Talk given as part of the virtual IF exhibition on July 17th 2020.

1. Don’t press snooze.
Design in a crisis.
Alexandra
Deschamps-Sonsino
IF exhibition
July 17th 2020

2. You’re in the centre
of it all.

3. 4
DIY did not
work out.

4. 5
Sustainable
design did
not work out.

5. 6
2.2M
electric vehicles
in a market
of 1.4B cars.

6. 7
Choice
isn’t
the
answer.

7. 8
Products
are not
the starting point.

8. 9
Behaviour
change
isn’t only about
communication
design.

9. 10
We have
nowhere to
hide.

10. 11
There is
no way
to go it
alone.

11. Something old.
Energy related
products presented
to a client in 2009.

12. 13

13. 14

14. 15

15. 16

16. 17

17. 18

18. 19

19. 20

20. 21

21. 22

22. 23

23. 24

24. 25

25. 26

26. 27

27. 28

28. 29

29. 30

30. 31

31. 32

32. 33

33. Something new?

34. 35
A culture
of ’always
online’
created
products that
are always
on.

35. 36
A culture
of ’always
online’
that created
products that
are always
on.

36. 37

37. 38
We’re still
selling the
same
solutions
as 10 years
ago.

38. 39
Some are more
expensive and
complicated
than others
and they’re not
sexy.

39. 40
Eventually
it’s always
about
money.

40. 41
ESG ratings,
Green Building
Certification,
they’re already
reporting their
impact.

41. 42
Until your
parents move
their pension
fund, it doesn’t
matter.

42. 43
Until your
parents invest
in improving
your childhood
home, it doesn’t
matter.

43. 44
(EPC ratings
are not open
data in
Germany).

44. 45
Lots of
reasons
why they
won’t.

45. 46

46. 47
Read about
climate related
design
philosophy.

47. 48
Don’t
press snooze:
Design in a crisis.
Read about
climate science
and economics.

48. 49
Remember
to interrogate
the social
impact
of your ideas.

49. 50
Online and
offline.

50. 51
Look at a
variety of
economic
frameworks
and try to
design
within them.

51. 52
Look at a
variety of
economic
frameworks
and try to
design
within them.

52. Something blue.
Let’s be real.

53. 54
Design education
has been
commodified.
You will never
stop learning.
You may need to
retrain.

54. It is not in itself good,
bad, or anything other
than an instrument of
an exchange of capital,
or value.
Design is a
great tool for
capitalism.

55. 40.93% of Brits don’t
have enough savings
to live for a month
without income.
Design makes
people spend
money they
don’t have.

56. Success for a
designer is
when the client
is happy and
pays on time.

57. Success for a
designer is
finding work at
all.

58. TED2 in 1990 showed
climate change related
ideas. We’re still not
acting on those ideas
in 2020.
Difficult
problems need
to be worked out
as a community
of practice.

59. Projects by IF
doteveryone (RIP)
Ada Lovelace Institute
Alan Turing Institute
‘Good’ design
depends on the
interpretation of
good. It’s a
small market.

60. Most funding is aimed
at large businesses or
ideas with high growth
in mind.
Design needs to
be hyperlocal in
small markets.

61. Winning awards, doing
work with big clients,
brands has defined
success in design.
Most designers
don’t want to
work this way.

62. Designers were never
going to make a lot of
money but the star
designers of the 90s
corrupted the optics.
Small local
projects mean a
lean living.

63. Pentagram, Sea
Ranch, Monte Verità,
Kibbo Kift, Synergia
Ranch and many more
hide in your history
books.
‘Work with
friends on small
but meaningful
local projects’ is
the new black.

64. Work in industries you know nothing
about.
Grow your area of expertise.
Work for banks, energy companies, oil
companies. Learn about what we all rely
on.
Only then can you start to change things.

65. Good luck.
designswarm.com/book
lowcarbondesigninstitute.org/resources
alex@designswarm.com
@iotwatch