Better World by Design (BWxD) is a student-led initiative at Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design that celebrates interdisciplinary collaboration between designers, educators, innovators, and learners. This team envisions a world where design-thinking is accessible to everyone in order to catalyze positive change on a local and global scale.
The three
custom clear stickers they printed up for this event feature, no surprise, some really solid graphic design that's on point with their theme "Blocks, Bytes, and Bars." They used a square and circle to hold their artwork, and the clear sticker choice means that wherever this sticker goes, the background will shine through. Simple vector lines and deep navy blue helps tie all of the stickers together.
By the way, that pale blue you see on the stickers here in the blog post is how we send out the artwork to customers, so they know that it's a clear sticker.
To celebrate Better World’s 10th year anniversary, they built a different kind of conference in order to break the conversational mold and reflect upon both their organization’s history and our common future. Blocks, Bytes, and Bars, uses symbols to provide an alternative method of conceiving the design process. These three objects can represent design’s traditional past, technological present, and aspirational future. Because of the nature of art and design, this symbolism invites multiple interpretations. Their goal is to craft "the theme in a way that will provide a fresh lens through which new stories, understandings and connections can emerge."
More About Design Thinking
By now though, you might be asking what's "Design Thinking"? Design thinking is a creative strategy used by designers as part of their process.
According to Brown and Wyatt in their 2010 article "Design Thinking for Social Innovation" that was published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, "
as an approach, design thinking taps into innate human capacities but that are overlooked by more conventional problem-solving practices. It does not only focus on creating products and services that are human centered, but the process itself is also deeply human." Donald Norman's "
The Design of Everyday Things" is a great book if you're interesting in learning more about design thinking and how to incorporate this type of approach into your life and work.
Using these types of problem solving approaches, Better World by Design spends an entire year facilitating workshops, panels, and discussions that engage in and promote design. The year builds up to the annual three day conference on Brown and RISD’s campus to stimulate those ideas and inspire the team to continue these conversations.
We're sponsoring the event this year, in part because of their focus on community and sustainability. Through our collaboration, we've learned that Better World by Design believes in designing experiences that supports a vision of an environmentally sustainable world. Using community and environmental impact as methods for decision-making, they work with local businesses and nonprofits to provide flavorful food and renewable energy.
Background on BWxD
But let's get into some history. In 2008, Sharon Langevin and Steve Daniels, Brown alums from the class of 2009, and Tino Chow and Mike Eng, RISD grads in the same year, founded Better World by Design to merge their schools and their academic fields to solve social problems from a holistic perspective. Over the years, Better World by Design has expanded its reach while fostering a close partnership between Brown, RISD, and the Providence community. This deep dive into the local area is another reason why we're on board with this team.
BWxD alums do amazing things in amazing places. Their website highlights those folks and profiles their work.
Here's a video about this year's theme and the 10th anniversary
BWx10: Better World Celebrates Ten Years! from
A Better World By Design on
Vimeo.
