In his TED Talk Timothy Prestero made an interesting analogy between current design condition and the “the dorky teenage years spent trying to figure out how the world works”. His view is that currently design is in its human equivalent of the “awkward adolescence” stage of life.
When you compare the history of design to that of other professions such as engineering, architecture, banking, medicine and law its clear that design is a very young field.
As such could it be that design culture is still in adolescence and waiting to mature? That the best design is yet to come? If so what are the adolescent aspects of design and what will design mature into?
Some food for thought for the week ahead.
With a design philosophy rooted in designing for real-world use, rather than accolades, Timothy Prestero founded Design that Matters, a nonprofit that collaborates with social entrepreneurs and volunteers to design products for the poor in developing countries.
“Are we designing for the world that we want? Are we designing for the world that we have? Are we designing for the world that’s coming whether we’re ready or not? If you really want to make a difference in the world, you have to design outcomes and that’s design that matters” – Timothy Prestero
You can view the entire TED Talk below.
For more information visit Design that Matters (DtM)
74 FOOTWEAR DESIGN CONSULTING 