezeen (www.dezeen.com). One of the world’s most popular and influential design websites, Dezeen gets over two million visits a month. Dezeen was launched in 2006 and has since expanded to encompass a highly successful design recruitment website (www.dezeenjobs.com) and online watch store (www.dezeenwatchstore.com). Previously Marcus launched international architecture and design magazine Icon, which he edited from 2003 to 2006. Marcus is author of the best-selling book Twenty-First Century Design, published in 2006 by Carlton Books, which sold out and was reissued in June 2009. His new book, Green Design, was published in March 2009 by Carlton Books..
Ted Persson – Chief creative officer at Greatworks Ted is a Stockholm based creative director, digital entrepreneur and struggling beard grower. Ted is a co-founder of leading digital agency Great Works, where he currently holds the position as Chief Creative Officer, overseeing work from the agency’s offices in Stockholm, New York, Barcelona, Tokyo and Shanghai. In excess of his position at Great Works, Ted has founded, and is involved in a bunch of super cool digital startups and projects.
Sante Poromaa – Zen Buddhist master Sante Poromaa Sensei is a Zen buddhist teacher, teaching in Sweden, Finland and Scotland, He has been practising Zen since the early eighties, and teaching full time for almost fifteen years. He started practice as a student of Philip Kapleau, author of “The Three Pillars of Zen”, and he later became a student of Kapleau’s successor, Bodhin Kjolhede. He originally trained as an artist. Sante Sensei has published two books, one called “Beyond all Concepts – Buddhas Path to Freedom” and one “The Net of Indra” on the common ground between science and Buddhism.
Jenny B. Osuldsen – Landscape architect/partner Snøhetta Jenny B. Osuldsen, is educated as Landscape architect in Norway (MLArch 1991) and in the USA. She has been working in Snøhetta since 1995 and became a partner in 2006. Snøhetta AS began as a collective practice combining architecture and landscape architecture in 1989. The equitable in-house connection between landscape architecture, architecture and interior and furnishing Design has allowed Snøhetta to develop a unique focus that both respects and illuminates the often ignored or unseen characteristics of context and program. Landscape and architecture have developed at Snøhetta into a single idea creating a new and emerging spirit for architectural practices, worldwide.
Stefan Ytterborn – CEO and founder POC Founder and CEO of POC. Developing and marketing personal protection for gravity sports 2004-, Founder and CEO of Ytterborn & Fuentes Design Management 1996-2004, Founder and CEO of cbi 1992-1995, Founder and co-founder of C&Bi Interior, Klara, SweCode, IKEA PS and more. 1986-1995
Jennifer Leonard – Interdisciplinary Project Leader at IDEO Jennifer is a Design Leader at IDEO, with deep experience in research methods, participatory design and storytelling techniques. Across five years and multiple IDEO locations, Jennifer’s content depth has grown to include service, space, hospitality, brand and innovation strategy. In 2004, she co-authored Massive Change (with Bruce Mau), a book about the future of global design, voted 1 of 5 top books of 2004 by Wallpaper* magazine.
Lisa White – Head of Interiors at WGSN/HomeBuildLife A multi-cultural multi-national, Lisa White is an American who has spent half of her life in France. She began her career at Chanel, then joined the trend forecasting office of Li Edelkoort, where she launched and edited the iconic professional magazines View on Colour, INview and Bloom. She also wrote on design for a variety of international publications, including Vogue, Surface, Beaux Arts and Form. Proficient in the languages of colour, design and materials, Lisa was early to recognize the growing importance of industrial design to the creative and business worlds. As Head of Interiors for WGSN, Lisa is currently building the concept and content of their new website : homebuildlife.
Brent Richards – CEO and Creative Director of The Design Embassy Europe An International Award winning Architect and Designer, Academic, and Creative Polymath. He is CEO | Founder of The Design Embassy Europe an international transdisciplinary Creative Consultancy based in Richmond London. Services include R&D, Trend Mapping & Futurescaping, Creative Strategy, and Design Services. DE is currently engaged in projects in Spain, Italy, Iceland, Sweden, Mauritius, Japan and USA). Previously, Brent was Founder and Executive Director of the Design Laboratory @ Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts (UAL) London 2000-2009. His role positioned him at the center of emerging design talent, the creative industries, bridging education, design innovation and enterprise
Anne Mieke Eggenkamp – Chairwoman at Design Academy Eindhoven
Frida Jepsson – Design critic and curator
Has been working at Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) since 2002; starting as a tutor and a coordinator for the Man and Leisure design department, she has been managing director of the school’s educational affairs since 2006. In September 2007 she became member of DAE’s Executive Board. Previous engagements include teaching posts at several dutch academies. In 2001 – 2002 she was a creative director at Razorfish BV where her responsibilities included introducing new cars made by Nissan Europe. Since 2002 she has been the owner of EGG, an agency for design and communication.
Gabeira was also one of the founding members of the Green Party of Brazil, but left the group in 2002 to join the Workers’ Party. Fernando Gabeira ran for the mayoral office in Rio de Janeiro, and was defeated by Eduardo Paes in the run off round on October 26, 2008. During his exile, in the 70s, Gabeira lived in many countries as Chile, Sweden and Italy. In Stockholm, the city that he spent most of his exile in, he studied Anthropology - at University of Stockholm[Plataforma Diplomatica] - and worked as a journalist as well as metro conductor
Johan Ronnestam – Creative Director, entrepreneur and professional speaker
Per Cromwell - CEO Studio Total
With more than 13 years experience of awarded global digital and traditional advertising and communication Johan is considered one of Sweden’s first authorities within the field of future creative and conceptual thinking. His blog www.ronnestam.com was voted Swedens first blog on innovation, future trends and digital communication in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2010 the readers of Microsoft Indicate voted named him Swedens most influential authority within digital communication. Apart from speaking and creative consulting Johan in 2011 founded JAJDO (www.jajdo.com) - a creative collective focused on creating playful learning apps for children all over the world.
Lia Ghilardi – Cultural planner Lia Ghilardi is the founder and director of Noema Research and Planning, a UK-based organization working internationally to deliver place mapping and strategic cultural planning projects. Internationally recognized as a leader in the field of urban and cultural development, Lia has worked for more than twenty years with civic leaders, urban networks and arts organisations to provide creative solutions to the challenges of place making. Recently she joined the Mayor of London’s new special advisory group on culture and development. She is a member of the Academy of Urbanism, a UK based network of influential thinkers, urbanists and decision makers.
Per Cromwell is a founding member of the communications agency Studio Total. Since 2005 he has experimented with new forms of advertising and communication. Among Studio Total jobs are Kulturpartiet for National Theatre, Masturbation movies for the Arvika Festival, Black Ascot blog for Malmo Opera, Gudrun Schyman 100 000 kronor barbecue in Almedalen, the world’s biggest iPod speaker Wall of Sound and illegal jump from Oresund Bridge. 2010 was the year when the Swedish media caught the eye of Studio Total. 2011 they will be working mostly internationally.
BOOST TALK
11th february 9.30 Welcome
Speakers
10.00 Session one
Chief editor since several years for the main magazine of the book world in Sweden, Svensk Bokhandel, which has a good reputation for critical and investigating journalism.
Inaugural SpeeCh by Designboost
Lasse Winkler
Peter Wilcke
anDerS ekberg – Opening remarks
Chief manager for non-fiction at the publishing house Norstedts – one of the leading publishing houses in Sweden.
laSSe Winkler – The book industry - now and future
Marie Arvinius
peter WilCke –the book’s future role and digital media anDerS ekberg – the book as marketing, object and brand builder 12.00 lunCh 13.00 Session two Jeppe WiCkStröm – the view from a publisher– about the book in the future
She is the founder of Arvinius Förlag. A leading publisher in the design area. Arvinius publish books in architecture, industrial design and art.
Staffan Bengtsson Journalist. Have been involved in magazines, public services, debates in the design area for several years.
Elisabeth Björkbom Graphic Designer. Work with IKEA and also run a wine business.
Anders Ekberg MD at Fälth & Hässler – the leading printer in Sweden when it comes to high end quality books. Forty years experience in the book business.
Jeppe Wikström
nina ulmaJa – book design - now and future
Publisher and creator of Max Ströms Förlag. Max Ström is the leading publisher in Sweden in the area of high quality illustrated books with authors such as Lennart Nilsson, JH Engström, Lennart Petersen. Photographer.
14.50 pauSe
Nina Ulmaja
15.15 SeSSion three
Book designer and chief designer at Albert Bonniers Förlag – Sweden’s largest publishing house. A lot of awards and a great impact in trends concerning book design is Nina´s book mark.
