Let’s begin with Design Mindfulness
The art and craft of being design-minded and being able to use design tools and methodologies to their full intent blends capability, experience, and perspective. It can take years to master all of these, but beginning with a design mind-set a key practice, that we strengthen over time.
For this very reason, it feels apt to share the beautiful and thoughtful DesignShifts work of Ida Persson. If you're familiar with her LinkedIn story shares, you’ll know her ongoing commitment to better futures for and through design. A 2024 Medium article of hers captures her intent; Ida shares –
“The idea for DesignShifts was born out of the current reality and a wish for something better. Through a series of questions and provocations, DesignShifts explores a better future for and through design.
With a focus on collective learning, I will be sharing potential shifts that invite us to look at our current practices, mindsets, and focuses. The aim is to move beyond the border of capitalism and envision new, non-exploitative ways to design and live on this planet. I hope to examine design using a political, cultural, and societal lens — something that is often lost as we try to fit design neatly into the world of business.
The vision is to shift design from a tool that serves company growth
to a practice that serves community and planetary flourishing.”
Ida’s beautiful visual work is a tribute to the powerful and engaging design that drives change through a movement to reform our perspective to better serve our (collective) futures, something we are very passionate about at WE–FORM.
Some of my favourite design sights include (although a list doesn’t do her work justice):
From ARCHITECTS OF DISTRACTION to STEWARDS OF ATTENTION
From SINGLE STORIES to LAYERED NARRATIVES
From FRICTIONLESS to MEANINGFUL
From GLORIFYING SIMPLICITY to HOLDING COMPLEXITY
From CONSUMPTION to CONTENTMENT
All of which inform our practice to create space for experience innovation.
DESIGNSHIFTS NEW ZEALAND EVENT
Many of Ida’s DesignShifts echo local indigenous intent, as guardians of our lands, and we celebrate Ida’s global voice to encourage these evolutions on a global scale.
So, needless to say, in collaboration with Design Futures Aotearoa, WE–FORM is proud to support an exclusive New Zealand event to share her archetype work, exploring how we might see ourselves now, and how our roles might evolve to design better futures for us all.
Make sure you register now for this exclusive online event:
DesignShifters:
Archetypes for a better future
Fri, 16 Oct, 8am - 9:30am NZDT
For more about Ida’s philosophy and work, visit:
Work: DesignShifts.org
Follow: linkedin.com/in/idampersson
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For other events you’d like to see here in New Zealand, please drop me a line via the Connect page.
New Design Roles Responses for a Shifting World, Ida Persson @DesignShifts.org
