Defining the Designer of 2015

The design profession is changing dramatically, for good reasons: the marketplace is beginning to understand the value of design and is making demands of designers that go well beyond traditional roles. At the same time, leading designers have tools and perspective that allows them to adapt in increasingly valuable ways to the challenges of their clients.

Already, it is possible to begin to see the attributes of the designer that clients and design studios, agencies or corporate departments will need to address the problems with which they will be challenged in the future.

AIGA, in partnership with Adobe, has launched an ambitious initiative to define the professional requirements of the designer of 2015—to forecast the needs, skills and roles of the designer of the future. This year-long project will help characterize the skills, education requirements and work environments designers will face in the year 2015.

The desired outcome of the Designer of 2015 initiative is to define about six general types of designers who will be needed to address communication design problems in the collaborative environment of 2015. This will involve describing the challenges and limitations of the roles, the skill sets required, the knowledge level, the experience level and the tools that must be available for each type of designer. These types, or personas, should be comprehensive, encompassing practitioners who may be creating two-dimensional artifacts as well as the designers working in a multidimensional, conceptual and strategic framework.

These personas will serve as an aid in developing learning expectations of curricula in design programs (including two-year programs for lower level positions) and will offer recommendations on how designers should begin to organize, recruit and train their studios for the challenges at the end of the decade.

The Visionary Design Council is a small, select group of key influencers and thought leaders in their respective fields. It is comprised of diverse individuals, all of whom will provide their unique perspectives on design and the future of the discipline. This group will be instrumental in guiding the definition and application of the Designer of 2015 research initiative. Council members include:

• Jake Barton, Local Projects, LLC
• Rick Boyko, VCU School of Mass Communications
• Brian Collins, Ogilvy & Mather
• Meredith Davis, North Carolina State University
• William Drenttel, Winterhouse
• Hugh Dubberly, Dubberly Design Office
• Carla Frank, O Magazine
• Stanley Hainsworth, Starbucks
• Sylvia Harris, consultant
• Brad Johnson, Second Story
• Marcia Lausen, Studio/lab
• Michael Lebowitz, Big Spaceship
• John Maeda, MIT Media Lab
• Ken Martin, Blitz
• Clement Mok, The Office of Clement Mok
• Christopher Pullman, WGBH
• Susana Rodriguez, Stone Yamashita Partners
• Jacob Rosenberg, independent
• Ivy Ross, Old Navy
• Lisa Strausfeld, Pentagram
• Lita Talarico, School of Visual Arts
• Lucille Tenazas, Tenazas Design
• Christopher Vice, Herron School of Art and Design

Throughout the course of this year-long research project, AIGA will routinely present findings and provide opportunities for input to the AIGA community, both educators and professionals.