Hi friends,for every crisis, there are five steps to go through until we are out of it, one of those is « the rebellion » phase. This step is when people realize that, to overcome the crisis, they must try to do something. This is a very prolific time during which everybody tries his or her best to react. Proposing concrete alternative solutions becomes necessary and useful.
The Design world is particularly excited during this phase because it is the time to make the necessary changes to move on better basis. So, to the question: is the economic crisis a Design opportunity? My answer is yes!
Designers are asked to work on different social axes like architecture, mobility, energy, ecology, just to name a few.
This is the real opportunity to apply significant changes to our society, our way to live our life, our new use and customs, our changed mentality.
For example: the serious consideration of “electric vehicles” will provoke a big infrastructure change in all major cities around the world, the mobility will be re-designed. It looks like, by year 2015 , that there will be a higher rate of electric cars as well as higher rate of associated services.
New trends, new consumer habits, new thinking, new needs. All this can be accomplished thanks to new technologies and clever Design applications. We will go for a more responsible era after the past 20 years during which the key world was "money" for a very selfish consumistic society. Hopefuly this crisis will change this world in a more responsible one to live better, to share, to care.
Lets not forget the importance of Design schools. Art center College of Design is very engaged with sustainability transportation programs. Since few years it organizes workshops and seminars about how to design for a better world starting from the mobility system, I know there are other schools doing similar programs and it is important that they go further with these activities.
I imagine and hope that the actual economic crisis will give ideas to Design schools to use their creativity to anticipate credible solutions.
We can overcome such crisis if we use correctly our creativity.
