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Design Ethos 2012 Conference: Vision Reconsidered

By Core Jr - March 9, 2012

in News | Conferences

Design can change the world...but how? This Spring, an incredible group of designers representing the diversity of the industry will meet in Savannah to participate in the second Design Ethos, a unique conference experience. An international lineup of design educators and practitioners will dialogue about some of the most urgent challenges facing our communities today. With keynote speeches by Ezio Manzini, founder of the DESIS (Design of Social Innovation towards Sustainability) network, and David Berman, fellow and ethics chair of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, Design Ethos aims to examine the currents of the industry and inspire action. The three-day event invites attendees to not only consider the presentations and panel discussions, but to also participate in a hands-on community project.

Design Ethos: Vision Reconsidered 2012 April 19-22. 2012 SCAD Savannah, Georgia

Divided into two main tracts, the conference is organized around panel discussions addressing matters of global equity, true sustainability and the issues of consumerism on an increasingly populated planet. A who's who of social design and visual communication will be presenting and working together throughout the conference to challenge and inspire attendees—the lineup includes Core77 friends and contributors John Bielenberg, Charlie Cannon, Cheryl Heller, Terry Irwin, Doug Powell, Nathan Shedroff and Cameron Tonkinwise.

The 'do-ference' provides a unique opportunity for designers to take their skills to the street. The do-ference program is designed to inspire a dialogue and to create tools and strategies for the economic and social revitalization of a 22-block stretch of Waters Avenue, an economically depressed urban area in Savannah.

Groups of conference speakers and attendees along with SCAD faculty and students will meet with city and community leaders involved in the city-sponsored Waters Avenue Revitalization Project to identify problems in the area and discuss possible solutions. Using their expertise in design as a tool for social change, conference participants will strategize opportunities to enhance the vitality of families, neighborhoods and businesses in and around the area and present them to city and community representatives, equipping and empowering them to move forward. Check out the Design Ethos blog to read up on the research and work students and community members have been doing this semester!

Core77 is a proud sponsor of this year's Design Ethos conference. Stay tuned as we bring you more news and live coverage of the conference and check the video after the jump for a quick recap from the first Design Ethos conference.