D&AD Judging Week 2016: Thoughts on design

London – At this year’s D&AD Judging Week, LS:N Global discussed where the design industry is heading with a selection of judges.

• Design is a prominent part of D&AD Judging Week, with entrants from product, packaging and graphic design
• Designers addressed how globalisation is affecting design identity and whether innovation is an obsolete term

LS:N Global spoke to Ilse Crawford, creative director at Studio Ilse, Graham Shearsby, chief creative officer at DesignBridge, Geoff Teehan, product design director at Facebook, and Bruce Duckworth, founder and creative director at Turner Duckworth, about the role of design.

The designers talked about how globalisation will force greater creativity and individuality, and why designing for genders remains a fact of life. But each of them said they are hopeful that gender will no longer be a ruling metric for design parameters. At Facebook, Teehan ensures that his team is made up of a diverse group of people to prevent one gender from dominating the design themes.

Meanwhile, Crawford believes that design should speak to individuality, not gender. ‘We should design for people,’ she said. ‘It is important to reflect their different needs in a specific context, but I hope the distinctions are more sublte than that binary male or female.’