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THE PROOF - DESIGN IS / CAN

THE PROOF is a weekly roundup showcasing local creatives. A column for creatives to share their story and work, in a unique, concise format: each creative shows 8 pictures and answers 8 questions.

THE PROOF is a weekly roundup showcasing local creatives.  A column for creatives to share their story and work, in a unique, concise format: each creative shows 8 pictures and answers 8 questions. Past participants include Bob KronbauerOmer Arbel, Hannah Georgas, Carson TingJane CoxLizzy KarpAndy Dixon, Graeme Berglund - all living in Vancouver.

VANCOUVER DESIGN WEEK is here! To continue the DESIGN IS / CAN ___ discussion, I have asked Jennifer Cutbill, the director of Vancouver Design Week and few of the past Proof participants to tell us what design is to them.

Design_Is_Can

Jennifer Cutbill, Vancouver Design Week

Design is / can ___?

Design can change the world!

What is design to you?

Design is a vehicle for making real what we currently believe to be impossible.

Why does design matter?

Design shapes our lives - from our cities, to our everyday patterns of behaviour, to our future. Its intrinsic to solving the truly wicked problems we face as a city and as a society. Design can change the world...but only if we empower designers and innovators to work together - across and beyond disciplines and with the stakeholders they impact - to realize holistic solutions!

What's your personal design philosophy?

'Lateral agency' - lateral thinking + strategic design agency (agency being the ability to effectuate change in a system); fuelled by a passion to seek ways in every project to leverage it to enable (and inspire) holistic health, happiness and transformative systemic change.

Jane Cox, Cause+Affect, Fuel Conference, PechaKucha Night Vancouver, Vancouver Design Week

Design is / can ___?

Design inspires participation.

What is design to you?

Design invites with emotion and delivers on experience.

Why does design matter?

Design makes our experiences memorable.

What's your personal design philosophy?

“Weird, odd and wacky” are better reactions than none at all.

Omer Arbel, Bocci

Design is / can ___?

YES.

What is design to you?

A way of making a simpatico universe.

Why does design matter?

It is a fundamentally human pursuit.

What's your personal design philosophy?

I seek form in the intrinsic properties of a material or technique. Thus, shapes have a certain appropriateness derived from the physical, chemical, or mechanical attributes of the material, rather than emerging from a symbolic or allegorical idea in the author's imagination.

Carson Ting, Chairman Ting

Design is / can ___?

Design creates efficiency.

What is design to you?

Thoughtful series of creative arrangements.

Why does design matter?

Life is too short for bad design.

What's your personal design philosophy?

Less is more.

Steve Rio, Briteweb

Design is / can ___?

Design can level the playing field for people around the world and how they access and digest information, goods and services.

What is design to you?

It is the never-ending effort to create more effective and more enjoyable experiences that change peoples lives.

Why does design matter?

Design matters because it's the difference between existing and enjoying.

What's your personal design philosophy?

Simplicity and purpose are the building blocks of design. How can we deliver a message/service/product in the simplest most pleasurable way possible?

Matthew McCormick, Matthew McCormick Design Inc.

Design is / can ___?

Design can be the conduit in which to communicate a vision. It can tell a story of its creator, its history and its thoughtful process. Design can play on ones sensibilities, evoke emotions, promote conversation, and create an experience. Design can also simply disappear harmoniously into the ethos with ingenuity and ease of use.

What is design to you?

Design is the conscious consideration of form and function which emerges through curiosity and refinement. It's the opportunity to do things differently, explore potential and discover possibilities.

Why does design matter?

By utilizing innovations in technology, design can create relevant accessibility and extension of human experience. It can create opportunities out of challenges, and playfulness where there was once hardship.

What's your personal design philosophy?

I believe in story telling and infusing passion into my work. Through this process I believe that it's not the sum of the parts, but the intrinsic value of how they're put together.

Nicole Bridger, Nicole Bridger Clothing

Design is / can ___?

Design is the physical expression of spirit.

What is design to you?

Creation.

Why does design matter?

We are surrounded by design. Natural and made. It affects our lives every day.

What's your personal design philosophy?

Design should feel effortlessly beautiful, a kind of ease and flow. It should connect us with our true selves, our spirit while functioning for life.

Lukas Peet, ANDLIGHT

Design is / can ___?

Creating.

What is design to you?

The opportunity to create something new.

Why does design matter?

Because it has the ability to change things for the better and evolve society.

What's your personal design philosophy?

Make meaningful functional design that offers something new.

Chris Bentzen, Hot Art Wet City

What is design to you?

Design is a joke. Well, like writing a joke: edited to as few words as possible but still able to communicate.

Why does design matter?

It doesn't. We also don't need to laugh, it's just better when we do.

What's your personal design philosophy?

Simple, clean, a little humour, maybe a little dirt for good measure.

Zoe Pawlak, Artist

Design is / can ___?

Design can be done so poorly, it can route an entire city wrong directions, cause tension and destruction. Conversely, design can enlighten and elevate the experience of moving around in this human body.

What is design to you?

Design is my Coach purse. I put my fingers down to open it and the latch is in the perfect place. When I bike, I whip it over my shoulder and it lays on the flattest part of my back.

Why does design matter?

The best designers are not only concerned with aesthetics. They know the body and obsess, on our behalf, over function. Forward thinking, radical design of and in cities is imperative and most fascinating at this time in history.

What's your personal design philosophy?

What your eyes like and what your soul moves you to make and what you have in your present situation to create with and from: those are your means. The rest is hard work. Trail and error.

Right now I am most interested in how the 'speed with which something appears to be made' influences the emotional relationship the viewer can have to a piece.

____________

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