Designing the Future

Earlier this week I started reading Robert L. Peters’ article on designing the future, I decided the best way for me to recap the article would be to pull out some of his most interesting points and summarize them.

Individuals are threatened by information overload, overwhelming change, an evolving ecosystem and staggering social imbalances. People are drowning in data; this makes it hard for the public to focus on what is important.

White collar workers encounter one million words per week, take in 16,000 brands and are part of the 200 million emails that are sent per day (90% are spam).

The top 100 economies are now mostly corporations rather than nations. 99% of the top 100 companies are based in industrialized nations and three quarters of the almost 70,000 transnational corporations are based in North America, Europe or Japan.

In the past is has seemed the some corporations were uncaring, impersonal and immoral. It appeared that they were using branding to create unique and attractive personalities for themselves to deceive consumers.

Globalization tends to exploit the earth’s resources for private gain. Corporations look for cheap labour, inexpensive raw materials and governments that are willing to ignore laws.

Globalism is the opposite, this point of view sees the earth as fragile, that it requires careful treatment and mutual respect.

Globalization threatens culture, language, traditions, beliefs, morals, laws, social behaviours, and the art of communities.

Our shrinking world calls for an increased respect for differences. We are threatened by mono-culture; designers need to help prevent this by celebrating societal differences. To create a better future we need to showcase the unique things that dignify us, make our civilizations meaningful and make life worth living.

Design can influence thinking, empower better decision making, help create economic success, and shape communities and culture.

There is a need for designers to question the status quo, reexamine the practices of past decades, and initiate change towards a more holistic, inclusive, sensitive, eclectic, empowering and sustainable manner.

Graphic design is finally developing an identity and the public is starting to understand its role and responsibilities relative to society. Graphic design improves communication, shapes culture and influences societal values.

We are the first to live by clock and calendar rather than sun and season.

It is said that 85% of what we know is learned through our eyes, graphic designers have a lot of responsibility as they are the designers of this information.

It has become increasingly important for designers to share ideas and act as part of the global design community.