Design Manifesto

The words graphic designer, architect, or industrial designer stick in my throat, giving me a sense of limitation, of specialization within the speciality, of a relationship to society and form itself that is unsatisfactory and incomplete. This inadequate set of terms to describe an active life reveals only partially the still undefined nature of the designer.

Alvin Lustig

Strategic Design is the discipline that allows me to work with design mindset in unconventional fields. The methodologies and tools enable me as a designer to immerse in complex environments, to analyze the system in a holistic way, to understand the detail as well as the big picture and finally, it gives me the power to connect dots and create new ways of doing.

I am a designer who believes that products, services, and strategies can create patterns of behavior that enable change in society.

I am a designer who believes that social challenges like poverty, prostitution or climate change can be defeated when the solutions come from sensitive disciplines like design.

I am a designer who believes in the power of rigorous research to propose creative and sustainable solutions.

For me, it is important that Strategic Design is perceived as a much more complex discipline. It allows me to project myself as a designer and it empowers me to explore the fields where I want to apply design.

I grew up in a very unfair society in which the possibilities to have the basic things for a decent life are a privilege of a few. It is important for me as a designer to be able to transform and impact with my work the life of these communities. It is important for me to see how people benefit from the things I design. It is important that my work persist. It is important for me to talk to the people and design with them. It is important for me to understand how my design can make the life of these people in need easier, happier and better.

I wish my work is able to sensitize and inspire people to be good with themselves, with their neighbours and with their cities. I wish my design inspire people to think not only about their own well-being but about the well-being of the people around them.

I wish my design carries a message of prosperity, equality, and unity to make this planet a better place.

I am a designer who believes little changes lead to bigger changes. In order to be a sustainable designer I first have to be a sustainable person. For me, change only happens when I have the conviction to be critical with every decision I take. For example, the things I choose to consume, the food I decide to eat, the way I decide to move around the city and the time I take to inform myself about brands. These little things that shape my daily life are translated into values that I decide to live every day. When these values are clear I can easily transfer them to my professional activity.

Everything that comes out of me gives an idea of who I am!

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Project by: Angela Garcia