Marie Arvinius, Staffan Bengtsson, Elisabeth Björkbom - ikea, CaSe ikea the book henrik nygren WinD-up: Designboost 16.00 mingle
Henrik Nygren Henrik Nygren Design mainly deals with analysing the client’s market potential, with strategy in accordance with this potential and the design and production of books, magazines, packaging, corporate identities, advertising campaigns, exhibitions, etc. When necessary, and depending on the nature of the assignment, the company enlists a carefully selected group of brand strategists, copywriters, printers, etc.
How can design be used to promote well-being? Ilon Garamaj - Svenska designinstitutet
How do we know when we’re beyond?
Liljana Forssten - range development manager Nobia
Does new exist beyond design? Ingrid Sommar - journalist & writer
How will consumer culture affect the role of the designer in the future? Ingrid Unsöld - designer
How can design inspire people to rule their destiny? Johan Ronnestam - creative director and entrepreneur
Is craftmanship - the saviour of the future design field? Andreas Engesvik - designer
How can independent design defend itself against copies? Ida Sjöstedt - fashion designer
Can design slow down? Karin Robling - designer
How can we turn designers into innovators? Jens Pamp - brand strategist
Who gets to define ”beyond”? Andreas Lindberg - art director,
Can design kill creativity? Mikaela Dyhlén - trend anlyst
What makes you push my buttons? Johan Ploski - interaction designer
How do we trust in the design and design processes within the Swedish business?” Per Key Björcke - director and design management
How can we make sustainable design desirable for consumers?
Estelle Joubert Westling - social innovator
Will we look at the design profession differently in the future? Jonas Wagell - designer and architect
Boost SHOW
9-11th february Telefonplan is a former industrial area in southern part of Stockholm. The area has undergone a rapid transformation from traditional industries into a hub for the Swedish creative industries. The schools and the different businesses in design, fashion and communication form an amazing network with extensive experience. The BoostShow is highlighting the creative network which is growing around Telefonplan. Among the participating businesses are: Hyper Island Fox Design Vasakronan Stockholm Stad Transit Kulturinkubator Simon Key Bertman, Textile Designer Ensemble Yria Anna Lidberg / Gallery 1:10 Alice Fine Karin Robling Telefonplan Studios Fish Design Svenskt Tenn Citron Design Kolonien Bepliant Dalston Creative Formforyou Gunilla Hagstrรถm Palmcrantz Design Scharch Arkitektur See more at www.telefonplan.com
Design beyond design - intelligent design or the evolution of habits? Sante Poromaa - zen buddhist master
Has Design really the power to be a a policy tool? Robert Nilsson - - ministry of culture
The key to creative execution is to get moving, and to keep moving. But how do we build momentum in a changing world? Fredrik Helgöstam, founder & CEO, Kolonien
Is design about the things we see or the way we experience the world around us? Anne Mieke Eggenkamp - chairwoman at Design Academy Eindhoven
Do we have the organisational structures necessary to move beyond creating ”green-washed” consumer products to designing sustainable development, or do we need legislation? Tanya Kim Grassley - brand development strategist and copywriter
What design is most important beyond design? Susanne Helgeson - journalist & writer
How can we use design as a pathfinder, creating innovative and profitable design for the planet and for us humans? Christine Hedström - creative advisor
When transcending Design beyond Design, do we envision design beyond business, beyond politics, beyond poetry? Johan Hjerpe - design strategist
Do we really need new design or is improvement and digging deeper into existing design the way to reach beyond? Elisabeth Björkbom - designer
What is needed to make design(ers) support sustainability instead of jeopardize it? Jan Peter Bergkvist - sustainability advisor
What are the critical questions that have to be asked? Emma Stenström - Stockholm School of Economics & Konstfack
Designboost went to New York and made an interview with Bill Moggridge
I was more and more interested in telling people about design and becoming a communicator rather than a designer myself. Is there a difference in designing products or in designing organisations or knowledge or even communication? The interesting thing about design in this new millenium is that the context in which we operate has really expanded quite dramatically. I think of design in three circles, with people at the centre, then architecture around them and then the planet surrounding all of them. If you look at all three you can see that it’s growing. So if you start with the people component at the centre we used to think of ourselves as designing objects - an iPhone, an object but now we think about the person in a more holistic way so we think of the possibility of designing for health and well-being. And of course the objects would still be there but they would be considered in a context which expands towards the way that people exist. Similarly if we move the the architectural circle, I think architects and interior designers have thought of themselves in the past as designing buildings or even cities, but they’ve been thinking about the structure as their goal and their role whereas the expanded context now is that we think more in terms of social innovation. Of course the buildings are a part of that social structure but we think about the way that society works, as a context in which we can exist. And then if we go to the outer circle on a more planetary level that has more to do with sustainability and we used to think about sustainability as being about designing with better materials, or disassembly but it was usually related to the objects or the way a building behaves but now we think about it in a more holistic way so you really have to think of the whole planet as connected. It’s connected electronically through the internet but it is also connected through the behaviour of people across the planet and as we manufacture in China the wind blows it to Iceland and onto Europe and we have to think about the whole thing as a single world, holistically or otherwise we won’t solve the problems.
If you could name an example of a design where all of these three circles have been combined in a good way? A practical example of my three circles I think is when you look at the development of electronic products because before the chips came along, before there was much in the way of electronics we thought of ourselves as designing physical objects. Then initially when chips became more available to everybody you found that electronic products allowed you develop things like the laptop and I was lucky enough to be the designer of the first laptop so that’s a personal example for me. But it was the behavioural of the combination of the electronic software and the object that came together to be this new opportunity. Then of course the internet became a much more prevalent thing, of course it had already been around but it suddenly burst into everybody’s life and all these devices, whether they’re iPhones or laptops became connected so it was really clear that you couldn’t think about designing a single item without thinking about both the software, the electronic design, the man-machine behaviour and also the system and perhaps the whole service connected across
the globe and the implications that that may have for society and if you’re going to think about impact of that, that was the trigger for globalisation so all the issues that now face us in terms of the world sustainability where in a way triggered by that combination of the digital world and the internet.
If you where to give an advice to students or young designers, what would you say? If you’re starting your career and you want to be a designer there are many choices that you can make as you go along. A point will come where you have the opportunity to make choice about the kind of work you’d like to do, I think there’s still plenty of room in the world for traditional object design, there’s still a need for a beautiful piece of furniture and some people would like to specialise in that area throughout their career. But if you’re more interested in one of those new challenges that faces people today, the big issues like sustainability then it’s pretty clear you need to learn how to work in interdisciplinary teams because those challenges are to difficult for any person to do with a single brain. And the idea of actually collaborating with other people the disciplines and you can work together and find that the shared mind is much more powerful than the individual mind.
How do you see a community where the designer plays a bigger role? I actually think of design in four different main levels – there’s design awareness, which is people who are actually not designers at all making design choices - everybody makes choices about what to wear or where to live, the details of their lives. The awareness that they have about design will help them make these choices. Then there’s design skill, the individual disciplines where you have to learn. The top level is design research which is about knowing and how to know. How you understand a design process and if you look at the other arts like poetry and painting you find that there are lots of people getting p.h.d’s in those topics, but they’re not the poets or the artists, they’re the people who understand how it works.
What will happen with the designer in the future? I think as we go forward with this level where interdisciplinary design becomes more recognised then there’s a big opportunity for education to embrace that. The first organisation that did that that I know of is what is now the Alto university in Helsinki. Similarly in the United States is the Stanford D school allows for people from master programs across the university to come together and practice design in interdisciplinary teams. The kids are really thrilled about this, to use design processes to solve their own difficult problems and I think this possibility to expand design beyond the practice of designers only and into all the other disciplines as well, benefitting from the processes that has been evolved during so many decades. That’s a very exciting future for both academia and also for design practice.
Designboost went to Paris and made an interview with Arik Levy
Design chose me. It’s a way of life, an uncontrolled muscle and not something I decide to do or not. Why did you go into design? When did you start, was it when you were a kid or was it something that came later in life? Well, I think my career hasn’t started yet so it is very difficult for me to say where I am. When I was a kid my grandfather had a shop for electronic appliances and he used to repair everything in the back. So I used to play a lot with these things and I liked to demount everything, at home as well. Even things that worked, it was kind of a perversion. Design chose me. It’s a way of life, an uncontrolled muscle and not something I decide to do or not. It’s happening constantly and because of it I don’t sleep. My brain is in control, so maybe you ought to ask it instead of me.
So the brain is taking over, which is a good expression, on what journeys does it take you? It needs a lot of definitions but I don’t think I let or don’t let the brain take over. if I’m honest with myself the physical appearance of the person likes to think he’s in control of his brain but that’s not the case. If I’m able to get out of my head my brain takes me into multiple levels at the same time, I sometimes feel like a big mountain where you can see the different layers of years and thoughts, of feelings, impressions, impacts or sadness that influence my everyday, I see something – a t-shirt and it makes me think of the black t-shirt I wore a couple of days ago when I was talking to somebody about something else. My world is a complex architecture of metaphors and feelings.
