i was reading a paper earlier last week published by rsa design & society entitled social animals: tomorrow’s designers in today’s world, written by sophia parker. as i read it, i found that really enlightening and also very edifying to find that the concerns that i have as a designer is also shared by others around the globe. essentially, the paper, tho largely concerned with industrial or product design, speaks about something that has been coined as social design. it can be simply understood as design with a cause and “no longer about making more stuff to consume”. i think many designers are slowly discovering how, to a large extent, their work have been contributing to more wastage, more poverty, consumerist attitudes with no real purpose or meaning. social design doesnt demand a specialised space in the highly splintered disciplines of design but brings the social and humane aspect of design back into perspective.
the paper puts it forth really nicely: “this agenda is more concerned with people and the planet than it is with products and services. it is as interested in intangible behaviours and relationships as it is in more tangible objects and materials. fundamentally, it has a social purpose that questions the still-dominant mindset of the industry. rather than seeking to create more services that can be sold to people, this group of service designers are asking how they can create services that reduce waste, and meet goals in the most sustainable local and humane ways possible.”
indeed, the feeling may not be global yet but i think the nagging ache is growing into a pain as we see what an unjust, unfair and unbalanced our society has turned out with the culture of excess that we have grown up with.
if you look back at the history of graphic design, or western art, many of the primary motivation have been for causes. social injustice have often compelled creatives to put together something great so as to drive the message home to the masses. think the illuminated manuscripts to the art and crafts movement; the dadaists to russian suprematists.
and just the other day, i picked up at the national museum of singapore a paper called good paper. the people behind this are really sick of the bad news that fill our mainstream newspaper so they put together a paper that is filled with only good news. not only does that remind us that there is much we as individuals can do for others, it also brings comfort to those who are downtrodden. now that’s a good piece of social design!
the case studies they put forth in the rsa paper didnt exactly matched my specialisation or the causes that i stand for. however, they do remind me of the public service announcement project that we had to do for graphic design ii module under the supervision of deborah alden. we were given three concerns faced by teenagers today and we were to design something - could be a campaign, an object or even an experience - to help bring the social message across. even though it was a rather brief project without too much emphasis, i think it was a meaningful one personally.
just as the rsa paper proposes, education will definitely sow the seeds for social design that can permeate through the various disciplines. let’s hope that this paper would be the spark for good things to come.
[ read the paper here ]
lots more great stuff to read about in creative review – the annual 2009, like the story of attik and airside and how it is a reminder that the entrepreneur path for the creative is not an easy one, and also the rebel fashion sense of the creative by gordon comstock.
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okay, in other news, i watched the michael jackson memorial and i’ll admit that i was kinda sad at his passing even though i still think it is timely. and i still like ‘heal the world’. throughout this week that went by, you’ll read how everyone, including the newspapers, entertainment channels, etc, are using his lyrics to speak of his passing. i think it really proves how his lyrics are filled with so much genuine goodness that he was trying to express through his songs. well, our human condition is such that we do not appreciate the living but will miss and mourn the dead. this screenshot from the sega megadrive game is in memorial of him. rip mikey.
vibes: love game (robots to mars mix) - lady gaga
