Weeknote #559: The Future of Design
I was recently asked to talk about my thoughts regarding the future of visual communication and the profession of a designer. Here are some ideas in my head right now.
More specifically, the context of the event was about the future of graphic design and visual communication, which by itself is quite a broad one. As we’ve witnessed during the past few weeks, the internet industry does have a lot to learn from the practice of graphic design, and the other way around.
We live in a polarized world, and this has an effect to the practice of design as well. The future of the design profession and of being a designer is more and more about either becoming a hardcore specialist in something, or a true interdisciplinary designer, navigating effortlessly between craft and context. Sometimes even both at the same time.
The future of the design profession and of being a designer is more and more about either becoming a hardcore specialist in something, or a true interdisciplinary designer, navigating effortlessly between craft and context. Sometimes even both at the same time.
In a sense, this isn’t just about design but about many other professions as well. As many modern companies gravitate towards abstract ideas such as purpose and agility in a high performing environment, the idea of professional identity and career development can easily just turn into memes shared over an email or after work beers on Friday afternoon. Luckily to me it seems designers are different to some extent. The best ones (and people we hire) do not gravitate towards external validation but an internal purpose, and are critical because they care. This helps to navigate the muddled waters of change as well, just as long you keep your internal compass clear.
Futures belong to the resilient
Nearly every business is a software business. If they are not providing software and services to their customers, they most likely use several different systems to run their service. And all software is used by people. Not just users, but actual human beings. At the same time, everything that can be visual, will be. This has several implications, from the amount of interfaces in our lives, to the growing significance of branding and storytelling. Because we as humans navigate stories, and that is how the things we make stand out from the noise as well.
However, just a pretty logo or even a comprehensive identity isn’t enough anymore. The best and smartest companies hire teams — internal or external—to design and build coherent stories. Starting from what their vision of the future is, to what it means to people who work for the company and to people using and enjoying their products. These teams, companies and tribes unite under the shared purpose and values visible in every cell of their DNA, and every interaction and transaction along the way.
The best and smartest companies hire teams — internal or external — to design and build coherent stories. Starting from what their vision of the future is, to what it means to people who work for the company and to people using and enjoying their products.
Obviously, this means that most of the things we know and rely on are alive, and in constant change by default. In order to create growth and sustain business, just keeping up with the change means you’re probably too late already. Professor Liisa Välikangas from the universities of Stanford and Aalto has been preaching about resilience for some years now, especially in the sense that businesses which thrive in change are the ones that are resilient. Change and evolution is built in their DNA so naturally, that they change before being changed by external forces, and at best become a force of change themselves. For example, have a look at what Netflix and Amazon are doing, and take notes.
Futures will be affected by where we come from
What does this mean to the profession of design then? I strongly think the future of any design profession is an interdisciplinary one. And not just skills, but ideas. Not just different kinds of design, but everything. A curious mind is a trained, mental muscle itself.
The idea of ethics and social justice lives strong in the DNA of graphic design.
The future of any design profession is an interdisciplinary one. And not just skills, but ideas. Not just different kinds of design, but everything. A curious mind is a trained, mental muscle itself.
The ideas of viability and profitability are something that makes many other adventures possible. Definitely something to learn there, in order to sustain whatever journey we embark ourselves upon.
Interaction design knows a lot about affordances and microinteractions that make objects, products and other things we use usable and enjoyable.
Human factors know so much about things that we in other professions are just learning about. Look up human-automation interaction for example to blow your mind. Here’s a good place to start.
The futures must be made meaningful
The point of all this is as follows: beauty and aesthetics are important. They are not everything. The craft of design has more power than ever before, and we have the responsibility to use it well. We as designers have to stop making pretty things for the sake of novelty. We should stop being smart and catchy for the sake of being … well, you know. Take your single use internet of things gadget for dogs and get into the fucking sea. Or wait, don’t. We have enough plastic trash killing our oceans as is. Make it intangible, immaterial and build it in things we use on daily basis already. Sounds great, huh?
Take your single use internet of things gadget for pets and get into the fucking sea. Or wait, don’t. We have enough plastic trash killing our oceans as is.
What this means for design, and for us as designers is that there will be no one single model to rely on. There won’t be one single path to take, but instead each and every one of us has the power, opportunity and responsibility to forge our own path. At Nordkapp, we discarded our titles little over a year ago. This was because we understood that the real power of being interdisciplinary is that we can be anything we want. We can and should learn anything we want, and use these newly acquired skills bravely.
By doing this we grow, from proactivity to responsibility and finally towards being true leaders with a purpose. Leadership is something you grow into and then it is given to you by others via trust and appreciation. We now have access to decision makers and we must use that access in the right way.
We have to learn the right language and use it to our advantage. No one’s coming for us. This is it.
Where the maps end, there be dragons. Let’s go ride them.
In other news, things are pretty exciting here in Kaisaniemi. This month we’ve seen a record number of projects being pushed at the studio, and exciting things are abound in Amsterdam as well. We’re now in the phase where many new projects are taking shape, and new frontiers are emerging but there’s very little we can show or even talk about them just yet.
What we can say — and have said already, is we have three new designers with us this month alone. Helmi and Liam come us more or less directly from Aalto University, and Topias joined us from the client side from Elisa.
As we’re growing as a company, we are very aware of the fact that growth means imposing the same rules on ourselves that we do on our clients. And that does take time, especially to reflect, then decide and keep on acting upon the decisions. I am personally really happy how the studio hums with excitement right now, and many people have stepped up to grow and widen their own horizons. And while at it, they begin to own a piece of our common future as well by making and contributing. More about this soon.
This month brought great news on the personal achievement front as well. Design Forum Finland released a book called “The New Wave of Finnish Design” by Ville Tikka and Nuppu Gävert. We’re thrilled to be a part of it, not once but twice. Along nine other success stories, there is an article about our work with Beddit and their exit to Apple, and also an article/rant about what design is in 2018, by yours truly. You can get the Finnish language copy right away from Akateeminen bookstore in Helsinki or directly from Design Forum Finland. The English version will be released in the near future. Watch this space.
In case you’re in San Francisco in the beginning of May, I am running a half day workshop on our Actionable Futures Toolkit as part of PRIMER Conference. At the moment of writing, there are five (5) tickets left, so if you’re on the fence, act now. The conference itself looks great, and I am really looking forward to being in the audience with the likes of Burton Nitta, Google X and others on stage → primerconference.com
I am also doing a quick warm-up of the topic at ServiceDesignNetwork Finland’s annual conference next week. The event is SOLD OUT which makes it even more exciting.
Five things we’re reading this week
- ‘The Internet Apologizes. Even those who designed our digital world are aghast at what they created.”
- What many people miss: In its purest sense, “invention” can be defined as the creation of a product or introduction of a process for the first time. “Innovation,” on the other hand, occurs if someone improves on or makes a significant contribution to an existing product, process or service.
- You have successfully built and embedded design in your organisation. Now what? Six pitfalls of starting your design operations by Dave Malouf
- Engineering is full of authoritarians who, predictably, take all the wrong lessons from pop culture. (h/t monika bielskyte)
- Zillow, Aggregation, and Integration — Really good story on an incumbent transformation.
Weeknotes are what happened at our studio this week. This week’s weeknote happens in the brain of Sami Niemelä.
Sami is a polymath who enjoys being the glue between people, their futures and ideas on how to get sh*t done.
