Design has the power to generate value and it has the power to diminish it. It has the power to mask, or lie, and make something of little value appear to have great value. It has the power to create social change, use social capital and production, to incrementally improve public health and environmental stability. It can distort reality or it can make it evident. It can promote economic growth or stifle it.Whatever the case, it's undeniable that the impact of design on any economy is significant and the world is in desperate need for the right solutions to a damaged global economy. I saw it all in New Orleans, from the over hyped, over priced Global Green and Make It Right projects to the grass roots, socially produced results of the Musician's Village. And I started to write down the spectrum of my experiences only to reach a point where I knew what I should do.
This blog is a book in progress, one that will hopefully evolve and be affected by the feeback of many. And it begins with a simple premise, one laid out by Jeremy Alexis for his IIT course, that design, and designers, should not just consider economics, but "be obsessed with creating value; this frame of reference should guide everything we do."
