Most people are not aware of how their lives are shaped through the work of design— imagine all the objects you have ever seen or used in your life. It’s literally everywhere at any time. It is often the space around us and its contents that determine how we feel. As a part of our daily life, design deeply affects us at a psychological and behavioral level. This outlines the importance of what designers do, how they do it and why they should do it.

As designers, we carry the capacity to catalyze the world around us towards a positive outcome. Through our design we have a visible and invisible impact. On the one hand our products have a direct impact through how they are made. On the other hand it’s about how our products are used and what behaviour they might cause. Both are reasons to realize that design comes with a responsibility. In doing so it is the role of the designer to guide this creative process and to make sure that everything is in the right place at the right time with the right tools.

“we can learn how to take joy in the things we create whether they are for the moment or last forever. We can learn that reward comes in creation and re-creation, not just in the consumption of the world around us. Active participation in the process of creation is our right and our privilege. We can learn to measure the success of our ideas not by our bank account but by their impact on the world. – Tim Brown”

Our design should not be about making the history books. It should be about creating meaningful design with purpose. Our history books show us that we are able to make or create anything we want. Now we should consider and think about what’s the right thing to make and find the right way to make it. In all cases we have to ask ourselves how we can create an incentive to change something to the better. In doing so it is necessary to embrace a perspective where we consider the systems’ complexity in which we and the world operate. The purpose of design, ultimately, in my view is to improve the quality of life not only for the people but for the planet.

The intriguing thing about good design is that often it goes unnoticed because it works so well. In essence good design is about building the right thing and building the thing right. It seems simple and many think it is mostly about appearance but good design has many crucial layers we can’t see. In order to achieve this design has to go beyond functional requirements and deliver usable, comfortable experiences that not only delights users, but also affect their lives on a deeper level. In doing so good design always includes its total impact.

Design principles are a valuable tool in the creative process. They serve as a framework to provide direction, speed up decision-making, create consistency and as well as a way to make our design complete. Good design is a merge of all these principles into something that is meaningful and deliberate.

Purpose starts with asking why the product should exist in the first place. The product should have a good reason to exist, because it should contribute to the world and be worthwhile. Through purpose good design makes meaning emerge.

Design that emphasises the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it. Every piece of functionality should add value to its purpose. From a human centred perspective it should nurture our daily flow through life, maybe even enhance it but definitely not interrupt it.

Is about the effectiveness of how a design is used. From the bare functionality to the emotional relationship with aesthetics, it should all add up. Design should be easy to use and not place any restrictions on the user. It is done by designing with clarity, consistency and simplicity.

1. Clarity: designing things that speak for themselves — they’re self-explanatory and intuitive. Let Function Inform Design. Clarity is about finding the right: rhythm, balance, unity, proportion, contrast and order.
2. Consistency: Designing things with similarity,familiarity and continuity.
3. Simplicity: Keep it simple and design things that are reduced in complexity.

Good design reaches the most with the least.We have to see that most of our society is till built upon inefficiency. On old stone bridges to say. We still use a huge amount of resources for things that we don’t need to use them for.

 All of us are smarter than any of us. Together we do not only know more but we get to know what is relevant. Through the shared outcome of co-creation we also create ownership and thus responsibility towards that what we make.

In essence sustainability for me is about considering the bigger picture, maintaining a balance between all the different factors and their relationships. From using resources in a sustainable way, to stimulating sustainable social relationships. It’s about making sure that the show runs on a circular system: using renewable resources, avoiding, minimising or reducing negative impacts, creating closed loop systems, etc. Sustainability can’t be just a thing we add on to our list of things to do. It has to be integrated at a fundamental level. It’s a design principle on its own.

1. Environmental friendly
2. Circular
3. Responsible
4. Local
5. Transparent