I see industrial design as a driving force in the ideals of contemporary society. Much of every-day activity is evolved from the products that are designed to address either the problems, or the desires, that designers perceive people have.

From this product centered life, the “things” that surround us are both the result of, and the drivers of cultural values. These values, and the changes they manifest on us and our environment, have proven to be extremely harmful when we do not stop and consider their unintended consequences. In other words, if we don’t think about how the products we make will impact the world around us before we go to production, we wind up with the polluted environments, global warming, and violent tribalism that we see around us today.

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So at the high-level perspective, designers have more influence than perhaps we realize, and I believe that influence places a social and environmental responsibility on us. To that end, I support the principles of Circular Design (IDEO 2018), where a product is developed with consideration of how its manufacture, use, and eventual end will minimize its negative impact on the environment and the people who depend on it.