Text only Redesigning America's Future

Redesigning America’s Future: Ten design policy proposals for the  United States of America’s economic competitiveness and democratic governance

Published by the American design communities on January 2, 2009

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The United States is in need of a redesign.

The U.S. has lost its economic competitiveness.
Its role as a beacon of democracy has dimmed.

Our economy is in its longest slump since the end of World War II. The National Debt has reached $10.6 trillion dollars. Our unemployment rate has increased to a 15-year high of 6.7 percent.

Scandals, corruption, and the Iraq War have eroded the sense of American democracy and the trust in the transparency and effectiveness of our government.

Design serves to advance the goals of the United State’s economic competitiveness by saving time and money and simplifying the use, manufacturing, and maintenance of goods and services. It enhances democratic governance by improving the performance and delivery of government services. 

Thus, the American design communities offer ten design policy proposals for how we can partner with the government to help redesign America’s future.

List of ten policy proposals

1. Formalize an American Design Council to partner with the U.S. Government.
2. Set guidelines for legibility, literacy, and accessibility for all government communications.
3. Target 2030 for carbon neutral buildings.
4. Create an Assistant Secretary for Design and Innovation position within the Department of Commerce to promote design.
5. Expand national grants to support interdisciplinary community design assistance programs based on human-centered design principles.
6. Commission a report to measure and document design’s contribution to the U.S. economy.
7. Revive the Presidential Design Awards to be held every year and use triple bottom-line criteria (economic, social, and environmental benefit) for evaluation.
8. Establish national grants for basic design research. 
9. Modify the patent process to reflect the types of intellectual property created by designers.
10. Encourage direct government investment in design innovation.

Design Policy for democratic governance

“Good design can help us meet our commitment to improve the efficiency of government…and reaffirm our concern for the human side of government.”
– President Jimmy Carter 

Design makes government policy something people can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell through designed objects, communications, environments, and experiences. The improved performance of government design can positively affect the experience of trust, accountability, and effectiveness between the U.S. government and the People.

Design policy for democratic governance takes the form of design standards and Policy as Designed.

Design standards consist of regulations and guidelines for safety, technical quality, sustainability, and social inclusion. They help encode the values of democracy into everything America creates. 

Policy as Design addresses design’s role specifically in government policy creation, the public understanding of issues, and the implementation of policy. Design improves policy success by making it relevant to the People. 

The first five proposals represent the American design communities’ ideas for how we can serve in the redesign of the U.S.’s democratic governance.

Policy as Designed: Creating the U.S. Government’s Partner in Design

1.    Formalize an American Design Council to partner with the U.S. Government.

The first proposal consists of the formalization of an organizational body to partner with the U.S. government in the planning and implementation of these policy proposals: The American Design Council.

Established in the 1980s, the American Design Council was organized as an ad-hoc group of design organizations concerned with the changed funding of design under President Reagan’s administrations.

The proposal is to formalize an organization called the American Design Council to serve as the national strategic body for design in the U.S. and made up of members representing the American professional design associations, the design accreditation bodies; and the leaders of Federal, State, and Local government design services groups.

The organization’s operational expenses and strategic initiatives would be funded in partnership with its members and the U.S. government.

Design standards: Inclusion

2.    Set guidelines for legibility, literacy, and accessibility for all government communications.

The Presidential Memorandum of June 1, 1998 – Plain Language in Government Writing, Section 508 for Web Accessibility, and certain multilingual provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1964 represent some of the efforts to establish design guidelines in government communications.

In Appendix A of the Title III Regulations, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 Standards for Accessible Design provides one of the most sophisticated set of design regulations. It guides a range of designs from sidewalks and ramps, signage and doors, ATMs and drinking fountains, to toilet stalls and seating areas. The principles represented in the ADA design standards needs to be applied to all forms of government communications.

The establishment and regulation of design standards for legibility, literacy, and accessibility for all government communications ensures that all American people will have access to the information they need to engage with U.S. democratic processes.

 

Design standards: Sustainability

3.    Target 2030 for carbon neutral buildings.

A comprehensive U.S. policy regarding sustainability has still yet to proposed and cannot be written without the design communities’ expertise and experience with Cradle to Cradle eco-effectiveness.