The design process, where does it start – in materials or stories or in forms? The design process is individual, we can’t really apply the same process twice. Of course we may have a brief, a discussion with a client and then have ideas and chose between them. So it is a very complex process but it also has very simple and intuitive sides to it. I often have a gut feeling about the projects, of what is wrong or what is right, what works and what doesn’t, what will be attractive and what will not. Unfortunately I’m not always right.
Besides from getting assignments from clients, do you also give yourself assignments? We often work in a state where we are not in control. So I am constantly creating, constantly putting myself in situations where we pretend there is a client for this or that. What helps a lot in a psycological way is that artwork is an arena where I can express myself and take different kinds of liberties where I set the rules and say this is what I’m going to do, such as painting or sculpture or non-functional objects.
Do you find that your role as designer has changed and what do you think it will be like in the future? It is a very good question, I don’t actually think my roles has changed, I think the audience is listening more carefully. I
personally have practiced these parameters intensively for many years and I just don’t think that the audience, or the client or the partner always have the tools or the ability or notion to be able to listen to this sort of discussion. Some of them do but most of them can’t. But I think this is the beauty of the era we live in, because we are living in a phase of transition where the object is important but the environment, the feeling and being able to listen to silence, or what we feel, to our bodies is something which is extremely important. Then communicating it and translating it into a tool, whether it’s a product, a film, a colour, a texture or whatnot is part of our practical job, to give this idea life.
Is design always emotional? I definately think design has great emotional value, on a daily basis. I think beauty is a function, that love is a function. Just think about the very regular scenario, someone walking into a shop, seeing a chair and saying – ”I love this chair”. Can you say that design doesn’t involve emotion? No. Not only does this person love this chair, he puts his hand in his pocket at takes out his wallet, which is probably the result of him waking up for any number of months at six in the morning, taking the public transport, going to work and putting away a little bit of money each month to be able to give his mind and feelings the possibility to invest and spend on what he loves. What is stronger than that?
You get emotional with things and buy them. But what makes you keep things? Me personally I have a very particular relationship with objects. I speak to them, they speak to me, it’s a relationship and I remember so much about these objects, much more than I would with many other things. The notion of memories is so strongly engraved in our brain, in our active mind – whether personal or collective, that it’s part of our daily being. Me personally I can not separate myself from it.
It is possible to describe what it is that triggers you to keep certain things? I call it genetic intimacy. I don’t know what you would call it. It’s a moment where the rational and the irrational and the rational and emotional connect with strings that we don’t control and one thing has more gravity than the other. It’s like three people holding hands and spinning in circles, there’s a moment when one person becomes the circle and the other ones are just spinning around him. That’s how I personally feel, like I’m being taken over by other parameters of who I am and which forces me into different directions. This is total emotional satisfaction, or gratitude. To me it’s like a first kiss, that powerful, but I am extremely tactile.
Designboost went to Eindhoven and made an interview with Piet Hein Eek
I try to translate my own history into visuals. Where does it all start? The funny thing is that people think that the scrap wood is the start, but the real start is that I always try to work from the material, the craftsmanship, the machines and the possibilities of materials. For me every material has it’s quality and every craftsmanship has it’s quality. The scrap wood is more an example of my way of looking at possibilities of materials. I don’t like to do things that are already done, so if I see a material that is usually not useful in a certain purpose, I often see a possibility to make something that has never been done and most of the time I try to make it in a way that feels natural. Because the technique and material is used in a way that it’s almost likely to do it. It should feel comfortable.
Do you have any examples of assignments you’ve done? Apart from our collection we often do different assignments. One of the major things I try to do with assignments, because I’m very much a designer who focus on words so I tend to have a conversation - about the premisses, about the idea, about the dreams and what I do is translate that conversation into a design and most of the time when I do that people will say - yes, this is what we’ve discussed. So it’s very simple, if I can’t get an idea from a conversation we just talk a little bit more. For example we’ve done these bakery shops in Amsterdam, he’s a very old costumer and we’ve done like seven shops and each time he has different ideas and buildings and we discuss how to do it this time. I will make the designs, the blueprint and then he will take over and fill the space with his things and completely ruin my design but it’s really funny. He acts like if it’s his design, and the funny thing is it’s true, because it’s his atmosphere, his idea and I just draw what we talk about. That’s one of the main things when you design, that you have to translate something from another dimension into reality. For me the translation is from words into an actual space, or product.
Is design always emotional? For me design isn’t emotional in itself or in each object but it’s very much emotional in itself. So together it’s emotional, although the designs are often quite pragmatic for me. Because I’m very narrative, there’s always storytelling and that contains enormous emotional value. But they are emotional because of the commission. For example I had this commission where a young kid died in an accident and after having kept his door shut for several years his parents came to me and asked me to make a cupboard with his things in, in case of an emergency and that story it’s an emotional story. So the narrative side of design is quite important to me. It’s like, you have this space where you can function well, and that makes you happy and that is an emotion. I always said I wanted to change the world but actually I make chairs and tables which is quite stupid. But on the other hand it is a profession where you get very much exposure, so with your words you can influence the world and people. So you have the chance to spread your word.
How do you create something that people can be truly emotionally connected to? That is the important thing. Sometimes people start crying when they see things. And that is amazing, the optimal reaction you can get, that someone is so touched by what they see.
Where lies the emotional value within an object? For me it is the brilliance of a detail, or the lack of a detail. That’s what I like. If there’s an idea behind something, like we make scrap-wood furniture and with the left-over wood we make left-over scrap-wood furniture, so it’s the left-over’s and we use it to make something and it’s a little puzzle. Because normally everybody just throws everything away because labour is so expensive, so it’s more expensive to throw the left-over’s away than to use it to make something. It’s this time calculation that creates waste, so I decided to turn it around and I said take however much time to turn this waste into something nice and it was the world upside-down. When the products arrived I thought I would never be able to sell them, no one would pay for it because it was just extravagancy of labour. The first table we made was almost 17000 € and people were fighting to buy it. Then I realised if I was willing to put that much attention into the product, to take as much time as possible since no one does that anymore, then it’s quite logical that there are people on the consumer side that want to buy products which are made with a lot of attention. It’s like a demonstration that it doesn’t have to be like this, because there aren’t enough resource but there are enough people so I think this is the future.
Emotions makes you buy things, but what makes you keep things? That is the difference between good and bad design. When I design I try to use a new material, I see the quality of a material or of a machine or craftsmanship but there’s always a little story, which I already know. I bring together the three components - the material, the machine and the craftsmanship and the fourth one is the story which is in that object. So I don’t make new things, I try to translate little stories. Once we made an archive cupboard and it looks like it’s always been there, but it’s brand new. So we’ve made a lot of products when we’ve thought wow, this is new, this is extreme and when we we’re done it looked like a chair from the 30’s. So I always try to include a narrative side to it, almost unconsciously, I try to translate my own history into visuals.
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Storytelling is essential to design
Jaime Hayón
How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? The designer’s role has been changing very quickly in the last years. For example, designers now can handle their own production and have great freedom. They can choose to be or specialize in anything they want. They can be designer-artists, designer - cooks, designer - architects. The possibilities are diverse and the imagination sets the limit.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? Everything is hybrid in the present: races, languages, sexuality, frontiers... The world has become a hybrid place and most things around us is evidence of this. It has required a very quick adaptation and flexibility process but I think we are ready to take on the challenge.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? Storytelling is essential to design. Apart from function and the beauty of shape, narrative adds even more power to the object. It grants an object the power of communication. It gives the piece a soul.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? I think we can and everyone can do this in their own way. I think honesty is essential for this. An honest design, true to the person’s spirit and beliefs will always be a human design.
How can you be part of shaping the future? In my particular case, I think one of the main reasons why I love and value what I do is because of my personal interest in tradition and craft. If I can help to keep alive traditions that have been part of our history for a long time, even if translated to a contemporary voice, then my work makes sense and I feel I’m contributing in this way to the future. If we do not understand our traditions in crafts, we loose the beauty of our evolution as humans.
Jaime Hayón Spanish artist-designer was born in Madrid in 1974. As a teenager, he submerged himself in skateboard culture and graffiti art, the foundation of the detailed, bold-yet-whimsical imagery so imminent in his work today. In 2005, Jaime broke out on his own, first with collections of designer toys, ceramics and furniture, followed by interior design and installation. His singular vision was first fully exposed in ‘Mediterranean Digital Baroque’ at London’s David Gill Gallery. These collections put Jaime at the forefront a new wave of creators that blurred the lines between art, decoration and design and a renaissance in finely-crafted, intricate objects within the context of contemporary design culture.
