Circular Design is Mindful Design

... or, ‘The Mindful Designer’. My previous post is a pdf of the theme for the Design Shanghai 2020 Forum, which deals with circularity in both the economy and design. It's of particular interest in the context of Chinese design, which, in less than a generation, seems to have gone from mindlessly determined pursuit of the consumer ideal to thoughtful and practical recognition and respect for its own ancient craft principles – principles in accord with one of the three main spiritual traditions in Chinese life: Taoism, Confucianism, Shintoism. Buddhism and Islam are also significant of course, but not so much at the heart and root.

To repeat myself; the final paragraphs of the ‘Manifesto’ for Design Shanghai 2020 say: ‘The key is to see our place in time. The values at the heart of circularity are time honoured; compassion, community, collaboration and craftsmanship were the drivers of pre-industrial society, and as the circle turns, they come to the top again. Craft expresses and celebrates a beautiful, balanced society. Reviving the subtle spiritual traditions of craftsmanship, which carry such weight in both Eastern and Western cultures, gives cultural or circular design a far greater dignity and inner strength than the commercial design which creates yet another product that no one needs and will soon be adding to landfill or ocean waste.’ And so we conclude: ‘To achieve the mindset of circular design, we must make it mindful design. We must draw on our own internal, conscious awareness and ask: does this help change attitudes and behaviour? Is it truthful? Is it beautiful?’

There are already a small handful of design consultancies and operations that have picked up on this... I was going to say ‘meme’ but it’s more theme than meme. Truth is, most of them do not embody the principles of mindfulness at all, it’s just a fashionable phrase they’ve picked up to differentiate their work in interaction design or cushions and curtains. See next post for ‘The Se7en Principles of Mindful Design’ and more on the book proposal.

Point is, Design has to change its act. Before it's too late.