To celebrate Curve magazine’s 40th edition and the launch of the Curve for iPad this month, the leading industrial design magazine asked high-profile design experts from around the world to share what they think the big game-changers will be in industrial design in the next two to five years.
Amongst several other global leaders from across the world of design, Seymourpowell’s co-founder and design director Richard Seymour gave this response:
“There’s a storm coming. The design world as we know it is separating into the Polymaths and the Guilds. The Polymaths are the broad-bandwidth thinkers who can see across cultural and technical boundaries to find meaning in new future combinations…and the Guilds, the specialist capabilities that can facilitate those ideas once they have been envisioned.
The designer as we know it is already an endangered species. What is a service and what is a product in the 21st Century is up for grabs. Where does the Product end and the Metaproduct begin? How many ‘services’ as we know them today are going to have to migrate to ‘this side of the glass’ and articulate themselves through physical metaphors of their virtual self? Is NEST an object, a service or part of a synthetic-aperture radar gathering big data for the highest bidder? I guess it depends who you are and what your agenda is.
The next five years may witness the most important shift in consumption patterns we’ve seen for centuries. Buckle-up Dorothy, you’re going to have to be on your toes. And if you’re going to continue to call yourself a designer, better work out what that means….”
For more information contact the Seymourpowell PR Team.
One Comment
Agreed, as a ‘Polymath’ I’ve been reflecting on what I am and where I’m ideally placed. I suspect all will become clear when a chemistry between myself and a venture (or a champion within) forms. I think it’s kind of like meeting ‘the one’.
It feels like the design world is in flux. People within trying to find their place and purpose. I guess designers need to decide, will one specialise and ‘join a Guild’ (which seems to be be the secure and conforming way) or ‘go with it’ and hope that the talented visionary approach gets you noticed. I’m buckling up for the journey!
James Roberts, 37
MA (RCA) BEng