The U.S. National Design Policy Initiative wants you to share a short video (less than 2 minutes) of your thoughts about the role design plays in US economic competitiveness and democratic governance, how a national design policy would help, and your personal pledge to support the efforts.
Between March 15, 2009 and April 15, 2009, the Initiative will collect videos via our YouTube group page and FaceBook Event page. Select videos will be included in our Design CEO's videos communicating the same message to be presented at national design conferences, to government officials, and other promotional venues.
HOW TO JOIN IN:
1. Art Direction
Film yourself on a plain white background (with semi-decent lighting). I've found that setting up a white board or wall behind me as I face the window during early sunrise or sunset creates beautiful light.
See Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher’s I Pledge Video for inspiration.
2. Script
Provide your name and identifier. Your answers to the four following questions:
- What role does design play in US economic competitiveness?
- What role does design play in the US democratic governance?
- In what specific ways, would a national design policy further enable design to play those roles?
- What would you pledge to do to help design play that role?
Example script from what will be Dori’s video
NAME: I’m Dori Tunstall
IDENTIFIER: Organizer of the U.S. National Design Policy Initiative, design anthropologist, design educator, and optimistic American citizen
COMPETIVENESS: Economic competitiveness is about providing products and services that have greater “human” value than that of your competitors for less cost to yourself. Design is what transforms human values such as sustainability, delight, innovation, efficiency, ease of use, even sublime beauty into things and experiences that people can see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. With approximately 70–80% of the cost of a product determined in the design phase, “design twice and build once” should be the mantra for U.S. economic competitiveness.
DEMOCRACY: Through my former work with the organization Design for Democracy, I’ve seen first hand how everyday people experience democracy not as abstract laws but through designed things. A poorly designed ballot can disenfranchise citizens. Yet, the redesign of election ballots can lead to higher rates of completion. It is through designed things, communications, environments, and experiences that we, in the words of former President Jimmy Carter, “Reaffirm our concern for the human side of government.” This is the heart of American democracy.
DESIGN POLICY: There are already many grassroots and design associations’ initiatives that have used design promotion, innovation policy, design standards, and the design of policy to improve the economic competitiveness and democratic governance of towns, cities, counties, states, and regions. The challenge is to scale those efforts in a country that has 50 States, covers an area of 3.79 million square miles, and is home to 305 million people. It is through the support of a U.S. National Design Policy that the benefits of these efforts can be experienced everywhere nationally.
PLEDGE: I, Dori Tunstall, pledge to help organize and structure an American Design Council to act as a forum that brings together the heads of design organizations, design education bodies, and Federal design studios with high ranking U.S. Government officials to partner in solving the U.S.’s economic and democratic challenges of today and tomorrow.
3. Upload
Upload your video to the U.S. National Design Policy Initiative's YouTube Group. AND to the our Star Search Event Facebook page.
4. Share
Share your favorite videos with your friends, family, colleagues, and politicians.
Disclaimer: By participating in the event -- through uploading videos and leaving comments, you hereby grant the U.S. National Design Policy Initiative and its affiliated organizations the free use of your edited and unedited image, sounds, and words for non-commercial promotional purposes.
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