Can design do more than sell products for our clients?
Can design move someone enough to change the course of events?
Can design play a bigger role in solving societal problems?
“So much of what designers do is technically very good, but it leaves people cold and has little meaning in their lives. The question came out of a frustration of drowning in professionally designed things that nobody gives a **** about, neither the maker nor the receiver. The main reason for all this stuff is that most designers don’t believe in anything. When your conscience is so flexible, how can you do strong design?”
—Stefan Sagmeister
Week 1
August 25
- What can Design do? What do you think is Design’s role in society?
- Write a personal design manifesto.
Homework:
Distill personal design manifesto into a 500-800 word belief statement.
meranda_l_beliefstatement3
August 27
- Touch the heart of an individual with design.
- Look at the people around you—What are the challenges they face?
- Look within yourself—in what ways could you use design to impact your life?
- Propose a tangible way in which design can touch an individual.
Homework:
Touch the heart of an individual with design… and document it. Post results to the blog.
Week 2
September 1
Present results from “Touch the heart of an individual with design”—5min/person
- Touch the heart of a community with design.
- What are some communities that you belong to?
- Choose one. Make a list of ten facts that define this community.
- Format it as: Statement, Analogy, Metaphor…
- s I go grocery shopping at least twice a week without an idea of what I want to get.
a My bi-weekly trips to Whole Foods are to grocery shopping as an
improv actor is to theater.
m Each visit to the grocery store is an improv show in which I am the actor
Homework:
What are some challenges or areas of improvement for your chosen community?
Create a tangible project proposal for how design can touch the heart of a community.
September 3
- Case studies
- Research
- Exploration/Experimentation
Homework:
Touch the heart of a community with design… and document it. Post results to the blog.
Week 3
Present results from “Touch the heart of a community with design”—5min/person
September 8
- Touch the heart of humanity with design.
- Write to learn—write a list of three global/humanity issues that you are concerned about
- Discuss—break into groups by themes
- Distill—narrow to a common theme
Homework:
Create a tangible project proposal for how design can touch the heart of humanity.
September 10
- Present proposals
- Case studies
- Research
- Exploration/Experimentation
Homework:
Touch the heart of humanity with design… and document it. Post results to the blog.
Senior Proposal 