Happy International Design Day!
April 27 is a good day to remember and remind others what design is and why it is one of the ways of thinking that should always be at the center of our lives. On this occasion, I would like to talk about the ICoD, and also to propose a thought on why we should consider establishing a Ministry of Design.
April 27, 1963 was the founding day of the International Council of Design (ICoD)1 and is celebrated every year as the International Design Day. Everyone, whether a member of the council or not, is welcome to celebrate this day. Every year there are various events happening all over the world: exhibitions, events, competitions and discussions, where designers aim to make the voice of design heard. For example, GMK (Turkish Graphic Designers Association) in my home country of Turkey organizes an online exhibition every year exhibiting members’ works on the theme. Each year, the Council determines a theme in order to evaluate the design from different perspectives and this year's theme is “Peace. Love. Design!”
Inspired by the anti-war movement of the 60s, the years when the International Design Council was founded (with the name Icograda), this theme aims to bring together the younger generations who unite around the idea of peace and love, this time including the concept of design. War, racism, inequality, and other social and economic injustices which were being fought against at that time are still with us today, and it is still necessary to repeat the words “peace and love” out loud. International Design Day proposes to gather designers to evaluate the real value of design and its capacity to create change.
When I get together with other designers and artists from many different parts of the world at international meetings, what comes to my mind is always the fact that we are all citizens of the same land and we speak the same language. Thinking beyond flags and borders is something designers and artists can already do; we have the ability to see the bigger picture. We have the potential to address the problems faced by societies from different perspectives and to reevaluate them with the problem-solving skills that we always use. The most urgent need of societies is design. Designers are the most critical manpower of states and governments, although many managers are probably not aware of this. Most might be content to think that design is merely poster design for political propaganda. It is up to the designers to communicate that design is not at all limited to this.
Design creates systems. These visual and functional systems emerge for users, for individuals, for society, for the communication between us. We all use one or more of these systems every day. Some have been working well for a long time, while others need to be overhauled or replaced. So, on April 27 this year, the Council invites us to reflect on the following questions.2
Environmentalism: In what new ways does design need to be responsible in its engagement with the material world and climate change?
Social equity: How can designers foster values of peace and love to address issues of social equity today?
Collective movements: In what ways can designers bring people closer together to form new spaces of access and care?
Radical change: What can design do to reshape systems and structures to support justice, so all people live well and flourish?
Designers need to be more conscious of their relations with the world and climate change and to have better knowledge of production options that bring about possibilities to produce sustainable and environmentally friendly products and services. This includes the use of renewable, recyclable and biodegradable materials as well as energy-efficient production methods. Designers should be aware of the environmental impact of their designs and strive to reduce their products’ carbon footprints. Instead of disposable products, we should aim to design long-lasting products that can be reused or repurposed and convince institutions that ineffective design is waste. Naturally, not all the burden is on the designers’ shoulders here; employers, local governments, global organizations and production inspectors should also support and encourage these efforts.
Designers are able to create products and services that promote inclusiveness, collaboration, understanding, and respect for all people, by highlighting the values of peace and love to address social equality issues. This includes creating products and services that respect different cultures and beliefs, as well as designing products and services that are accessible to people with various cultural backgrounds and abilities. In addition, designers should strive to create affordable and accessible products and services for people of all income levels. By creating products and services that build on and promote social equality and inclusion, designers can contribute to creating a more equitable and just society.
Creating new meeting points, suggesting spatial, virtual or abstract meeting areas, brings together individuals from different cultures and experiences and creates new bridges. Designers can bring people closer by introducing new areas of access and interests that foster collaboration, communication and understanding among people from different backgrounds. Here, we can mention two different types of bringing together: the first one is the meeting and merging of separate elements, the other is access to free spaces where the like-minded can feel a sense of belonging. Shared spaces encourage collective formation, joint thinking and production.
We need the above-mentioned areas of collective communication and an inclusive, egalitarian view to rebuild or reshape systems and structures that support justice so that all people can thrive. The management systems of many states and state-affiliated institutions are cumbersome or have structures that contain significant errors, especially in terms of user experience and communication. As designers, we have the ability to observe user experience, a creative potential to develop new forms of communication, systematic approaches to problem solving (and our neuromuscular junctions inclined to doing so). When we bring these ways of thinking and a solution-oriented approach to state institutions, many systems that would benefit society may emerge. Likewise, it may be possible to improve and consolidate existing systems.
Of course, doing all of this takes time and effort. While I’ve been thinking about who will do this and how any of it is possible, the following mischievous question has been running through my mind for a while: Why don’t we have a Ministry of Design? I want to add this to ICoD's list of questions. Design, which is as important as agriculture, education, and health, can transform the economy and culture of cities/countries from the ground up and promote them to the world (see Design Research Unit in London in the 1960s or the contribution of the investments made in design to the economy in China today). Why is this huge potential going unrealized? Ministries work to implement government policies, provide services and meet the needs of the people; in this age where design is such a huge part of life, all services and almost all needs must be handled by teams where designers have a say. Governments have to allocate serious budgets to design, and they have to listen to architects, urban planners, industrial designers, graphic designers, user experience designers, fashion designers and interior architects. Maybe in this way, the above-mentioned radical change can begin, and a better life will be possible with human-scale and human-oriented plans, from big cities to small settlements, from mass instruments to individual needs.
If there were a ministry, I don't know if we would settle the above discussions, if all our problems would be solved, but maybe we could get a little closer to the solution. Fortunately, we have our beloved national professional design organizations, the International Council of Design and an International Design Day to celebrate with enthusiasm and joy!
Happy April 27th!
1. The International Design Council (ICoD) is a worldwide professional body for professional design, representing more than 120 organizations in 55 countries. Founded in 1963 as Icograda, the Council is a non-profit, impartial, member-based network of independent professional organizations and stakeholders working in different disciplines of design.
2. Retrieved from ICoD’s call for International Design Day, April 27, 2023.
