04 Jun 2008 2214H

Do you make things? Real things?

So I get this email from this guy today. I usually don’t help out grad students generally. As a former academic I try not to get involved now. But the ghost of Victor Papanek won’t let me ignore this one. He said once, “There are professions that are more harmful than industrial design, but only a few.”

Again, I happen to agree. Packaging. Disposable goods. Built-in obsolescence instead of modular designs that can be replaced and recycled. We’re choking to death on our own trash. We send our people back and forth on business trips on planes and in hotels and cars. We burn megawatts on our computers and data connections. The endless prototyping. Our carbon footprint grows ever broader. We not only consume, but we produce. Designers have become an integral part of the problem. Surely we can do better as a civilization, as a species. But then too if we are problem solvers as we claim to be, was it an accident that we went to the moon, or can see into the edge of time? This too was design. If we have created the problem, we can uncreate it.

If you read this blog, you likely also believe that design will save the world. You can be start being part of the solution. I’m going to quote the guy’s email now:

“This research stems from the impression that there has been a lot of academic research telling designers what they should be doing with regards to the environment during their work, but much less research that explores the reality of product design to understand the perspectives of those actually doing it. This work aims to be neutral (we are not necessarily promoting environmentalism in design) and completely anonymous (no participant or their organization will be identified in published work).

“I am seeking feedback from anybody associated with commercial product design, whether designers, product managers, executives, or academics. I would appreciate your help in publicizing the following survey:

Environmentalism in Product Design - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=GX2eBbTIjDNKVSo09T3bBQ_3d_3d

“Participants will be entered to win a 100$ gift certificate to Amazon.com.

“The project tries to get a snapshot of the current use of environmental tools in product design. What tools are designers using? At what stage of the design process are these tools being used? Is the purpose to reduce material use? Toxicity? Energy consumption during product use? None of the above? What are the business drivers and barriers for environmentalism in product design?

“For more information visit http://www.ginkgoproject.com/“

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