Saffron Digital Creative Director Leif Steen spoke with Brandemia about the challenges facing the future of design and its role as an agent of change in honour of International Design Day.

A global invitation on International Design Day 2023

Happy International Design Day! This year’s global theme Peace. Love. Design! celebrates the <a href="https://www.theicod.org/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">International Council of Design</a>‘s 60th anniversary in order to remember and revive the activism of the sixties. The design community worldwide is asked to reflect on issues of environmentalism, social equity, collective movements and radical change.
<a href="https://brandemia.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brandemia</a> invited Saffron’s Digital Creative Director <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/steenleif/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Leif Steen</a> to contribute to the campaign with other leading creative directors in our industry. 
Steen commented:  The general feeling is that a drastic change is coming in the industry and that these changes are moments of opportunity to evaluate and redefine. It’s necessary for brands and designers alike to exercise honesty and focus our efforts on finding solutions that both bring real value to audiences on an individual level, as well as address the multiple social challenges needing an answer.

Technology is not ‘the answer’ but it is a tool. Creativity plays an indispensable role in solving increasingly complex problems and our challenge as designers is to believe in design as an agent of change once again.
The opportunity lies in designing from a strategic context: valuing and defining the implications beyond the pixel or the vector of the moment, considering the ecosystem around our work to really generate a real and sustainable impact.
<a href="https://saffron-consultants.com/case-studies/thevaluable500">The Valuable 500</a> is a good example where identity and experience can nurture and, at the same time, elevate the strategic vision of a brand seeking to accelerate the social inclusion of people with disabilities in a tangible way while also adding value to the business.

International Design Day 2023 poster designed by Martina Giustolisi.

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