ICSID President Interview – Dr. Mark Breitenberg

In this interview Dr. Mark Breitenberg the current president of The International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (a non-profit organisation that protects and promotes the interests of the profession of industrial design) shares his thoughts on ICSID’s role in the industrial design profession, its past and future initiatives and the future of the Industrial Design profession.

1. Mark, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, could you please give a quick introduction on yourself.

I am currently the Provost at California College of the Arts in San Francisco and Oakland, in addition to my role as President of Icsid. CCA is one of the top art and design colleges in the United States, offering twenty-seven different programs in Fine Art, Design, Architecture and Writing, including new programs in Animation, an MBA in Design Strategy and soon a new program in Interaction Design. Formerly, I was the Dean at Art Center College of Design, and before that a professor of Literature and Critical Theory, in which I hold a PhD from the University of California. My literary publications include a book on Shakespeare and many articles on literary history and the Renaissance. I have also written many articles on design education, creativity, transdisciplinary studies, and design-based learning. I’ve served on design juries in every continent, most recently as the Chair of the National Design Awards jury in the U.S., and speak frequently at design conferences around the world.

2. You are the president of ICSID, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, what is the role and aim of ICSID?

The role of Icsid is to support and develop the role of industrial design to improve our economic, social, cultural and environmental quality of life. Icsid includes over 160 member organizations comprised of design companies, professional design organizations, design schools, and design promoters, adding up to almost 200,000 individual members in all parts of the world. One of our most important functions is to provide a global network for industrial design, and also to represent our discipline to non-design organizations, such as governments, NGO’s and the business community.

Icsid also provides direct design problem-solving expertise through our “Interdesigns”, where a group of designers gather for several weeks to tackle a design problem unique to a community or region of the world and use industrial design processes and design thinking to find solutions. This is Icsid’s biggest international development, and we’ve been doing these projects for almost fifty years. A more recent project was started in 2008–the World Design Capital (WDC ). Icsid awards this designation to a city that has reinvented itself and transformed its citizens’ quality of life through design. Our ambition is to collaborate with the designated city to plan a year-long celebration of events that demonstrate the economic and social benefits of design and to encourage other cities to learn from their best practices.

3. As the president of ICSID you would meet many Industrial Designers, what are some of the issues regularly expressed by Industrial Designers around the globe?

There are many issues that come up in my discussions around the world. One of the most important right now is the expanded opportunities for industrial designers. Our field is growing from its historical role in the design of objects to the design of social systems, solving social and humanitarian problems through design, and addressing the needs of business and other organizations about how they are managed and operated. This expansion is led by the application of the design process to the level of problem-solving, often called “design thinking.”

I also hear industrial designers talking about the importance of sustainability and the environment, which has become an assumption of industrial design today, not a luxury. Certainly there has always been an awareness of industrial design to enhance economic growth through innovation, and there is a tremendous effort in China right now to compete on the world’s stage in terms of creativity and innovation, but much of the rest of the developing world is also trying to educate and develop innovative thinkers in design. Creativity is really the world’s currency right now.

4. In your opinion what are the most important issues that educators should be addressing today in Industrial Design education?

Certainly we should be addressing sustainability, and most schools are doing so. I believe we should also teach industrial design in the context of real-world problems: economic, humanitarian, social. Many schools still teach design in an abstract, academic way—we need to get our university studios out in the world. At California College of the Arts, we have started a program called “Engage@CCA,” where students learn their design skills in collaboration with community organizations, and do projects that help these organizations. We also work in sponsored studios with companies. Another important issue is to teach students how to do ethnographic, human-centered research, the ability to empathically understand the people we’re designing for. This is not just a designer’s skill—it’s a fundamental human ability that we should develop in our students.

I would also call attention to design-based learning—the use of the design process to teach all subjects, especially at the secondary school level. This is the best way to reach and motivate the digital age students in our schools today: creativity, project-based, collaborative learning, active rather than passive learning environments. I really think this is the future of all education.

5. In your first address as president to the ICSID membership you spoke about six themes that guide your term as president and with which you hope to shape the future of ICSID as an organisation – Diversity, Influence, Collaboration, Regionalism, Communication and Shape – How do these themes apply to industrial design as a profession?

