my first draft thingy.....

As early as in 1970 Victor Papanek, in his major text, Design for the Real World declared that the designers had to change their way of thinking.

In this age of mass production when everything must be planned and designed, design has become the most powerful tool with which man shapes his tools and environments (and, by extension, society and himself). This demands high social and moral responsibility from the designer.'


However, it took almost 40 years before the effect has shown in the general design. The debate has been more or less on going throughout the last decades, but is has only been noticeable for about the last ten years. Although ITDG (now known as Practical Action) was established as early as in 1967 by Schumacher the development of new organisations like Design for the World, Design Without Borders, Development Center for Appropriate Technology has not been found until throughout the last 10 to 15 years. In 2006 UK Design Council took a stand in the much debated theme of where design is going. What is the role of a designer? By awarding Hilary Cottam the ‘Designer of the Year’ title, they moved the traditional vision of design into a new era. Cottam was not taught as a designer, nor was she a typical designer of things. This was frowned upon by the professional designers; however the public liked what they saw. And according to RED

'A new design discipline is emerging. It builds on traditional design skills to address social and economic issues. It uses the design process as a means to enable a wide range of disciplines and stakeholders to collaborate. It develops solutions that are practical and desirable. It is an approach that places the individual at the heart of new solutions, and builds the capacity to innovate into organisations and institutions'