The article – Design Loves a Depression from the NY Times – was very interesting and is the first I’ve seen, in a major publication, to suggest that a paradigm shift is about to occur in the design world. It’s a good shift, too. We need a serious change in thinking. Our current system is built on a foundation of unrealistic consumption and misplaced values. Our nation and our world are entering an era of reigning in excesses and the design world needs to adapt to this new way of living.
And it’s not like we didn’t see it coming. The effect of the current economic situation on designers is not unlike the situation with global warming. Some prescient thinkers were, for a long time, calling designers to take stock of what they were putting out into the world and to “make” better. But no one listened, no one felt they had to. Now as disaster is breathing down our necks, designers will be scrambling to make a case for their existence. Fortunately, as with global warming, it’s not to late to turn the tide for the better.
Designers, if they are willing, can alter their thinking and be part of the change rather than victims of it. We can contribute to building a more humble and selfless design culture. We can create goods and provide services that add to the quality of all human life rather than take from it. And we can start simply, by making local, making well, and making meaningfully.