J Jenny B. Osuldsen
Hybrid thinking is crucial
How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? The financial crisis in 2008, made a difference in the international market. The over heated speed in many projects slowed down and many international projects stopped. Its harder to find jobs, the contract periods are shorter and the market is tougher. Personally, I was hoping that it would force people to think more holistic and sustainable in their projects, but I am not sure if people really have learned a lesson. We still have to push the projects beyond the limits of the scope of work, that has become narrower…..
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension?
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? I think this will be a priority and one of our new challenges as designers and architects. We need to be both global and local at the same time. We need to make flexible designs but at the same time think more sustainable, not just talk about it.
How can you be part of shaping the future? By still believe that we can push the world further with architecture – I feel privileged to be able to contribute in the wide field of design and architecture.
Interdisciplinary groups are needed to push the designs. Hybrid thinking is crucial to be able to answer the more complex design questions. We have to push for a wider range of professionals working in our teams. I have only seen projects getting better and broader when working transdisciplinary.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? I love this question – its like it is taken from Snøhetta`s everyday discussions in the office! Some key issues are: work in team, look into context, respect the existing and look for the unseen to create a new understanding of program and idea. Have fun and be taken by surprise!
Jenny B. Osuldsen, is educated as Landscape architect in Norway (MLArch 1991) and in the USA. She has been working in Snøhetta since 1995 and became a partner in 2006. Snøhetta AS began as a collective practice combining architecture and landscape architecture in 1989. The equitable in-house connection between landscape architecture, architecture and interior and furnishing Design has allowed Snøhetta to develop a unique focus that both respects and illuminates the often ignored or unseen characteristics of context and program. Landscape and architecture have developed at Snøhetta into a single idea creating a new and emerging spirit for architectural practices, worldwide.
T John Thackara
Leave the world better than we found it How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? I would rather say that the world has changed dramatically over the past few years – and that designers are adapting to the new realities in different ways and at different speeds. The way I see it, today’s growth-at-all-costs, biosphere-killing economy is on its last legs. Its replacement, a restorative economy, is emerging, bottom-up, in a million grassroots projects. The better-known examples have names like PostCarbon Cities, or Transition Towns – but there are many more: from dam removers, to seed bankers, from iPhone doctors, to rainwater rescuers. These social innovators are learning how to create value without destroying natural and human assets. But they are still a thinly-spread minority. Most people – including a majority of designers – remain trapped in what Adbusters’ calls our “doomsday machine economy’ – compelled, or so it feels, to keep chucking an endless stream of wasteful and pointless stuff into a world whose carrying capacity is finite.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? This is a key issue. A whole-systems, transdisciplinary approach brings us up against so-called ’wicked’ questions. Solutions to wicked problems require large groups of stakeholders, with differing perspectives and interests, to work together. How do we achieve that? All of us in design need to learn the practice – and art – of starting conversations that reveal opportunities – but without expecting to impose a clearly defined solution onto this process.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? Storytelling can be an evocative way to reframe the issues that confront both designers and the people we work with.
But for me the word conversation is more ievocative than story: conversations are two-way; storytelling, on its own, is a one-way mode of communication. Stories are a good way to start conversations but they are not an end in themselves.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? Ethical and ecological values are beginning to shape design in ways that would have been unthinkable five years ago. But ”humanistic” is just one aspect of that. I have come to believe that design needs to be based on an unconditional respect for life, and for the conditions that support life – not just on the needs of human life. This more ecological approach does not mean the abandonment of science or technology – but it does entail a profound shift from the ’human-based’ design that is taught in most of today’s universities, and the technologydriven innovation practised in most industry r&d departments.
How can you be part of shaping the future? By joining what I call the restorative economy, which is emerging out there at the edges. This new kind of economy is based on a simple principle: Leave the world better than we found it. Tere are thousands of groups, tens of thousands of experiments out there if only you look. For every daily life-support system that is unsustainable now – food, health, shelter and clothing – alternatives are being innovated. The keyword here is social innovation, because this movement is about groups of people innovating together. It is not about lone inventors, let alone super-smart designers, ”saving” poor people. So to be part of shaping this future - which is happening now – my advice is to go and find one of these projects and offer your design skills in a respectful and humble spirit.
John Thackara is a writer, speaker, and event producer. He is the author of In The Bubble: Designing In A Complex World (MIT Press) among thirteen books, and of a widely-read blog, about design for resilience, doorsofperception.com. As director of Doors of Perception, John organizes festivals and encounters around the world, at a city-region scale, in which communities imagine sustainable futures – and take practical steps to realize them. John Thackara lives in France
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working on the edge
Deyan Sudjic
How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? Unless designers can adjust to the more ephemeral nature of the object, they risk taking on the role of craftsmen potters and book binders: working on the edge of the conversation not at the centre.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? Better to look for clarity.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? By telling stories not about ourselves, but about the world around us.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? By understanding our limitations.
How can you be part of shaping the future? Buckminster Fuller once suggested that the best way to know the future was to design it. Deyan Sudjic, noted design writer and curator has since 2006 been the head of Design Museum in London, England. The museum is one of the world’s leading and devoted to contemporary design in every form and shape – from furniture to graphics, architecture and industrial design. Before taking on the position as head of Design Museum he was dean of the faculty of art, architecture, and design at Kingston University in London and he has co-founded and contributed to many different publications, such as architecture magazines Blueprint and Domus as well as being the design and architecture critic at the Observer for many years.
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Design is a cultural and social change
A rik Levy
How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? I believe the roles has not changed much….finally the industry and the public realise that design is beyond a “Red Stool”…. we have definitely discovered new facets to what design can do or should I say where design (creative) thinking and process can be of great interest. It is a great time for design…a phase of transition.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex - how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? I think what is does is give design more credibility and that evidently helps to develop new ways in which to create, develop and innovate.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? Stories when told well can connect to experiences….design for me should be felt and is something you do hands on…not through internet and catalogues.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? Design is a cultural and social change…and I believe one should not confuse trends with design….as the trends are created upon what we design…we are doing it 2-5 years in advance…the time it takes to an idea to arrive on the market.
How can you be part of shaping the future? We are the future! Honest, responsible and responsive design is part of it. Arik Levy, born in 1963 in Israel is a designer, technician, artist, photographer, filmmaker, his skills multi-disciplinary and his work available in prestigious galleries and museums worldwide. He is best known for his furniture designs for global companies, his installations and limited editions. Nevertheless Levy is determined that ”The world is about people, not table and chairs”. Levy and his 20 man strong team forms Paris based L design which also produces brand identities, signage, exhibitions and interior designs.
C Charles Landry
show what a better world may be like How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? In my perspective one great change is the awareness of design. The notion of design to the general public has changed from something tangible to something less tangible. Today people realise that everything is design, not only physical objects but also policies and that it really is a patterned thinking to achieve an aim. This is a rather dramatic shift and the world is changing into this wider perspective on design.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? I deal with these questions all the time and an holistic mindset is important but difficult to achieve because it is hard for people to really look at things from a wider and non-linear perspective. Generally we add little bits and dimensions of knowledge from other people to the map of knowledge we already have and which is built upon our experiences and what we do. This lack in ability to attack an issue from different viewpoints makes it hard to see the holistic picture, in urban renewal there may be regenerating but when failing to maintain an holistic mindset it will not reach the next step, which would take design into a new dimension where it combined hard and soft factors.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? I believe storytelling works in two ways. Certainly they are important and some say the brain is programmed to recognise
stories – one being the story about the hero for example and these stories relate to deeper things and functions as triggers for memories. These memories in turn create threads between different parts. But storytelling can also be iconic communication where finding the story may be difficult. So you either build a story around something or you find a story to unravel itself through different channels.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? This is really just about making a choice. A government has the choice to build a humanistic city. Each and everyone have the possibility to make an ethical choice regarding design, or life that may help changing the society.
How can you be part of shaping the future? This relates to the question above, I can help by choosing an ethical lifestyle, just like everybody else. My role personally though I believe is to try functioning as a trigger to shift thinking and to continuously show what a better world may be like. I chose to use my imagination to project a certain form of ethics.
Charles Landry, born in Britain in 1948 is an international authority on creativity and the future of cities, focusing especially on how these may be invigorated and revitalized by the use of its culture and thus enhancing the sense of self and confidence. He has founded the highly respected consultancy Comedia and he has worked on hundreds of projects all over the world and dealt with issues in creativity, culture and urban change. He wrote the book The Creative City: A toolkit for urban innovators which has then spread into a global movement to rethink the planning, development and management of cities.
