Little things matter.

Dejan Sudijic wrote in his book ‘The language of things’ wrote: “Design is so infinitely fascinating because it constantly changes its parameters and objects of interest. Design can be about creating new forms, but not necessarily, it can be about objects, but not necessarily.” The role of design as profession is constantly growing. New areas occurred: designing food, user experience or social innovations. After 60 years of its existence the Association of Industrial Designers is also planning a change. Since design is not confined to creating for industry, the oldest industry-specific association in Poland will call itself Design Association SPFP. This is a sign of the time. Design not only influences the quality our lives, but also serves the innovation. It holds great promise. However large-scale industrial design has its shadows – landscape change, world filled with trash, soil, air and water pollution, carbon footprint left by our online activity. Many of us feel overwhelmed by the information about environmental or technological threats, we visualize catastrophic future. But between dystopia and utopia, there is a path of realistic optimism. We still have a chance to meet the challenge. Global change that would ensure healthier, friendlier, and fairer world is a tough task. A task for decades to come that would require everybody to cooperate: designers, business representatives as well as their clients. Better future won’t come by itself, it will result from our decisions and design. Latin participle ‘prōiectus’ stands for ‘something put forward’. Thinking of the future is immanent part of designer’s work, who usually sees needs and threats before others do and tries to find solutions to them. Sometimes the changes a designer introduces are revolutionary. Sometimes alterations invisible for outsiders gradually lead to a greater change.