How to develop an ethical design practice and build a better world.
The choices made by designers have a significant effect on the world.
Yet so much of the discourse on design focuses on aesthetics rather than
ethics. In The New Designer, acclaimed author Manuel Lima aims to
change this by challenging common myths and preconceptions about what
comprises good design. He argues that designers must take responsibility
for the personal, societal, cultural, and environmental impact of their
work, rather than simply following a standard template.
As he covers fields ranging from graphic design to industrial design to
user-experience design, Lima identifies the major steps that designers
must take to be a force for good in the world. Rather than sticking to
outmoded ideas about perfectionism and individual genius, designers must
work together to tackle some of the most challenging questions of the
twenty-first century. How do you make room for humanity, with all its
wondrous variations, in a society increasingly driven by metrics,
algorithms, and profit? How can ecologically responsible designers
consider a product's entire life cycle and look well into the future?
And how can designers better respond to a community's local needs while
taking advantage of global networks?
Blending approaches derived from ethics, psychology, economics, and
ecology, The New Designer is a vital, field-changing treatise that
will appeal to any reader who seeks to understand design's massive
influence on the contemporary world.