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The designer is now beyond title
Neville Brody
How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? The designer is now beyond title. I call it an Un-titled profession. We now have to work in still image, typography, moving image, writing, interaction, behavioural science, sound, 3D and spatial design.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? We have no choice. This fluidity is both a tremendous challenge and an amazing opportunity. The digital/real world space we are building will create a new consciousness.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? Everything is narrative, and moving from object-oriented to objective process will remove the barriers to possibilities. Ego will suffer when there is no preciousness and ownership, but this fertile anarchy will be allow us to surface as more aware, more engaged and passionate beings.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? Communication is a political space that changes thoughts. Awareness and engagement repositions design at the heart of society and enforces a beneficial role.
How can you be part of shaping the future? We have no choice. We must tear up the plans and be open to any eventuality. Nothing will be fixed, and we do not yet understand the full potential of the Knowledge Revolution that is upon us. Neville Brody is known for his work on The Face magazine (1981-1986) and Arena magazine (1987-1990), as well as for designing record covers for such artists as Cabaret Voltaire and Depeche Mode. He created the company Research Studios in 1994 and is a founding member of Fontworks. He has been announced to be the new head of the Communication Art & Design department at the Royal College of Art commencing in Januray 2011.
F
simpler questions better answers
How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? I don’t think the role of the designer has changed much but the claims made on behalf of design have grown enormously. Design has experienced a great deal of “mission creep” and there is now a wide presumption that it can do everything and be everything. This makes me nervous. Beware design hubris.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? I have to question this question because I don’t understand it. Was there ever a time when the world was not multifaceted? Are you sure that problems are getting more complex? What do “hybrid thinking” and “an open-minded holistic mindset” mean? Why do we need to take design into a new dimension? Perhaps if we ask simpler questions, we can get better answers.
Marcus Fairs
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? I wonder whether people really want “memorable and sensuous experiences” from physical objects. They may want that from their relationships, their holidays, their visits to restau-
rants and other “soft” experiences but surely they mainly just want objects to work? Hyping the power of the object in this way can lead to disappointment, especially as so much of an object’s power these days comes from its digital innards. Software is providing objects with their soul these days, not design hardware. I think we’re seeing the retreat of hardware.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? I’m not sure that the one follows the other. Design can be an important driver of cultural and social change but responding to change – for example by helping people to adapt – can be more useful than initiating it. Perhaps a humanistic approach is more useful in the latter case; in the former, anything goes.
How can you be part of shaping the future? By not dying tomorrow.
Marcus Fairs is a design journalist and entrepreneur. He is founder and editor-inchief of online architecture and design magazine Dezeen (www.dezeen.com). One of the world’s most popular and influential design websites, Dezeen gets over two million visits a month. Dezeen was launched in 2006 and has since expanded to encompass a highly successful design recruitment website (www.dezeenjobs. com) and online watch store (www.dezeenwatchstore.com). Marcus has previously launched international architecture and design magazine Icon, which he edited from 2003 to 2006. Marcus is author of the best-selling book Twenty-First Century Design, published in 2006 by Carlton Books, which sold out and was reissued in June 2009. His new book, Green Design, was published in March 2009 by Carlton Books.
Y
Avoid meaningless crap
Stefan Ytterborn
How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? The transition has been going on for a long time. With the complexity of things, these days, involving cross disciplinary competences from a variety of fields, design is not a one man show. Design is the purpose, the planning, the process, the compromises, learning’s, challenges, disappointments, revisions, experienced and handled, from ambition through to consumption and thereafter. It involves everyone in the process and everyone contributes someway or another to the final outcome.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? Design is just that. It’s a matter of awareness, that every one is doing it and it’s a matter of doing it better, considering what needs to be considered. Then if you call it design or something else, doesn’t matter.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? Stories occur when someone does something with intention. Intention, commitment, accuracy and good will are crucial to create a positive reception by someone (i.e. company and consumer). Accurate and true stories is what turn us on and what we will chose.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? Avoid meaningless crap. Only products and services with the intention of supporting content and contributing to real and responsible needs and desires, will survive, eventually.
How can you be part of shaping the future? By practicing what I´ve learnt and stand for. Stefan Ytterborn is the founder and CEO of POC. Developing and marketing personal protection for gravity sports 2004-, Founder and CEO of Ytterborn & Fuentes Design Management 1996-2004, Founder and CEO of cbi 1992-1995, Founder and co-founder of C&Bi Interior, Klara, SweCode, IKEA PS and more. 1986-1995
Ö Sara Öhrvall
design will need to be closer to personal values How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? In the media world, the role of the designer has changed dramatically as most creatives now stand with a foot in two worlds – the world of new media technology and the world of traditional media consumption behaviour – and are facing the challenge of bringing those two worlds together. At Bonnier R&D, we see four main areas of change in designing digital media products. 1. Post-launch activity. As the market is rapidly accelerating, featuring increased competition and speed of technology change, design solutions need to be conceptualized and developed faster, launched in an earlier phase and then continuously updated and fine-tuned. There is no design process that ends with a launch. The design activity has to continue and remain at the heart of the business process also after the launch. 2. Participatory design. As a consequence of the need for post-launch activity, designers need to collaborate much closer with the end users. The design process has to be more transparent and inviting. Open labs are preferred to make sure as many users as possible are engaged in a continuous feedback dialogue. For example, when we were going to launch our new digital magazine platform for the iPad, Mag+, we first released a concept video revealing all of our basic design principles and a prototype of the actual magazine. We had more than half a million people viewing the video and an impressive amount of very clever and insightful comments that helped us improve the product considerably prior to iPad live date. 3. Deconstruct and re-build. As many user behaviours are transferred from the physical world to a digital world, a key design challenge is to re-interpret these user behaviours for a new reality.
To avoid redesigning physical features not worth keeping when going digital, and rather re-creating the experience that users do appreciate and are familiar with already. Furthermore, as many product features, in our case information, news and views, are diversely available, the product development process has to be much more focused on the actual packaging of the user experience. 4. Natural user interface. The first digital media products were driven by computer logics. The user interface was built according to the predefined systems the web grid allowed for, which was satisfying for the initiated computer geek but alien to most others. There were always layers of buttons between the user and the actual content. Some of our key lessons when designing for the new touchscreen devices have been: • Try to build the actual watch, not a wrist screen running clock software. That means; build a user interface where the user gets an immediate experience of the content. Never let the user work through the screen, through buttons. It should rather feel like you are touching the actual product using your body language, a natural and intuitive interface. • Don´t forget to design for the hand. The experience perceived by the eye is relatively decreasing in importance as the new touchscreen interfaces makes people read and experience using their hands. • Parallel storytelling in a physical world, defined by limited space, can now be exchanged for a linear more intuitive approach. Space is indefinite in many digital experiences and the experience can be enhanced by leading the user through an immersive step-by-step storyline.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? In a complex world, design has to encompass not only the physical object, or the core service, but also processes, systems and social environments as well. In this transformation, the design will need to be closer to personal values and social behaviour of each individual user. It is probably no coincidence that the one company that exceeds any expectations right now – both when it comes to sales and consumer appreciation – is a company that has integrated the technical engineering and hardware design with the software engineering and the user interface design better than anyone else. In that way, it is possible to build a process, a system and a social environment that is controlled and carefully managed. Yes, Apple of course.
How can you be part of shaping the future? When participating in the design process, we will need to take on the additional role of advocates for transparency and corporate ethics. The role of the designer will include stimulating discussions in the society. We need to stop placing users at the center and develop products and services to support existing destructive behaviour, but rather encourage a new more sustainable behaviour. Every decision made in the design process will influence the user in one way or the other. In that way, design will have a formativeeducational role that will support and encourage consumer’s willingness to adjust to a new reality. Because using beautiful painting to cover stagnant, non-sustainable products and services will not create an interesting future.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? With new emerging technologies, there will be an explosion in the number of ways users can interact with any product or service. Augmented reality opens up a world of opportunities for storytelling in real time, geolocation capable devices makes it possible to create stories based on the geographical movement of each user and internet of things will make sure there will be a story to be told in each and every piece of equipment in our houses, cars and toys. There will be more ways of activating, personalizing, socializing almost all objects. Any designer needs to provide one or more additional features related to its primary function to remain premium. When building digital media products at Bonnier R&D, we are now trying to expand beyond the actual reading or viewing experiences and build services that offer new ways for me to manage my media products (to activate the content and make it possible to use in new and different ways than just reading, as for example save for later to another device, scrapbook, build reading lists or playlists) as well as socialize them (to share the content, send it to friends, get/give recommendations to/from friends etc.). Our aim is to make traditional media products more contemporary in the digital world by adding new layers and new dimensions to the core object. And, of course, increase the number of media moments.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? People are more and more knowledgeable about what they buy. Before making a purchase decision, the amount of media consumed has increased dramatically. This represents an excellent opportunity to build in design features in products and services that tell stories about the product design, materials used, production process etc. Because people are willing to evaluate all these aspects to make informed purchase decisions. The design of the products can thereby have a more immediate impact through direct social engagement.
