Can designers change the world?

Posted on October 2, 2009

I won Do Good Design: How Designers Can Change the World on Twitter several months ago. I entered the contest because I was intrigued by the idea of design being able to create sustainable change. Poor design was definitely apparent during the elections in Florida a couple of years ago.

Designers have an essential social responsibility because design is at the core of the world’s largest challenges…and solutions

The tools that are currently widely available allows the average person to apply their design skills. Aviary, a startup in New York, has a suite of tools that gives people just that opportunity. So the excuse that price is a barrier to entry is no longer the case. There are also a lot of open source tools such as InkScape and Gimp to name a few.

If you want to design for fun or work you can ill afford not to think about the impact your work has on yourself and the world. What do you want to say and how loudly you want to say it are all key. You don’t have to reach a million people to make a difference. You just have to influence the behavior of one individual. A big noise might get noticed but doesn’t necessarily have a lasting impact on an individual.

Making a design that’s easier to use or making someone smile with one of my drawings is my small way of changing the world. What’s yours?

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  • http://www.thesunnyway.com/ megan dietz

    hey shelley, great question. it's easy to get stuck in the day to day doing — but so important to step back and think about why we are doing this stuff.

    for me, it's about drawing a connection between the big picture/problems/challenges of our culture and the decisions each of us make every day. each of us is a process within a larger process and remembering that context can help us take heart and take risks in order to improve things.

    i draw these connections through writing on my site (we just launched a new redesign today — would love to hear your comments!) and through conversation.

    thanks for the thought-provoking post,
    megan

  • sajwest

    Hi Megan,
    I'm glad that you found the post thought provoking ;). I like that you enjoy working with the connections between our culture and the decisions we each make everyday. I'll definitely check your site out. :D Congrats on the launch that is always exciting and scary all at the same time.

    Shelley

  • http://www.thesunnyway.com/ megan dietz

    hey shelley, great question. it's easy to get stuck in the day to day doing — but so important to step back and think about why we are doing this stuff.

    for me, it's about drawing a connection between the big picture/problems/challenges of our culture and the decisions each of us make every day. each of us is a process within a larger process and remembering that context can help us take heart and take risks in order to improve things.

    i draw these connections through writing on my site (we just launched a new redesign today — would love to hear your comments!) and through conversation.

    thanks for the thought-provoking post,
    megan

  • sajwest

    Hi Megan,
    I'm glad that you found the post thought provoking ;). I like that you enjoy working with the connections between our culture and the decisions we each make everyday. I'll definitely check your site out. :D Congrats on the launch that is always exciting and scary all at the same time.

    Shelley

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