Design with Purpose

"Design with Purpose" - To put it simply, design is more than making things look "pretty" or "awesome".  Design is so much more, and CAN be so much more than that.  Design can serve a purpose in improving social, economic and cultural development.  

We were given a talk at college today from the creative director of D4, a design company in Sheffield, in the UK.  The concept he brought across, about "design with purpose" really stuck with me.  Its not that I've never heard it before (our lecturers drill that sort of thing into our heads all the time), its just the way he explained it, and proved it in terms of what his company stands for and how they work. 

It made me think more about how design is simply about finding solutions to problems.  How each answer seems to unfold the more your research and find inspiration.  Its a journey, a discovery and a mystery all in one. (haha deep much? got a bit carried away i think)

All these thoughts got me thinking and triggered the ideas i had in terms of this personal project.  The title I've given it for the moment, "Creative Evidence" kind of links up beautifully with the idea of mystery and discovery.  Just as a detective goes about collecting evidence and getting closer to solving a case or crime, we designers are presented with mystery (the design brief) and through our design process ( research - conceptualise - scamps - revise - production - presentation ) we find solutions.  

Quite a sweet little metaphor, and quite weird how things kind of link up.  But i guess that's the beauty of a journey, whether it be a crime or design mystery.  One finds clues along the way that lead to a discovery. A final conclusion or product.  A solution.  An answer.  Evidence! 

Creative Evidence. 

The minimalistic logo of the company "D4" - check out their website here http://www.d4online.com