Sara Öhrvall is Director of Global Research & Development at Bonnier. The role of Bonnier R&D is to identify market opportunities for innovation and to initiate concept and product development of new digital media products. Sara has previously worked at Toyota and Volvo Cars, where she was head of concept development ofjeep, sports and eco cars and. Other experiences include CEO and partner of brand agency Differ and founder of the innovation-focused consulting firm Ninety. Sara has worked in Tokyo, London, Singapore and Brussels and is currently based in San Francisco. She has an MBA from Umeå Business School in Sweden and has also studied architecture and design at Parsons School of Design in New York.
L Jennifer Leonard
every one of us is a potential designer How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? From a content perspective, I’ve experienced the following shifts on my design projects: – “Beautiful, visionary design” (for the good of the designer) – “Human-centered design” (for the good of the client) – “Human-centered design & innovation” (for the good of the environment) – “Human-centered design & innovation” (for the greater good)
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? By starting with the human, ending with the human, and never forgetting the human throughout the design process.
How can you be part of shaping the future? We can all be part of shaping the future with the choices we make everyday. In this way, each and every one of us is a potential designer.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex - how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? The beauty of design is its unique knack for successfully bringing various disciplines together in the name of a common goal. So in an era of shared challenges, it’s less about ‘taking design into a new dimension’ and more about urgently distributing design capabilities as widely as possible to increase our chances of solving complex problems.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? Humans are natural storytellers! We’re also sensory creatures. We risk losing ‘the delight factor’ of objects when we create them without our essential humanness in mind.
Jennifer Leonard is a Design Leader at IDEO, with deep experience in research methods, participatory design and storytelling techniques. Across five years and multiple IDEO locations, Jennifer’s content depth has grown to include service, space, hospitality, brand and innovation strategy. In 2004, she co-authored Massive Change (with Bruce Mau), a book about the future of global design, voted 1 of 5 top books of 2004 by Wallpaper* magazine.
E Ezio Manzini
Shape the present How has the role of the designer changed over the last years? In the past decades design evolved in different directions and, today, we can observe several ways in which to be designers. For instance: agents of the new media scene; promoters of the past century industrial products; entrepreneurs of designled micro-enterprises; experts, collaborating with other social actors in tackling complex social and environmental problems. In my view, given the challenges we have to face, the last profile, i.e. the design experts operating in large co-design processes, is the most promising one. With the expression “design experts” I refer to social actors who have received formal training to use their capabilities and skills to trigger and support complex design processes.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? For me, what you call “hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset” are the main characters of design thinking. In fact, by definition, design thinking is hybrid and holistic. Given that, if the design experts’ specific role is to empower the other partners’ design capabilities. Using your words, what they have to do is to enhance the other partners’ hybrid thinking and holistic mindset.
To enhance this empowering strategy, story telling is a crucial tool. In particular, in this case, story telling means to develop scenarios and proposals endowed with a high narrative quality and capable to stimulate the other partners’ active participation and to feed their strategic conversation on what to do and how.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? Designers must use their humanistic perspective to act as catalysers of social resources. That is, to help the social resources which are spread in the society to become real and active agents of change. In order to do that, they have to recognize on-going social innovation processes and use their design knowledge and tools to support them.
How can you be part of shaping the future? The best way “to shape the future” is (to try) to shape the present. That you do by starting in local scale. In fact, the future is open, but it will be built by using the building materials what we will be able to generate now, with our projects in the present everyday life. That is, using at best the design capabilities that are diffuse in the society. To facilitate that, a network of Design Labs operating in the design schools has been established and is now extending worldwide: the DESIS-Design for Social Innovation towards Sustainability Network (http://www.desis-network.org )
I would add that this design experts’ role is, or should be, highly creative and visionary. In other words: design experts are not only process facilitators. They must also be process generators. That is, they have to challenge, and even provoke, the other involved actors with their original ideas.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? I must say that I don’t like the expression: “changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences”. I prefer: changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into enabling solutions. That is, into systems of products and services conceived and developed to empower peoples capabilities and, quoting Amartya Sen, to enable them “to be what they want to be and do what they want to do”.
For more than two decades Ezio Manzini has been working in the field of design for sustainability. Most recently, his interests have focused on social innovation, considered as a major driver of sustainable changes, and on what design can do to support it. In this perspective he started and currently coordinates, DESIS: an international network of schools of design and other design-related organisations specifically active in the field of design for social innovation and sustainability (http://www.desis-network.org ). In addition to this, he has explored and promoted design potential in different fields, such as: Design of Materials, in the 80s; Strategic Design, in the 90s; Service Design, in the last ten years. Throughout his professional life he has taught and carried out research in several design schools and, in particular, at the Politecnico di Milano where he directed several research projects and where he coordinated the Unit of Research DIS, the Doctorate in Design and, recently, DES: the Centre for Service Design in the Indaco Department).
I IVAR BJÖRKMAN
education and research is the most important tool How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? In times of disruptive consumption the designer’s responsibility has been heavily questioned. Being a designer today you need to understand and take responsibility for the whole process. The need for understanding the whole value chain has affected the role in that sense that you on the one hand must be like a Swiss army knife and be able to get into areas that you did not had a clue of before. In that sense the role has shifted towards more like a project-manager in which you need to be able to work with many different competences. It is not enough to only focus on the product. In that sense the role has become more pro-active than re-active. Instead of asking what the design world can do for you the designer is today asking what they can do for the world as whole. On the other hand as we live in a society in which everyone more or less is branding him or herself, branding the designer is more difficult today than it was ten years ago. In the world of individual brands anyone can be a designer. It’s just a matter of time when we will see the next blog/Facebook-furniture designer that will come from the blog/Facebook-world.The reason is because companies value those who have built up a customer relationship and are aware of what the customers wants. This means that the role of the ivory-tower designer is gone. You need to be connected and to find the right interpreters of the future.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? By facilitating it in the right way to occur. For example, put the designer in teams that involves competences that they usually not work with in the working process. When did you involve a biologist last time you where up to design a new chair? To get started use the design thinking process as a tool for everyone involved. Empathy-prototyping-abductive logic is key words in the process. Risk and Fail is necessary ingredients to create a success and do not forget the analytical dimension. Make use
of ethnographic methods to get as close to another person’s situation as possible. In the end you will probably end up with a design that is more relevant to the needs of your customer and not only a new product that reminds you of the last furniture fair you went to.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? Storytelling as tool is used more and more,especially in marketing. Just take a look at the commercials on TV – The popular notion of creating characters and intrigues that you can follow. The best ones is when you do not realize that you look upon it not as an ad. You have empathy for the characters and do not take notice of the products. Bingo! Storytelling is what it is; Stories.And there are good ones and there are bad ones. It’s like when you go to a wedding or a 50-year anniversary party. Some speeches are terrible, others are brilliant. But you can learn. Some companies teach their staff to become storytellers. But the best storytellers are of course the customers. When that happens, you will probably hear some kind of a memorable and sensuous experience that they had. The trick is that experience must be good. Otherwise you have problems. The most well known storytelling book ever written is of course the bible. And how has these stories been kept alive during all the years? Better example of telling stories about memorable and sensuous experience is hard to find. So you need a certain place or forum to talk about them. Not necessary a church. I believe Facebook is better though it has no atmosphere. Finally, companies tend to objectify experiences.Probably because they see it as a product. If that so, one way to improve the use of storytelling as tool is to translate the experience into the story. Use it as a metaphor.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? 1.Join independent platforms that will open your mindset for possible sustainable futures. For example such as; www. sustainable-everyday.net. 2.Involve designers and make use of design methods within your company to explore and develop whole value chain, from the coffee bean to the espresso cup. 3.Develop your methods how design can improve customer needs. Design needs to be more connected and contextualized to the overall societal and cultural changes that is now happening. Companies need to understand this process in order to know how to deal with design within their company. Days are gone when you could say design is a competitive advantage.Today its just a ticket to the game. So the challenge is to get to know what is to come. Unfortunately the trendspotting trend that is exploding at the moment is not the solution. Its more like a quick fix. You do not create competitive advantage by running in the same direction as the rest of the gang. To become a leader you need to take risks. Trend analysts is the safe ride. 4.Educate management teams the importance of having a design strategy that is solid and will survive future generations of potential customers.