In January of 2006, Architecture 2030 officially issued the ‘2030 Challenge’ that calls for (1) all new buildings and developments to be designed to use half the fossil fuel energy they would typically consume, (2) at a minimum, an equal amount of existing building area be renovated annually to use half the amount of fossil fuel energy, and (3) the fossil fuel reduction standard for all new buildings be increased to 60% in 2010, 70% in 2015, 80% in 2020, 90% in 2025 and carbon neutral by 2030.

As part of the Energy Bill of January 2008, the Challenge targets are now required for all new and renovated Federal buildings beginning in 2010. But Federal buildings are less than two percent of all U.S. building stock. The targets should be expanded into all new or renovated U.S. buildings. 

Policy as Designed: Policy creation

4.    Create an Assistant Secretary for Design and Innovation position within the Department of Commerce to promote design.

The Design Director for the National Endowment for the Arts represents one of the highest design positions represented in the Federal government, but the activities and contributions of design extend beyond the mandate of the NEA.

Design’s contribution also fall under the mandates of the U.S. Department of Commerce, yet there is no design position represented in the department to oversee and administer design as a specialized industry. 

By creating a position of Assistant Secretary for Design and Innovation in the Dept. of Commerce, the U.S. government would provide accountability for the role of design in policy implementation across all areas of public policy. The government would also establish the basis for the effective administration of policies for design promotion, innovation, and design standards. 

Policy as Designed: Problem solving

5.    Expand national grants to support interdisciplinary community design assistance programs based on human-centered design principles.

Community design assistance programs are an important part of extending the direct reach of design where it has the most impact—locally.

Often these programs provide the best opportunity for local communities to understand the public policy codes and regulations that affect them.

Through the National Endowment for the Arts and the Environmental Protection Agency, many programs have been funded to support design for the built environment in rural and urban settings. Yet, the experience of community involves all human-made objects, communications, environments, and experiences; and thus design assistance needs to be conducted in a human-centered holistic way.

The expansion of national design grants to support interdisciplinary design assistance based on human-centered design principles ensures community empowerment in all designed aspects of their communities.

 

Design policy for economic competitiveness

“Design policy is the promoting of technology and design as a means of gaining economic advantage by enhancing national competitiveness.” - John Heskett

Design drives innovation that supports the entrepreneurial spirit and economic vitality of the United States of America.

Design policy for economic competitiveness consists of design promotion and innovation policy activities.

Boosting both global and domestic demand for American products and services, design promotion activities include the establishment of design centers, publications, shops, competitions, and exhibitions.

Enhancing economic growth, innovation policy activities increase the research and development (R&D), government procurement, transfer and diffusion, and intellectual property of design products and services.

Aiding in job creation, innovation policy also supports design’s contribution within small and medium businesses, large enterprises, higher education, and industry employment.

The last five proposals represent the American design communities’ ideas for how we can serve in the redesign of the U.S.’s economic competitiveness.

 

Design promotion: Publications 

6.    Commission a report to measure and document design’s contribution to the U.S. economy.

The design industries – architectural services, landscape architectural services, interior design, graphic design, industrial design, custom computer programming (including interaction design), computer systems design, advertising agencies, commercial photography (NAICS 54131, 54132, 54141, 54142, 54143, 54149, 541512, 54181, 541922) – generate $251 billion U.S. dollars in estimated revenue for taxable employer firms and represent 15% of all professional, scientific, and technical services small business firms.

Yet, the question remains of what is design’s full contribution to the U.S. economy and how can it be increased.

Similar to the United Kingdom’s Cox Review, the commissioning of a report to accurately measure design’s contribution to the U.S. economy would establish the baseline metrics of design’s support of the United States’ economic competitiveness.  

Design promotion: Competitions

7.    Revive the Presidential Design Awards to be held every year and use triple bottom-line criteria (economic, social, and environmental benefit) for evaluation.

The American design communities hold over 50 different design competitions and awards. Although the Cooper-Hewitt Museum National Design Awards exists, there is no award that bestows as much honor and prestige than the Presidential Design Award. And yet, it is given only every ten years to Federal projects.

Each year both established and emerging designers create works of significant economic, social, and environmental benefit that are now overlooked.

The revival of the Presidential Design Awards every year would provide opportunities for global recognition of the American design communities’ exceptional solutions to the both U.S. and global economic, social, and environmental challenges through design. Categories for Federal and non-governmental design would expand the recognition of American design that performs.