There is no direct application of these themes to the profession; I was addressing the future of Icsid in these remarks. But I certainly think the best design companies will also promote diversity in their organizations—they are designing for a diverse world. Inclusive design is a good example. I think professional designers should pay attention to regional differences rather than design as if the world were all the same. This includes the use of local materials, functionality that understands cultural differences, and also aesthetics. Another diversity issue involves gender.

Historically, Industrial Design has been dominated by men, and by what we might call a masculine sensibility. But in recent years I have been pleased to see more and more women entering the field, especially industrial design students. This demographic change is very good for the profession, as we now know that female consumers represent a bigger market share than India and China combined. Recently, automotive companies began making an effort to pay attention to this huge market, and now Boston Consulting is predicting a growth of $28 trillion in consumer spending by 2014. The profession of Industrial Design should be as diverse as the world it designs for.

6. We are currently seeing the beginning of the transformation of China from being purely production focused to having a design awareness, this is an interesting development to watch and some designers are apprehensive about this development, what opportunities does this present for ICSID and the Industrial Design profession?

There is no reason to be apprehensive about China’s developments in design, although certainly there will be more competition among designers around the world. But keep in mind that as China’s design awareness grows, it will also introduce a few billion new consumers who are aware of good design! But for the next twenty years or so I would say that China will be in a development phase of its design capacity, so it will be learning from the more advanced design countries. And certainly Icsid would like to help all countries improve the quality and social impact of their design and, the value of intellectual property—that is a great opportunity and responsibility for us.

7. ICSID is a global body, how does it facilitate creating impact at regional and local levels?

For fifty years, our Interdesigns have always worked at the regional and local level, and they are one of the most successful and influential projects in the Icsid portfolio.Icsid Regional Meetings have also been very success in sharing Icsid’s message and work with regional audiences. We have also introduced a regional network, in which local Icsid members create events and exchanges, and contribute to the regional reports we publish four times each year. Icsid endorsements of design events around the world also support the high consistent standard of regional design initiatives including competitions.

8. What exciting developments and initiatives will we be seeing from ICSID in the near future?

Icsid has a very ambitious strategic plan so allow me to pick a few projects from it.

Icsid will be celebrating World Industrial Design Day on 29 June. This is an effort to educate the general public about the value of industrial design. For example, the public understands Apple as the company that changed computers from dull beige boxes to colourful, user-friendly interactive machines. However, a very small percentage of the public knows the story behind Jonathan Ive’s design, and how it transformed the company. In the industrial design community there are many small and big success stories that need to be shared with the general public. Icsid intends to collaborate with all industrial design stakeholders to promote the awareness and appreciation for Industrial Design on this day of observance.

Icsid is also collaborating with Icograda and IFI to hold the first IDA Congress in Taipei in October 2011. The theme of the congress is “Design at the Edges” with three distinct edges identified: between designers and non-design stakeholders; the blurring of edges between the design disciplines; and the edge of innovation. The objective is to identify the critical global issues of our time, and then to stage dialogues between experts on these issues and designers. In Taipei we’ll have the chance to hear how design solutions can address these issues and in so doing help to solve some of our most challenging problems.

Icsid will also be introducing a new concept to encourage, inspire and celebrate industrial design led projects and initiatives with a socially beneficial result. Unfortunately, I can’t share details until the project is launched but the Icsid board’s intention is to involve the members and the public to appreciate the extraordinary work that is being done in industrial design led innovations while attempting to take stock of the evolving field of Industrial Design. I‘m very excited about Icsid’s role in unveiling these undiscovered areas of excellence.

9. What issues, developments and trends do you believe are currently shaping the future of the Industrial Design profession?

Certainly sustainability—that’s no surprise. I also see the growing impact of digital interaction in product design. But I really think the most important trend of the last 10 years is a much deeper understanding of users and consumers, a real human-centred approach. This trend covers both commercially oriented design (for example, the IPhone), but also all the amazing humanitarian design that’s being done. And I believe that compassionate, human-centred design is the ethical center of industrial design. It represents the best version of our profession.

10. Mark, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts to share?

Just that I’m grateful that my career found its way to design and design education. It’s a great place to be at this point in history, and I’m always surrounded by amazingly creative people.

At this point of my career, it’s a great honour to have the responsibility of leading Icsid as its President of the board. I take this responsibility very seriously and will work hard to collaborate with the Icsid Senate, Board, Membership, Secretary General and staff team to build a strong and relevant Icsid.