In times of sustainability and environmental friendly products there is kind of a new field in design that gains attention. »Social Design« becomes more and more popular. Even UNESCO is partnering actions around the issue, e. g. in »Design21 – The Social Design Network«:

Are you a socially conscious designer, non-profit, individual or organization who believes social change can happen through design?

The main topics around Social Design is the fight against poverty, the regard of the disabled in designed products, the needs of elderly people and so on. »Better design for the noble« or »changing the world through design« is a precious pursuit, of course. But I think that the term »Social Design« is critical. Because it neglects the fact that all designed objects influence society. If a human interact with an artefact, the artefact has an influence on his behaviour. It’s an idiosyncrasy of design that it is social. The philosophy of design schools like Bauhaus or the Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm based on this idea.

Nowadays »Social Design« has a charitable touch. It’s about finding solutions to wipe away poverty in Africa. Or how to enable handicapped people a better life. Which is noble, for sure. But most of our products today are connected to economy, trade and money. The main market is here – and there are so many products flushing our world. So when I talk about the social aspects of design, poverty, disease and age is only one part of it all.

We should have a deep look into our societies in cities like New York, Berlin or Lisboa. There’s enough to change – because people might be fed up one day of being the dairy cow that is being squeezed by presenting new gadgets labelled with design. Otherwise strange »Social« designs like a bamboo bike could appear that do not make sense for the African market at all but rather reflect the easy mind of some stylish urban designer in a western capital who just mixed »poverty« and »sustainability« togehter.

There’s enough to start with in our society. Design your own…