Innovation policy: R&D in higher education

8.    Establish national grants for basic design research.

Design Research is an internationally recognizable field with learned societies and journals, yet no U.S. government granting body supports basic design research. The National Endowment for the Arts provides grants for Artistic Excellence in Design. While NEA grants encompass the support of design processes, they do not support basic design research. The National Science Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts do not fund design at all.

Over the past 50 years, design has developed as a coherent discipline of study with its own history, methodologies, and “ways of knowing”.  Basic research into the processes of designing takes three forms: (1) the traditional investigations of design history and aesthetics, (2) the more experimental study of materials, technologies, and approaches that generate new design processes; and (3) the explorations of the created objects and systems that impact culture, society, and the environment.

The support of basic design research will lead to innovations that increase the U.S.’s leadership in knowledge and intellectual property.

Innovation policy: Intellectual property

9.    Modify the patent definitions and process to reflect the types of intellectual property created by designers.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has specific guides to filing a design patent that defines design as “the visual ornamental characteristics embodied in, or applied to, an article of manufacture.”  This definition no longer reflects the diversity of design practices or outputs that have evolved beyond visual ornamentation.

The U.S. utility patent process —the other major category of patents for which designers could apply —is biased towards technological, scientific, and pharmaceutical intellectual property, such that it discourages designers from seeking patents.

Design can be both ornamental and functional by definition. The creation of a patent process that recognizes the distinct intellectual property of the design communities would increase the U.S.’s intellectual property production and thus competitiveness. 

Innovation policy: R&D in design industry

10.    Encourage direct government investment in design innovation.

There are many different types of innovations in business and social finance, process, product and service offerings, and delivery.  The U.S. government has offered direct investment in the financial sector in hopes that it will reinvest that money in America’s product and service industries. Yet, that seems to not be enough.

The success of products such as the iPod, an MP3 player only differentiated from its competitors by its innovative product and interaction design, shows that the U.S. maintains its competitive edge through design. While the iPod is assembled in China, it is “Designed by Apple in California.”

As part of the proposed economic-stimulus program, the government intends to build roads, schools, green industries, and other infrastructure. These all start as designs. The direct government investment in design innovation would ensure that these projects are designed to perform innovatively to address America’s economic challenges.

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There is no reason we can’t do this. We are a people of boundless industry and ingenuity. We are innovators and entrepreneurs and have the most dedicated and productive workers in the world. – Remarks of President Barack Obama, Weekly Address, January 3, 2009

Individuals who participated in the crafting of these design policy proposals consist of:

Catherine Armour, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Chair of Design    
Corcoran College of Art and Design

Bill Barrett, Executive Director   
Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD)

Leslie Gallery Dilworth, Executive Director
Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD)

Frank Giblin, Director, Urban Development Program   
U.S. General Services Administration

Richard Grefé, Executive Director   
AIGA, the professional association for design

Ronald  Keeney, Assistant Director of Creative Services   
U.S. Government Printing Office

Allison Levy, Managing Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs   
International Interior Design Association (IIDA)

Thomas Lockwood, President   
Design Management Institute (DMI)

Holly Mattson, Executive Director   
Council for Interior Design Accreditation

Paul Mendelsohn, Vice President of Government and Community Relations   
American Institute of Architects (AIA)

Earl Powell, Fellow   
Design Management Institute (DMI)

Joshua Seiden,  President, Board of Directors
Interaction Design Association (IxDA)

Paul Sherman, President   
Usability Professionals Association (UPA)

Janice Sterling, Director of Creative Services
U.S. Government Printing Office

Dori Tunstall , Associate Professor of Design Anthropology   
University of Illinois at Chicago

Frank Tyneski, Executive Director   
Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA)

Deanna Waldron, Director of Government and Public Affairs   
American Society of Interior Designers (ASID)

Clark Wilson, Sr. Urban Designer/Environmental Protection Specialist    
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

More information:

The ten listed proposals are a fraction of the over 60 policy proposals generated at the 2008 National Design Policy Summit held in Washington D.C. on November 11-12, 2008. Additional policy proposals and the Summit Final Report are available on the U.S. National Design Policy Initiative website, http://www.designpolicy.org

Contact:

Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall, Ph.D.
U.S. National Design Policy Initiative
Email: info@designpolicy.org
Phone: +1 (212) 807-1990

Credit:

Author: Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall
Design: Matt Munoz, Design Heals
Photography: Tim Adkins, Sean Burgess

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