How and Why Are Contemporary Designers Trying to Change Society by Everyday Interventions?

“The twentieth century will be chiefly remembered by future generations not as an era of political conflicts or technical inventions, but as an age in which human society dared to think of the welfare of the whole human race as a practical objective”(‘Arnold J. Toynbee’ nov.2008: Brainy Quotes website):

We are all naturally designers for it is a standard tool of the mind. We stripped and carved wood for shelter and seating, using tools to equip us to do things faster with better results, like using a carriage attached to a horse to move faster or a pivot to lift, striving for perfection and using our design instincts to get there. It was experience and increased intellect that gave us technologies that enabled societies to create better methods of design for these needs, “Design is a primary underlying matrix of life” (Victor Papanek 1985:ix): This methodology continued on a larger scale, progressing as time went on to addressing the increase in population. Where there was a problem there was always a solution. Today’s world has not lost these basic principles but with any capitalist country (money driven), society’s ethics and morals tend to get cut short where profit is the main intention. Unfortunately Aronld J. Toynbee’s prediction was incorrect as this system only benefits a small amount of the world’s population, is slowly destroying the world’s eco-systems and is using up and wasting irreplaceable resources. There is a huge step for designers to take responsibility to redesign society’s bad habits to revolutionise into an abundant fair culture where the welfare of the whole human race worldwide is a priority.

There is a large majority of contemporary designers who are driven by ecologically and ethically centred design, working towards a greener sustainable future in a variety of ways formally known as “Green Design”. The damaging result caused by the industrial revolution which has resulted in such issues as climate change (because it was not designed...