Future of Visual Communication

With the ever growing focus on Socially Conscious Design, I thought I would share some key resources and projects. Social Design has be around for decades but what I speak of is the need for contemporary graphic design, conceptual visual communication to be embedded into projects throughout the world to sustain a better world surrounding us.

The following list defines a selection of online portfolios and projects, that I feel everyone interested in Socially Conscious Visual Communication should definately experience.

Socially Concious & Environmentally friendly designers/studios:

- Another Limited Rebellion
- Antistatic
- Dropping Knowledge
- ECO-LABS
- Future Farmers
- IAMBE
- Inventive Reception
- MA Design
- RED_UK Design Council
- Thirst
- Thomas Matthews

Social Design Projects:

- Bosch-Fjord
- FLOWMarket
- IC-ED (education)
- Inhabitat (environment)
- Thriving (education)
- TreeHugger (environment)
- We Are What We Do
- Who Knew

Obviously, there are many more for this list.

Link: Design21

The Greening of Design & Illustration

Does illustration and graphic design have a role to play in climate change? On September 20th, 2007 at London College of Communication, Eco-Labs open the discussion as part of the 2007 London Design Festival. Greening of Design & Illustration will include speakers representatives from leading UK sustainability design studio, Thomas Matthews and the British Council.

Eco-Labs explain: As creative communicators we are in a position to help to change attitudes – working towards ultimately changing behavior patterns, policies and systems. Here is a challenge for designers and illustrators: visualize a better low energy future. We used to see visions of the future with jet packs and monorails. Now we need to mainstream a picture of a more human sized, earth connected and energy realistic future.

Link: Eco-Labs

Phase II: World House Project

From my all time greatest inspiration, Bruce Mau, I wish to introduce a new project from the Mau arena.

Following the Massive Change project, the magnificent Institute without Boundaries embarks on their second multi-year collaboration - to design a sustaining, universal and healthy human dwelling. That challenge is different depending on where you are. In developed countries, we have urban sprawl and monster houses that consume huge amounts of the world’s total energy supply while polluting the atmosphere. In developing countries, over a billion people live in urban slums or in the streets without shelter.

The World House Project is a multi-year, collaborative initiative led by the Institute without Boundaries that will explore the evolution of shelter and plan for the next generation of holistic housing design. The project will build on the research concepts of Institute without Boundaries' inaugural project, Massive Change, using the same method of interdisciplinary design innovation. The challenge: to design a sustaining, universal and healthy human dwelling. That challenge is different depending on where you are, for example in developing countries, over a billion people live in urban slums or in the streets without shelter. By the year 2030, three billion people in the developing world will need housing. That’s 96,150 housing units per day.

Link: Word House

Do we need a national network of design centres?

The UK Design Council are addressing an issue that remains on the tip of my tongue. Working with the London Development Agency, the Design Council project entitled Competitiveness in industry, Supporting growth in the creative economy is part of The Cox Review of Creativity in Business.

The Cox Review recommended that a network of ‘Creativity and Innovation’ centres should be set up throughout the UK with a central hub in London. This quite simply sounds like a magnificent initiative and certainly something that I feel would benefit many.

With an educational focus, I have been speaking with students and graduates across the country and am ever amazed to hear of their fears of the industry. With the creative arena more powerful than ever before, how can we expect out innovative designers and young talents to hit the moving runway walking. It is amazing to discover the number of graduate talents who have fears and low beliefs of getting a “good job”, let alone making any impact within the industry.

Consistently told by designers, how the industry revolves by word-of-mouth marketing and employment, I question if this previous method of promotion and sourcing talent needs a "new spin". Designers are everywhere and no longer are we looking for the MAC guru, but the industry needs entrepreneurs, and big thinkers. Speaking to a creative consultant from Toronto based Portfolios.com today, confirmed the rise of Socially Conscious businesses and organisations, not to mention the environmental arena (in N.America, Canada and the UK). With this is mind the capabilities and opportunities for todays and tomorrows designers are limitless. Yet the question now is, how can we filter these hundreds to thousands of designers into suitable positions, without destroying their confidence and potential along the way?

The creative world is finally becoming the social power it is capable of, but surely we need a method to remove the previously held niche barriers. If design is to become apparent within all business, cultural, social and economic arenas then we need a system not only to gather design talents, but a method and process to filter them their interests. We are looking at a future where designers are placed within outlets that no longer only ask for a Graphic or Web Designer, but for a combined ability for design and a passion for their particular social interest and knowledge.

The Cox Review objectives are:
- Positioning the UK as a world-class source of creative talent
- Increasing the uptake of creative services by UK businesses
- Strengthening the interaction between all the UK bodies who promote and represent creative skills and services
- Enhancing the public’s awareness of how creativity and innovation are relevant to their lives

The Cox Review suggested that they might include some, or all, of the following facilities:
- Exhibition space
- Seminar facilities
- A hub for creative industry gatherings
- Space for professional and trade bodies
- Incubator spaces for new creative businesses
- Studio spaces for creative companies
- Retail and restaurant space

A feasibility study is on course for the project and on completion of which the Design Council will be making their recommendations to government. This is a really exciting project, that I am sure many of you will await with eyes wide open. I really hope to see this project become a central entity, from which the future of the UK design can revolve.