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Transforming Design Conference Report
By Vandna Cheena Jain
When we look back on the theme of this year’s DMI Europe conference, “Transforming Design,” we must consider what that means. Coming from a traditional design background—graphic design—I recognize my old life while contemplating my new one. It is a dramatic time for the design industry—a time of redefinition and re-understanding. As we reflect both on the speakers and attendees of this remarkable conference, we see that the former narrow definition of design is actually a diverse one, allowing for design to be pervasive in all that we see or do.
Hearing individuals like Charles Bezerra and Francois Lenfant speak allowed me to think about new possibilities—connecting people, organizations and ideas together for the betterment of business and society. For instance, in Lenfant’s engaging presentation, which included discussing GE’s new developments in mobile health technologies, I began seeing possibilities for areas of conflict or accessibility for those lacking proper medical care. I considered: Could GE partner with a telecom to provide solutions? If they did, could we design a program to implement it? In this stream of thought, we have gone from product design to social design, where one type of design influences and lends itself in the promotion of another. In this instance, we see the transformation of a designed product into a major component of “design for social impact” (as Geoff Mulgan of the Young Foundation discussed). Examples such as this lead us to the bigger picture. No matter what our background may be or what our current role is, each element of what we do and what we contemplate becomes an “ingredient.”
Looking back on Mike Ganderton’s (LEGO) presentation, we must recognize the ability of designers to transform themselves as well as the environment, objects and situations around them. Whether or not we choose to admit it, every person out there is a designer. Each of us makes choices and decisions. We consume things. We have ideas. Each of these things influences daily life—our lifestyles and the people around us. To be succinct, our decisions guide the design of our lives. Again, no matter what our role or function may be within a work or personal environment, we design and so we have the ability to transform. When we consider what we do, create, or ideate, we can find that we use many ingredients. These combinations of ingredients or traits, be it insight, demographics, aesthetic, dilemma, or any one of the many considerations we must acknowledge, allows for a truly unique outcome. In this sense, we find ourselves left with a sort of “design DNA-coded” output, which, in turn, can always transform and evolve.
So the first question we are left with is: Why?
The answers as reflected throughout this conference are: To create value. To fulfill a need. To achieve long and short-term goals. To do something for the greater good. To build personality. To form relationships. And of course, to move ourselves and society forward.
Again, we see that the questions of both “why?” and “how?” are at the forefront of this reflection on design as we saw in the discussion with Peter Gorb and William Hannon. While this debate tried to distinguish that one must come first or has more importance, from the learnings of this conference, I find myself entertaining the idea that they may be intertwined. Our ingredients (or decisions and factors) are informed by the “why?” and when these things come together, we see the plan for “how?” We make decisions about implementation based on the questions we have asked and the knowledge we gained. It is the same when we need to buy a digital camera at the store and we ask the salesperson questions. But the thing about design is that its role really never ends: We see the consideration of “how?” and “why?” being cyclic. Each product that we create, each idea that we generate, each plan that we implement, becomes another ingredient or another factor in this continual process. So to reiterate, we can see that the outcome of “how?” transforms into a factor for “why?”
Many of us attended this conference to educate ourselves further on how to be more productive, think in new ways, and create value for business. By listening to the engaging speakers, we learned about possibility. We heard Mike Ganderton discuss that it is possible for tight restrictions on designers to lead to cost effectiveness for the entire business. Jeremy Brown of Virgin Atlantic showed us that it is possible for a business to invest in the well-being of their employees and then see their employees embrace the virtue and values of the organization. Raymond Turner elaborated that it is possible that design is no longer limited to design professionals and that design is one of a company’s most powerful assets. Or as Bezerra mentioned, it is possible that in the near future, currency may not always be monetary.
If I went out tomorrow and shared the bigger picture of this conference with someone new, I think I would say this:
Design is a tool for transformation. Transforming design leads to possibilities. As we know possibilities are endless. But then so is design. With its nature for evolution and its pervasive influence throughout our lives, we must begin to integrate design all aspects of what we do.
Thank you Tom, Patricia, and all of the speakers for a wonderful conference.
Vandna Cheena Jain – Biography
Vandna is an art director, designer and design consultant based in New York City. In her career, she has worked with many types of people, including photographers, strategists, creative directors, illustrators, programmers, printers and innovation experts, to help inspire her to become a better problem solver and creative professional. With degrees and qualifications in graphic design (BFA), marketing, small business management, design management (MA) and project management, alongside her professional experience, she has a diverse set of expertise and knowledge.
Recently, she just completed a 334-page dissertation for The University of the Arts London, London College of Communications on design management and media (http://vandnajain.com/#660582/Thesis-Design-Management-Media). It was difficult and crazy and also kind of amazing! Currently, she is looking for new opportunities with all types of creative projects, including design consulting, design thinking, and design management. You can check out her work on: www.vandnajain.com
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