As regular readers will know, I am a big believer in design that does good in some way. I think design has a huge potential to do good, and therefore some responsibility to fulfil that potential. Barbara Chandler put it very well recently in her London Design Festival guide to Designs that Do Good. She said: “I am pleased to find that increasingly ‘good’ design, formerly defined simply as a product that worked well and looked good, now has what I call a moral component.”
Design for Good is a new column for confessions of a design geek which will cover exactly that. And I have some very exciting news to launch it with – I am chairing a panel event with the same name as part of Tent London’s SuperTalks programme, curated by the very talented Dani Admiss and Keinton Butler. This year’s theme is Mobilised and the event comprises: “four days of topical debates discussing industry, ethics, futures and economies, presented by industry leaders, curatorial collectives, researchers and designers… in ways that make you think.”
Design for Good is part of the Ethics line-up and here’s the little blurb: “Interrogating the opportunities and responsibilities at every stage of the design process, design writer Katie Treggiden asks how, in today’s world, is design doing good? From the designers to the retailers and finally the users themselves, a panel of influential and inspiring industry speakers each give their viewpoint before opening out to an audience-led debate.” Sounds good, huh?!
And I’m so excited about the panel of speakers we’ve got lined up: Danielle Reid started independent store Folklore with a simple idea – that better living is possible through design. Ben Reason is the founding partner of live|work, a service design and innovation consultancy, founded because “we wanted to have a positive impact on the way people live and work”. Alasdair Dixon is an architect and trustee of Architecture for Humanity London, who I wrote about back in May. And Sam Barbic is an experienced interior designer, stylist and set designer, who was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in January 2012. She has been a regular visitor to Maggie’s London ever since. You can find out more about them here.
I’ve given each of them just five minutes to introduce themselves and their viewpoint and then we’ll get right into the debate – I can’t wait! Follow all the action via twitter on @_mobilised / @coadg #SuperTalks13 #designforgood.
The event is at 4pm on Friday 20th September at the Truman Brewery on Brick Lane. It’s free, but you need to pre-register for a ticket, which you can do here, and you’ll need to have a ticket for Tent / SuperBrands to access the venue, which you can buy here. Hope to see you there!
Further reading for the especially geeky:
