As designers are encouraged to be socially responsible in their approach, what do the professional bodies have to say about this?
"Social responsibility has economic and environmental dimensions. This broad perspective is often described as a commitment to “sustainability,” which has become a term-of-art for advancing economic activity while ensuring that we can sustain our activities in a sometimes fragile world without harming the future’s potential." – Richard Grefe, executive director AIGA (the professional association of design)
More Associates are loyal to this cause, and have formulated their design approach around 4 main principles; namely user-centred design, sustainable design, evidence-based design and interdisciplinary design. Research here seems to be key to their operations and in collaborating with academics, scientists, designers and engineers, 'form and function' definitely seems to be the order of the day. What strikes me as truly heartening is their pragmatism; they acknowledge that "conflicts" and "bad habits" need to be worked around while still benefiting the bottom line and yet, are able to marry this in aesthetically pleasing solutions.
"Social responsibility has economic and environmental dimensions. This broad perspective is often described as a commitment to “sustainability,” which has become a term-of-art for advancing economic activity while ensuring that we can sustain our activities in a sometimes fragile world without harming the future’s potential." – Richard Grefe, executive director AIGA (the professional association of design)
More Associates are loyal to this cause, and have formulated their design approach around 4 main principles; namely user-centred design, sustainable design, evidence-based design and interdisciplinary design. Research here seems to be key to their operations and in collaborating with academics, scientists, designers and engineers, 'form and function' definitely seems to be the order of the day. What strikes me as truly heartening is their pragmatism; they acknowledge that "conflicts" and "bad habits" need to be worked around while still benefiting the bottom line and yet, are able to marry this in aesthetically pleasing solutions.
Commissioned by Foster and Partners to communicate the benefits of the solar roof on Bishops Square, More Associates came up with a novel LED panel that 'rained' energy (related to the amount of solar power being generated by the roof panels), which also relayed information on energy use. The animations were designed to minimise the number of LEDs that needed to be lit up and ensured that the power requirement corresponded with the energy production by the solar roof.
And to prove that they practise what they preach, even their stationery has been carefully produced so that a single print run is able to produce business cards, postcards and posters with the use of 2 different weighted stocks.At IDEO, they've summed up their "approach to innovation" as Design Thinking, also drawing from a range of different disciplines in a "human-centred, iterative and practical approach". Discovering the breadth of speakers (IDEO Voices) they have on issues from aging to education, mobility and user interface design is simply mind-blowing.
What I find truly inspiring is how their work seems to defy boundaries, and why shouldn't it, seeing that they've whole-heartedly embrace Design Thinking in such a holistic manner? From brand identity and packaging design for Pangea Organics including a compostable bar soap box made from 100% post-consumer content, to crafting a cool-to-the-touch kettle and a clothes hanger that uses heat to remove wrinkles, IDEO also apply themselves to cultivating user experiences such as that of the American Red Cross Donors'.
0 comments:
Post a Comment