What Design Can Do! is preparing an international design challenge intended to involve the creative community in finding solutions for the most pressing questions of our time. ‘With What Design Can Do now in its fifth year, it is time we spur the action and incite designers to show what they are capable of,’ says Richard van der Laken, general director of What design Can Do! The subjects for the challenge will be selected together with the audience at WDCD2015 on 21 & 22 May in Amsterdam.
The challenge will consist of three phases, starting with an open call for ideas to solve the question at hand. A jury will then select the five ideas that are considered to be the most promising. In the second phase, the designers or designing teams of these projects will be provided with a serious budget to further develop their ideas into detailed concepts. An international jury will then choose the winning project. The winner will have an opportunity to bring his or her project into practice.
To determine the subject of the challenge, WDCD is asking for help from the public. Through the website and during the conference this Thursday and Friday, the public can put forward suggestions for what they consider to be the five most pressing issues of today. We call them The Big 5. Once these have been determined, we will match them with relevant social parties, so called ‘problem owners’, and partners for financial support.
Find out more on the What Design Can Do Challenge page, post your own suggestions for The Big 5, and get ready to tackle one of these issues when the challenge starts.
Image: Dagan Cohen presents three of the possible topics for WDCD Challenge (photo Leo Veger)