NextD Journal I ReReThinking Design Special Issue, April 2007
Beautiful Diversion
Introduction Super big thanks to everyone who gave up time to participate in this NextD Journal Special Issue. With so much change underway all around us today, many practicing designers do not have the bandwidth to react to every ripple of activity in the press and the blogosphere. Many designers are out there creating the future rather then reacting to it, and that’s the way we think it should be. Once in a while, something comes along in the press or blogosphere that is so compelling (positively or negatively) that it becomes important for the community to engage. We guessed it might be fun to reach out to our global community of readers on short notice and invite comments to Bruce Nussbaum’s recent blog post entitled “Are Designers the Enemy of Design?” We guessed right! It has been fun, but more importantly it has turned out to be a great shareable learning exercise for all. “Beautiful Diversion” has been a bit of temperature check, and it really is quite amazing to see the diversity of points of view in the community. Design is a community of communities in motion, as GK VanPatter likes to say. It is not a singular motion, but rather many motions at various speeds and numerous directions. It is an exciting time as design is emerging into new territories. The process of continuously designing design is complicated and messy, but one that designers must absolutely be involved in. We hope you enjoy “Beautiful Diversion.” The NextD Team
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