Design 21 Contest Giveaway

In my opinion, it’s design that’s shaped by society and its collective consciousness, rather than design with the intention of shaping society (and that collective consciousness) to its mold.

The GNU GPL is an example of perfect social design. It requires anyone who modifies GPL code to share their modifications with the community.

Social design is giving means for community development and interaction.

Social design is design with the society in mind. Social design would be more reflective of everyone in the community, and the diversity and commonalities of our collective realities.

Social design exists as the context of the everyday, the everyone and the everywhere; it is tangible groupthink.

For me, respect is really the key to social design. By respect, I mean respect for other humans, respect for the environment, respect for your surroundings, respect in essentially any way that the word can be used. While Design is often concerned with its target audience, rarely is anything else considered. It would never be possible to consider all of the ramifications of a design, but social design should strive to examine as many as possible.

those things we create that consider issues beyond the bottom line. It is design with attention paid to environmental impact, labor practices, and the common good. Social design isn’t extravagant, it is just enough, it is witty, fun, and practical. It encourages a response through how it looks or how it is used. It promotes community rather than further detatchment from the world around us.

Social Design is progressive. It is the result of forward thinking and the physical manifestation of the ideal that social change is possible. Everyone with a home makes choices about its contents. These choices represent one’s values. Having the option to elect for social change rather than tradition is Social Design’s goal, which enables us to embark on social change right in our own backyard.

To me, Social Design is the intention and goal of a group to influence a community in a certain way. It is proactive, progressive and hopefully positive. Social Design has the power to make change.

Social design, especially the one found in an urban environment, should reflect complexities of a social context in which it exists. This design should include some common human values, present innovative and provocative ideas, and also retain a certain amount of ambiguity and flexibility that would allow it to evolve and exist in future social contexts. Social design should also strive to engage and include, rather than simplify, specialize, and exclude. Although this kind of design would create certain “conflicts”, the final result would actually be socially valuable. The interaction between opposite “interests” would encourage dialog and negotiation, and this process and participation would enable this design to become socially relevant

Communication laid in function
Soaked in Inspiration
Caught in fleeting glimpses

Collective Chemistry noted by the
Rise and Fall of Fads

Social Design—

Understood, but best had Understated.

After writing the title and brainstorming some thoughts on social design, I realized that perhaps I too am (or could be) a social designer (sans any formal training). That being said,
Here are my notes on social design:
thought-provoking,
proper perspective,
intelligent,
challenges assumptions, provoking of double-takes, resource-moderate (not resource-intensive),
with intention,
more than a modicum of forethought to its externality costs,
of value to society (not only a select few),
fun (whimsical at times)…

We are (or have the ability to be) so much smarter than the majority of what human beings design, but the gravity of the regression to the mean pulls us toward mediocrity.

Social design brings people together, hopefully for the greater good, but this is not always the case. By taking the extra step when designing the things that make up our world, we can influence society as a whole for the better, and anyone and everyone will benefit.

SDN21, the company sponsoring this excercize actually hired me design their website icons. They are nice people but rankly, they don’t fully understand how design can work to benefit society. They paid my nominal kill fee and we parted ways amicably but I’m skepticle of what SDN’s true motives are. To party with Mathew Modine? Thats social, but its not design. I wish you all the best.

Social design is taking classic design ideas and problem solving and applying them to more than aesthetic ideals. Design is just taking a problem, and solving it as simply as possible. So for designers to take their time and present solutions to deeper problems, thats social design. Design that will shape how we live our lives more directly than a cleverly designed end table. Modular housing that is easy and cheap to manufacture, an easy to use water purifier that is run without electricity for areas that need it desperately. Those are examples of social design.

It should be affordable to as many as humanly possible. It seems as if we have to pay extra to be socially and environmentally conscious.

When someone alters his or her behavior in a positive way in response to any deliberate message that ultimately could benefit the greater good, that is social design. The message could be a poster, campaign, product, or a modified environment, etc. but it provokes and challenges people to think beyond themselves.

building community and empowering users!

Design by groups of people for groups of people. Designing for cultural fit.

When the air gets cold, water turns to ice. There is no such thing as empty space. Shape it and re-shape it and tell me excatly what you want me to see. Or let me figure it out on my own.

Design which promotes the betterment of society as a whole – it’s people, it’s environment, it’s culture

Social: characterized by friendly companionship…with others or in a community

Design: to plan or sketch for work to be executed…to plan and fashion artistically or skillfully.

Social Design is a plan executed for a community. Its intention and purpose is for the greater good of its audience.

Social Design will help change something for the better. I believe that even the smallest design will change a larger picture, and that is great.

I can define it from two directions: the first, starting with ’social,’ woudl do for design what digg does for ’social news’ or del.icio.us’ does for ’social bookmarking.’ Social design would mean design collaboration on a massive scale, generated by ordinary people, who acting in concert are smarter than any one individual.

I could also see ’social design’ ass being defined from the other direction, starting from an individual designer using his or her skill to express a social conscience, making an impact on society through the pwoer of graphics and text.

Either way, I think what Design21 is doing is incredibly cool, and I’m happy that they’ve partnered with GOOD.