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Design is finally a discussion point and creative intellects deep-dive at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.
Many of us creatives, who sit behind out Macs, and spend our days selecting fonts, or choosing color palettes rarely think about the greater scope of design, it's role in culture, or how the many product we create or invent affect other people. It might come as a surprise then, that not only did Hillary Clinton and the scuffle between world leader make world headlines last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, but that Bruce Nussbaum and his Global Agenda Council (GAC), presented thier analysis and observations, as well as some suggestions about the future and impact of design in our global community.
The idea of Global Agenda Councils is interesting in itself. According to the World Economic Forum website, "Global Agenda Councils represent transformational innovation in global governance, creating multistakeholder groups composed of the most innovative and influential minds for the purpose of advancing knowledge as well as collaboratively developing solutions for the most crucial issues on the global agenda." Read more here.
These GAC's met earlier, and then reported thier findings at the larger World Economic Forum in Davos. To anyone who is interested in design theory, or the future of design, be certain to visit the related links, and snoop around. It is fascinating and quite interesting to see our world leaders considering such TED conference-like issues. Joy, in the design world, all hail Nussbaum.
Also, Harvard's IdeasLab was a new session format presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week with a weekend of events and interesting speakers, presentations and programs.
Design is stepping to the forefront, and as the worlds leading intellectuals, universities and business leaders join forces, the future of design is suddenly looking brighter. ( hence, the "light bulbs"). Baby steps.......baby steps....
Bruce Nussbaum is our contemporary hero. Last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he presented again, the Creative Manifesto, which he shares a bit here gathered from his Innovation article on Business Week:
"My own thoughts on our troubles are simple. We are in a sustained period of ambiguity, with traditional institutions no longer working and established leaders failing us. This fog of uncertainty requires new pilots and piloting methods. Designers and design thinking methodologies are the best we have to guide us through uncertainty and ambiguity today."
Mr. Nussbaums "manifesto" which his Global Agenda Council/Design group crafted was inspired by and was the product of a discussion his team had in Dubai where 68 Global Agenda Councils met, and were asked to focus on answering two questions:
1. What is the state of the world on this issue and how is the economic crisis impacting this issue? and
2. What should be done to improve the state of the world on this issue/region/industry, and by whom?
Mr. Nussbaum has posted the Design teams' GAC response on the Business Week.com site, and I share part of it here, since it is relevant to both my book ( Beyond Trend) premise, and it provides some context to all of us in the creative field, seeking guidance and leadership towards a future which may seem unclear.
“ON DESIGN
Throughout history, design has been an agent of change. It helps us to understand the changes in the world around us, and to turn them to our advantage by translating them into things that can make our lives better. Now, at a time of crisis and unprecedented change in every area of our lives – economic, political, environmental, societal and in science and technology – design is more valuable than ever.
The crisis comes at a time when design has evolved. Once a tool of consumption chiefly involved in the production of objects and images, design is now also engaged with developing and building systems and
strategies, and in changing behaviour often in collaboration with different disciplines.
Design is being used to:
· Gain insight about people’s needs and desires
· Build strategic foresight to discover new opportunities
· Generate creative possibilities
· Invent, prototype and test novel solutions of value
· Deliver solutions into the world as innovations adopted at scale
In the current climate, the biggest challenges for design and also its greatest opportunities are:
· Well-being – Design can make an important contribution to the redefinition and delivery of social services by addressing acute problems such as ageing, youth crime, housing and health. Many
designers are striving to enable people all over the world to lead their lives with dignity, especially the deprived majority of the global population - “the other 90%” who have the greatest need of
design innovation.
· Sustainability – Designers can play a critical role in ensuring that products, systems and services
are developed, produced, shipped, sold and will eventually be disposed of in an ethically and environmentally responsible manner. Thereby meeting - and surpassing - consumers’ expectations.
· Learning – Design can help to rebuild the education system to ensure that it is fit for purpose in the
21st Century. Another challenge is to redefine or reorient the design education system at a time of unprecedented demand when thousands of new design schools are being built worldwide and design is increasingly being integrated into other curricula. Designers are also deploying their skill at communication and visualization to explain and interpret the overwhelming volume of extraordinary
complex information.
. Innovation – Designers are continuing to develop and deliver innovative new products at a turbulent time when consumer attitudes are changing dramatically thereby creating new and exciting
entrepreneurial opportunities in the current crisis. They are increasingly using their expertise to innovate in new areas such as the creation of new business models and adoption of a strategic and
systemic role in both the public and the private sector.”
Mr. Nussbaum credits his collegues here:
"I was fortunate to be able to work with an amazing group of people in the Design GAC: Chris Luebkeman, director of global foresight and innovation for ARUP, was our chairman. Paola Antonelli, senior curator of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Brian Collins who now runs his own ad/marketing company in his own name, Tim Brown of IDEO, Toshiko Mori of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Chris Jordan, a photographic artist, Alice Rawsthorn, design critic at the International Herald Tribune, Milton Tan, Executive Director of DesignSingapore Council, Ministry of Informatin, Communications and the Arts and Arnold Wasserman, chairman of The Idea Factory in Singapore."
My addition is this. The idea that there is a global group of world leaders who look at design is most encouraging. Especially when I look at the esteemed list of active participants, the collective intellect is impressive. This make me very hopeful that culturally at least, our human society is moving towards a deeper appreciation of the arts and sciences, of creativity and design, and of humanity and the greater collective spirit of invention.
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