How can you be part of shaping the future? As a rector/president of a art and design school my role is of course to built a platform that meets the challenges for the future society in our fields of interest. How we as a school connects to the society, how we develop our curriculum and research. I will also take the opportunity to say that we need to be much more aware of than we are today, especially when you take notice of what is happening inEurope today in terms of economic cuts within education, that education and research is the most important tool to built a humanistic society with competitive advantages.
Ivar Bjรถrkman is the president of Konstfack since 2003. He is a researcher and practitioner in Art and Design Management. Products developed with his company Pyra is represented in various national and international museums and exhibitions as well as public spaces. He received a PHD in Design & Art Management from Stockholm University in 1998. Since then he has been responsible for developing programs for students and professionals as well as initiating collaborative research programs in several universities in Sweden. His research investigates the relationship between the worlds of Business, Art and Design. Ivar has published several books and numerous articles on this topic.
G Lia Ghilardi
thinking with people and not for people How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? I’m not a designer by profession, but a creative thinker and my job is to work with cities, civic leaders and communities to reason laterally in order to find imaginative solutions to current urban and social problems. In the past couple of years, I have noticed that there is still a belief in the magic bullet of the ’creative class’ and I find that slightly disconcerting given that key Western economies are seriously threatened by the global meltdown – and the ’creative class’ is in danger of disappearing with it. There is a lot of uncertainty about the future. Nobody has the key to lasting growth and prosperity anymore. I think the role of the designer, or creative thinker, is increasingly about passing on a certain knowledge and ability to think and act flexibly along with a capacity to adapt to changing circumstances. I also believe that we need more ’empathetic’ designers, people capable of ’putting themselves in your shoes’ by adopting an ethical perspective. The extreme marketisation of all things – from people to places – of the past decade has left society with a profound need for sharing, caring, exchanging, recycling and other forms of resistance. This is where designers should be now: thinking with people and not for people.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? There is definitely an increased need for ’open source’ thinking, which in my field we call open source planning. The success of James Surowiecki’s book, The Wisdom of Crowds, shows how by harnessing collective intelligence not only we can tackle problems but can also provide innovative and more egalitarian solutions. Taking an interdisciplinary approach to city making is possibly the most difficult thing to do right now as professions, bureaucracies and politicians of various brands and convictions conspire to keep the status quo (even when faced with the patent failure of old ways of working). The current urban and economic crisis, however, is providing us with a golden opportunity to think afresh and that’s where joined up, holistic thinking is needed. In my field, in order to be effective, the professionals (e.g. the planners) need to radically shift their position and allow a diversity of inputs to contaminate their ’official knowledge’ with more imaginative and humane approaches to place making.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? I use place mind mapping a lot in my work and tend to combine that to other forms of subjective and perceptual mapping. I don’t know if I have answered your question, but when I see and hear people describing how they love their local public space and how they can literally ’smell’, ’feel’ and ’hear’ the soul of their city it really makes me think about the importance of tapping into the intangible, sensual, dimensions of design and architecture. Of course, this usually involves telling stories which make sense of a person’s individual life within the context of their experience of the city.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? Please see comments above.
How can you be part of shaping the future? I have worked for over twenty years now within the urban and cultural fields and have developed my own way of mapping places and valuing their distinctive features and resources (which can vary from human resources, to the landscape, history, industry and contemporary cultural manifestations). Through the years I have refined this way of thinking about cities (which I call cultural mapping and planning) and currently I’m developing it further by focusing on collaborative, ’open source’ planning and policy making processes which I hope will deliver truly open minded, sustainable and cohesive cities.
Lia Ghilardi is the founder and director of Noema Research and Planning, a UKbased organization working internationally to deliver place mapping and strategic cultural planning projects. Internationally recognized as a leader in the field of urban and cultural development, Lia has worked for more than twenty years with civic leaders, urban networks and arts organisations to provide creative solutions to the challenges of place making. Recently she joined the Mayor of London’s new special advisory group on culture and development. She is a member of the Academy of Urbanism, a UK based network of influential thinkers, urbanists and decision makers.
R Johan Ronnestam
A great designer cares for humanity How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? The designer has gone from being the person responsible for making us see something beautiful to instead being the person responsible for making us do something beautiful. A good designer cares for beauty. A great designer cares for humanity. The greatest designer cares for the children of the world.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex - how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? I believe, not matter what occupation we have, we’re all responsible for thinking about the future of this world and how kids of today will live tomorrow. If you’re a designer you’are equipped with a powerful instrument to make people change their behaviour in one way or another. Not using that instrument is to me irresponsible.
Step outside your own body and have a look at what you’re doing. Constantly ask yourselves questions that push your work forward. At the moment I’m working with my own startup JAJDO where we’re creating playful learning apps for kids. At least ten times a day we’re pushing ourselves out of the box. ”What can we do better? Will people really care about this? Does my work contribute to something? Will people love our design?” It’s so easy to start to love your own work and when you do, break up and start over again. It’s about making painful decisions that makes your job tougher but essentially more important.
How can you be part of shaping the future? I believe we all can take part in shaping the future by simply demanding more of ourselves. I personally believe that if we always have the future of kids in our minds when we’re creating things we can be sure that we’re shaping the future in a good way. So, the question before finalizing anything would be ”What good does this design do for the children of the this world?”
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? Storytelling to me isn’t the right way to go about it. To me it’s more about having an idea and going with it all the way while acting responsible.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? Hard work. You just cant settle for less. This means you have to constantly remind yourself why you are doing something.
With more than 13 years experience of awarded global digital and traditional advertising and communication Johan is considered one of Sweden’s first authorities within the field of future creative and conceptual thinking. His blog www.ronnestam.com was voted Swedens first blog on innovation, future trends and digital communication in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2010 the readers of Microsoft Indicate voted named him Swedens most influential authority within digital communication. Apart from speaking and creative consulting Johan in 2011 founded JAJDO (www. jajdo.com) - a creative collective focused on creating playful learning apps for children all over the world.
F Frida Jeppsson
stop patronising readers and users How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? In a world where media is losing its grip on well-written editorial texts to blogs and other quick mediums, the designer has (perhaps without choice) become much more of a communicator. Without a critical filter or an interpreter of some sort, the designer sees great freedom in speech today. This is not the problem. The real issue is responsibility, as it boils down to many qualities a designer has to possess. Including a wide knowledge of the field one works in, good understanding of the implications of one’s work as well as being able to express, defend and critically evaluate oneself. Another big issue is the fact that the world is, at the moment, drowning in new designers and items. Sometimes it even feels like designers are “inventing” problems to solve. How can one possibly stand out and make a difference in a market saturated with similar chairs and lamps? On top of the obvious; being a responsible, well-read, problem-solving creator, the designer now has been forced to become an organiser and PR agent – a self-curator if you will. Presentation has always been key in design but even more so today when one constantly has to been seen in the ‘right’ context, defending one’s existence to the design-savvy users and consumers. We need something to separate things from each other, the good from the bad. Perhaps the missing link is ideology? Something I have long argued for is the story of a product. Every product has one, and lately the consumers and users seem to have taken interest in this fact and now demand added value in the form of storytelling. This asks for designers that can communicate succinctly in form as well as in language, which is one big change.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? We’ve created our own problems in the world we live in. Hybrid thinking should be happening all the time, and I’m pretty sure it is. It is after all what defines a designer;
somebody with a wide scope and a creative way of being inclusive. A new product is seldom the answer or solution to any given problem. Perhaps by focusing on ‘real’ problems and ‘real’ people, rather than looking at users like numbers and types, we can move closer to humanistic perspectives? The “I” always seem to play such an important role in a designer’s life and creative process. I’ve talked to many designers creating things they would like to have at home or that their friends would enjoy. Perhaps it’s laziness? But it could also have something to do with how we educate designers and the world we introduce them to? As a design student you’re constantly told to sell your products. Sell yourself. Exhibiting at the biggest commercial fairs and getting as much press as possible is the way to succeed. It is suggested that you don’t mention negative aspects of a product or project, to avoid coming off as weak. I think we can take design into a new dimension by talking about it from many different perspectives as well as being critical. Even in school. Or, perhaps, starting in school? The commercial aspect of design is usually regarded as the norm within design education, which is a shame. There are many good examples of design educations taking design beyond design, like the Experience Design Group at Konstfack. There’s The Institute of Design at IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology), which is dedicated to innovation with a human-centered approach to technology and design. The d.school at Stanford University is another example of collaborations taking place across disciplines and cultural boundaries, preparing future innovators. By looking into fields that are nearby, like technology, chemistry and maths, we can perhaps focus more easily on global and social issues, systems and sustainability?
