It’s really hard to write this, normally it takes me 5 or 10 minutes to write an article or report, but the spelling takes more time. This time I was really confused, because I had a very heavy and emotional time thinking about the Dutch design week as a human experience, and it’s not easy to write about. Please don’t misunderstand me, it was so rich that it’s gonna take some time for me to digest. First we have to start by saying:
This experience is a human experience
It wasn’t actually just a working visit where we can see stuff and say wow this is cool your country is very developed, and our country is not developed, we should do some work here, no. This was a human experience because the people who did manage this trip were really human. I don’t want to mention any names, but I’m grateful to the people of Hivos and the Dutch Culture, and I think they already know that because there was a really great sense of humanity, and this is what we need in this kind of working visit. It was also a human experience, because we learned so much about the people of the Netherlands and how creative they are.
Creativity is more than creating new things it’s about dynamics
Actually what fascinated me during the design week, isn’t the design week itself as an event, or the exhibition, or the very futuristic stuff. I belong to the makers and designer’s culture and I know very well what’s going on in the field, but what really impressed me is the design week culture. It’s the dynamic in the city, it’s the people’s passion about this and they take it seriously. What really struck me, is how this dying city was saved by it’s people, and their hearts. A city stuck between the waves of globalization, that was changed to something even more amazing by the will of it’s citizens.
Design can save a city: it’s a social thing !
Design did save this city, and its people and told me about the story about how everything started, and why this design week is so important.This was started from scratch since the beginning and was made by people, for people. The great comeback of this city was accomplished by a bunch of designers that decided to occupy the old factories by art design and media work. In the coming years, the city was transformed to a hub of cultural activity, centered and curated around the design. This dynamic has brought together emerging leaders and old leaders who are working at the intersection of community activism, art, design, and technology in cities.
Design and science are friends: Data, 3D printing, code, open source, mathematics
The design ? What really is design? It’s more now than it ever was, we thought that people would reduce it to something smaller, but it’s becoming bigger and bigger.
Now we see the rise of open source, data, affordability of microelectronics and printable materials, etc. Science and design are becoming friends.
I saw those young people working on the building materials of the future in the graduation exhibition, building the future of construction today. They were using chemicals and physics, and they are designers that are coming from the design schools. I can say that design and science are becoming closer friends than ever. We were always wondering is the design more artistic or more science … it’s both and it’s becoming clear that design is a bridge between the two sides of our minds.
Design is a serious business
The mindset of the designers is getting more executive and business oriented, and the designers are starting to get educated about the value of design as a business, designers are also.
As executives from companies start to become educated about the value that designers bring to the table, I imagine that more and more, designers will be invited to early meetings when products and services are first conceived. They will also be able to command higher salaries and consulting fees. The three pillars for success are a great idea, great execution, and great design. When you can make a case for why your contribution to a company is directly tied to profits, that is when upper management will perk up.
Cross and trans disciplinarity is the future
if your team is composed of one kind of people you are in the wrong path. Maybe not at 100%, but it’s better today to have interdisciplinary teams. It’s be a new job to connect people from different backgrounds and bring them together to generate something new, or make something already existing more efficient and more relevant.
Combining doctors and medical needs with data analysts, makes them think about new designs or new materials.
Experimenting with the combination of the old craft with electronics to make them fancy …
Other thing that i want to make detailed but i can’t write more than this it’s going to be so big
VR, New Job, New career path, Designers/entrepreneurs, the Crafts, Open Data Open Gov, The future of mobility and transportation…
