1. Theme
2. Design for People
3. Changing Roles of Design
4. Everyday creativity

1. Theme:
The Changing Face of Design:
As  the  first  decade  of  the  new  millennium reaches its end, nobody can anymore disagree with the view that green design is one of  the most important, if not the most important, design issues.  Policy  makers  and  scientists, governments and NGOs, media and ordinary people; they all seem to remind us every day that what used to be just a problem a few years ago has now become  a major crisis. And what is even more worrying, those with a certain degree of expertise warn us that the future looks even less bright than the present.

Design  has  unfortunately  played  a  significant part in creating and sustaining this crisis. Almost three quarters of the environmental impact of the objects consumed everyday is determined at the design stage, and the ways in which designers have treated the world so far, still force people to waste   stupendous  qualities  of   energy   and matter.  Yet,  at  the  same  time,  a  section  of design has also been trying to become a part of the solution of this crisis, for numerous strategies are now being used in the design and development  of  products  in  order  to  improve their existence. One material can think of the use of  recycled,  recyclable,  renewable, biodegradable and low embodied energy materials; of modularization, weight reduction, efficient processes, minimization of composite parts, maximum efficiency, simplification, durability, remanufacture, ease of disassembly, and reduction of consumables and so on.

This unavoidable plethora of design methods, however,  while  being  highly  valid  and increasingly important is evidence of the existence of a new scenario where design, in order to be really GREEN, tends to rely heavily on  technical  or  technological  standards,  rules and principles. And this situation actually represents  a  second  crisis  that  design  might have to face in the near future, because what will be asked for it will no longer be just a matter of becoming sustainable but also, and may be even more importantly, a matter of simultaneously finding an alternative course to follow; one that will eventually permit designers to avoid the path of strict technological innovation, where their role will be reduced to that of producing visually interesting, or simply pleasing forms.

It is through a better understanding of these two crises, and their interaction, that this specific matter will start form, leading to a new proposal about  the  relationship  between  green  energy and the design of objects. In order to do that however, it will need to accept that there is still an   unchartered   territory   that   needs  to   be explored, and a group of issues that designers have yet  to fully address,  the most  crucial  of which is the possible existence of ways in which objects can create highly rewarding experiences for the individuals who use them, while at the same time achieving a high degree of sustainability.
                                                        __Thought By Mr. Avinash Shinde, Assistant Professor, 
                                                           Department of Design, IIT Guwahati, Assam

2. Design for People:
Design is not serving the needs and dreams of everyday people today. But new design spaces are emerging that provide them the means with which to balance consumptive and creative experience. In the near future, designers will learn to use their own creativity to amplify the creativity of everyday people.

It has become increasingly evident that they are no longer satisfied with simply being “consumers.” Everyday people want to be “creators” as well.

Ivan Illich, a radical theorist of the 1970"s said, “People need not only to obtain things, they need
above  all  the  freedom  to  make  things  among which they can live, to give shape to them according to their own tastes, and to put them to use in caring for and about others”

3. Changing Roles of Design:
“Convivial tools allow users to invest the world with their meaning, to enrich the environment with the fruits of their visions and to use them for the accomplishment of a purpose they have chosen. Industrial tools deny this possibility to those who use them and they allow their designers to determine the meaning and expectations of others.”

Industrial tools/Convival tools.


Graphical representation on design serving.

• Are we losing control of the design process?
Yes, we  are  losing  control  of  the  traditional design process, but we are at the same time opening it up to others. We are entering new design spaces where we let go of our control in order to amplify the creativity of other people.

• Making:
Domain experience:To make something with my own hands. Genuine interest.

Making Pastries_(Image source)


Kids making Eiffel tower_(Image source)


• Creating:
Passion, Domain expertise: Most advanced level of creativity is creating.

Making Cakes_(Image source)

 

4. Everyday Creativity:
At least  four levels of  creativity that  everyday people seek. We need to help them balance consumptive with creative experience. We need Co-designing.

• People are Creative:
Some innovate while exercising. Making Scrapbooks.

Innovating while exercising_(Image source)


Making Scrap books_(Image source)

• Doing:
The most basic level of creativity is Doing! The roles people play are changing.

Computer Gaming_(Image source)

• Adapting:
To make something on your own. Some interest. Some domain expertise. Adding an extra Ingredient.

Adding extra ingredient_(Image source)
 

Case Study Downloads:
Geolights - New Dimension of Applied Photovoltaics - pdf