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? I’m sceptical about using something like storytelling as a ‘tool’. A tool is a method, and methods sometimes lead to confusion – as you apply a set of thoughts or ideas onto an object. All objects have stories and some are admittedly more visible than others. One should, however, not need to add extra value to something in order for consumers to read more into an object. That is sadly how storytelling is used in many cases today. These stories will likely be experienced as fake and purposeless. Storytelling could, in that way, easily become the new ‘sustainable’ or ‘green’, which in many cases, when put in front of the word Design, becomes meaningless. What if storytelling was about origin and the design process? It could be used in an educative way to inform consumers and users about the design profession and its complexity. When it comes to the blurry area of sustainable design, storytelling could answer questions and guide users into understanding why, for example, a piece of furniture made in Sweden, with Swedish wood, by a Swedish carpenter can be more sustainable than a recyclable piece made from the ‘green’ material bamboo. Storytelling could put things into perspective. There are examples of good and succinct storytelling, like Dunne & Raby’s cuddly atomic bomb or Jurgen Bey’s Pixelated Chair, but very seldom does it concern a product that works on the market. It becomes very conceptual and museum-like. Perhaps designers need to find ways to include the user in the story for it to become truly successful? And perhaps also develop the ways in which they communicate their stories. Storytelling is as much form as it is words.
How can you be part of shaping the future? Ask questions. Everything you buy is a motion towards the kind of world, society or future you want to live in. In a similar way, everything you write, design, save, build, give away etc, is an indication and action that forms our future. I may still be young and naïve enough to believe I actually can make a change. I do however happily spend 30 minutes on an image caption, making sure it’s not clichéd, bland, disrespectful towards the reader or designer, nor strained or stressed. Everyone within the design sphere has a responsibility towards his or her own future. I am doing everything in my power to add to a developing anguage for design that is relevant, respectful, versed and questioning of the norm.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? One way could be to review the relationship between the consumer and maker. By working in an inclusive way, in everything from the design process and material choice to how we talk about design. To make a proper change that means something outside an academic context, we probably need to engage the users. When they understand the complexity of design, they can start revaluing their approach and relation to it and – perhaps also in the long run – consumption. I was recently introduced to the notion of the ‘consumaker’ by the design group Åker Collective, and I think they’re on to something. By inviting the consumers in the creation of the product a story that is true and personal comes to life. A big and important change is perhaps also to start talking about design as a force that is capable of social change. It’s not as much of a ’how to do it’ than it is to spread the word about it being done all the time. From a media perspective I find it very troublesome to read about design as ‘interior objects’ or ‘trends’. We have to stop patronising readers and users, which is what we do by boiling design down to products.
Frida Jeppsson is the Editor of the Swedish design and architecture magazine Nya RUM. She is also a freelance design critic, curator and contributor to Inhabitat. She holds BA in Product Design from the Linaeus University and an MA in Critical Writing and Curatorial Practice from Konstfack. Her thesis and book, titled In Case Of Design - Inject Critical Thinking, highlights not only the vital role of design criticism in the design process but also the lack of an established critical language within media and design itself. The design exhibition Check In 2011, taking place during the Stockholm Design Week, has also been curated and organised by Jeppsson with some of these crucial aspects in mind.
B Brent Richards
designing for the real world How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years ? The role of the Designer has fundamentally altered from being reactive practitioner to proactive open source consultant. From artistic translator to cultural interpreter, from specialist in one field to a polymath of many, from lone aesthetic guru to a multi –collaborator within global communities, regional consortia and local groupings. The Designer has become a political animal, with a view on the world – ethical, ecological, sustainable, inclusive, philanthropic, humane, and tasked with reconciling adjacent and opposing forces, responding with solutions in a period devoid of ideals, certainty and leadership. The Designer has joined the creative tribe of professionals responding to change, climate, energy and urbanity. But uniquely the Designer is the scout ahead of the tribe searching the trail, reading the signs, and exploring the future landscape.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension ?
How can we better our storytelling as a tool when changing the predominated notion of objects into more memorable and sensuous experiences ? We have to re-learn the art of storytelling in Design. To place design solutions in a wider socio-cultural context that is inclusive of the past, present and future. To place design responses in a landscape of the imagination, whereby the user, the customer, the client, become key actors who interact with the plot, rather than play silent witness to design objectivity. Sensorial experiences bring the choreography of memory to the secret life of objects. We need to add back sensuality to our world, and no longer take nature for granted!
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes ? Designers have to become part of the context of daily life, and not abstracted and remote from authentic experience. Empathy, humanity, and an understanding of human needs are more worthy ways to contributing to the human community.
Complexity and contradiction is not new phenomenon, rather it is more apparent due to the way we live and inhabit our contemporary environments. We are governed by flows of data and resource – speed, time, money, communication and movements of global markets.
How can you be part of shaping the future ?
With a hybrid and open holistic mindset Design possess a unique role to overview, contextualise, and to apply system thinking to the intricate and compound.
An International Award winning Architect and Designer, Academic, and Creative Polymath. He is CEO | Founder of The Design Embassy Europe an international transdisciplinary Creative Consultancy based in Richmond London. Services include R&D, Trend Mapping & Futurescaping, Creative Strategy, and Design Services. DE is currently engaged in projects in Spain, Italy, Iceland, Sweden, Mauritius, Japan and USA). Previously, Brent was Founder and Executive Director of the Design Laboratory @ Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts (UAL) London 2000-2009. His role positioned him at the center of emerging design talent, the creative industries, bridging education, design innovation and enterprise.
Complexity is no more than an opportunity in search of creative solution……
By designing for the real world as it is, rather than a digital design utopia without the blemishes!
C
The world consists of storys, not of atoms
Per Cromwell
How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? One small shift of focus, from object to context.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? The world is constant getting more complex, everything we produce reflects this. Open-minded holistic mindset and/or madness is the only way turn the reflection into a vision. It’s not a question of How but a question of Where.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? The world consists of storys, not of atoms. By doing something remarkable anyone can get worldwide attention in 24 hours. By describing your work in nouns and not in whispers you turn down the potential of storytelling.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? By stop designing only for the white middle class.
How can you be part of shaping the future? By continue to tell stories that makes people react any different ways.
Per Cromwell is a founding member of the communications agency Studio Total. Since 2005 he has experimented with new forms of advertising and communication. Among Studio Total jobs are Kulturpartiet for National Theatre, Masturbation movies for the Arvika Festival, Black Ascot blog for Malmo Opera, Gudrun Schyman 100 000 kronor barbecue in Almedalen, the world’s biggest iPod speaker Wall of Sound and illegal jump from Oresund Bridge. 2010 was the year when the Swedish media caught the eye of Studio Total. 2011 they will be working mostly internationally.
T
The future belongs to interested people
How has the role of the designer changed over the last couple of years? Obviously, the role of the designer has always been broad. But to me, it seems like the borders between the various design disciplines is blurring. A graphic design suddenly directs a multi-sensory experience. An industrial designer suddenly works with user experience design. A user experience designer suddenly works with game design. This means that you as a designer today need to be both a specialist and a generalist at the same time.
Our world is multifaceted and problems are getting more and more complex – how can hybrid thinking and an open-minded holistic mindset take design into a new dimension? We still see a lot of very reputable people still today avoid solving the real problem by just doing the same thing over again. It might sound like a cliché, but to me it’s all about interest. The future belongs to interested people, who constantly evolve and use their past knowledge as a foundation to learn new things, platforms and disciplines. With that attitude, the future will impossible to predict, which I think is an intriguing thought.
Ted Persson
of possibilities spreading out of the actual, physical objects. As soon as people have started looking at some objects like this, I think it’s far more easy to introduce people to the ‘auras’ of other objects, ‘auras’ that sometimes are far less tangible than the one of a phone.
How can we design with a more humanistic perspective and thus contribute to cultural and social changes? By never forgetting that you have a responsibility as a designer. Many of the things you design, physical or nonphysical, will be around far longer than you will. I think this is a key thought – it’s not about whether you can stand for it or not, it’s about whether what you are creating is a fair building block of the future, no matter what the client asked for, the budget or any other circumstances that might seem important right now.
How can you be part of shaping the future? By never stopping to do things.
How can we better use storytelling as tool when changing the predominated notion of ’objects’ into more memorable and sensuous experiences? Although we are physical beings, I think people most and more appreciate that there is more to things than meet the eye (or hand). I think it has to start with everyday objects, and then spread to objects and phenomenons you interact with less often. A phone is not just a phone. It’s a multipurpose device opening up to a parallel, universe of apps, cloud based and location based services. It’s like an ‘aura’
Ted is a Stockholm based creative director, digital entrepreneur and struggling beard grower. Ted is a co-founder of leading digital agency Great Works, where he currently holds the position as Chief Creative Officer, overseeing work from the agency’s offices in Stockholm, New York, Barcelona, Tokyo and Shanghai. In excess of his position at Great Works, Ted has founded, and is involved in a bunch of super cool digital startups and projects.
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