The Design Council is supporting a series of events at the London Design Festival from September 17 to 25, to promote the role of design in addressing challenges ranging from the ageing population to commercialising science & technology and protecting intellectual property rights.
Monday, September 19 will see the launch of DesigningScience at the Book Club, Shoreditch - a new Design Council funded project and publication developed by super/collider, which brings together designers and scientists to explore crossover and collaboration between the two disciplines.
On September 20, the Design Council is hosting a talk and discussion to explore how great design can make even everyday products and services more exciting and how being playful can help identify ways of making things better. Dan Germain Head of Creative at Innocent smoothies, and Luke Nicholson founder of sustainable innovation practice More Associates, will be leading the fun, interactive evening.
The Design Council's Head of Design Strategy, Marianne Guldbrandsen, will be amongst the speakers at the V&A's Designing for an Ageing Population event on September 22, discussing the findings from the Design Council's Keeping Connected project which is exploring design-led solutions to enhance independent living and quality of life for older people. Marianne will also be speaking on the Design Council's Innovation Strategy for BIS at the Association of Parliamentary Design Group seminar, Better By Design, also at the V&A, on September 20.
To support the development of new government legislation to help designers protect their ideas, the Design Council has also been working with the Intellectual Property Office to produce new research on design rights. They will be hosting an IPO event on September 21 to introduce the findings as the first step in a programme of evidence-gathering from the design industry to influence future policy on protecting intellectual property rights.
"Across the board, we are delighted to be part of helping design to play a more central role in business and the economy, commercialising our science base, and tackling some of the UKs most pressing societal challenges," said Lesley Morris, Design Council's Interim Head of Strategy Unit. "I hope designers coming to London for the LDF will be inspired by the potential of design to bring about much-needed change."