This is a significant moment for the profession of design.
For the first time since the 1960s, human centered design is high on the agenda: issues such as accessibility, inclusivity and mobility are once more taking center stage. And as society looks for solutions to social problems of all kinds, it is to design – and designers – that it increasingly turns.
TYPO London 2012: Social provides a unique opportunity to investigate the myriad ways in which designers can function socially. And by ‘functioning socially’ we don’t just mean in the socio-political sense: thanks to huge changes in the nature of media, the act of designing is, more than ever, a social act, whether it is working for a global brand or designing a new eco-friendly typeface.
There is no single path; there are many. But we can be sure of one thing: the socially minded designer is the designer best equipped to deal with the changes that we all face as a culture.