Talk given at the Creative Coalition Festival 2023 by Design Council's Chief Design Officer Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino

1. Systemic mindsets
How design can help tackle complex problems

2. Design Council
Britain Can Make It (1946)
Championing design
We curated this exhibition a month
after the end of WWII. A showcase of
the best of industrial design at the
V&A, it received 1.5M visitors over 2
months.
Design Magazine (1944-1999)
We published this monthly magazine
on the best of design practice and
manufacturing methods.
Millenium Products (1999)
In collaboration with British Council,
this touring exhibition showcased
over 1K products and was launched
in 1999 at the Millenium Dome by
Tony Blair.
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3. Design Council
Prince Philip Designers Prize (1959-
2011)
Supporting good design
The longest running design prize
used to reward well designed
consumer products. The Brompton
bike received this award in 2009.
Spark product innovation fund (2014-
19)
A £1.8M incubator programme which
supported 150 designers to get their
product to market.
3
Swingtag (1964-1980s)
A quality kitemark and label that was
used to support thousands of well-
designed products.

4. Design Council
Working with NHS England to reduce
aggression through research, improved
signage prototypes and successful pilots
with University Hospital Southampton
NHS Foundation Trust and St George’s
Healthcare NHS Trust.
Reducing violence and aggression in A&E:
Through a better experience (2015)
Guidance
4

5. Design Council
The Double Diamond (2004)
Research: methods and tools
A widely adopted description of the
design process which helps
designers structure client work.
Systemic Design Framework (2021)
Including the environmental, social
and systemic implications of design
into a project.
The Design Value Framework (2022)
Using holistic (social, planetary,
financial and democratic values) to
think about a design project. In
collaboration with BOP Consulting &
Social Design Institute (UAL).
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7. Design Council
Design for Planet Meetup #4
In 2021, we gave ourselves the mission of
galvanising and supporting the 1.97m strong UK
design community to design with the welfare of
the planet as a priority.
Our third Festival is hosted by the University of
East Anglia
October 16th-18th 2023
A mission statement and a Festival
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8. The limits of net zero
Language
and
narrative
Working
with others
is complex
and
competitive
Arbitrary
divisions
A blinkered
bottom line
Working
superficially
Turning
knowledge
into action
Logistical
challenges

9. Systemic Design Framework
4 characteristics 6 principles An expanded process

10. Characteristics
SYSTEM THINKER
someone who has the ability to
see how everything is
interconnected in a bigger
picture, and zoom between the
micro and the macro and across
silos.
LEADER & STORYTELLER
someone who can tell a great
story about what might be
possible and why this is
important, get buy-in from all
levels and have the tenacity to
see the work through.
DESIGNER & MAKER
someone who understands the
power of design and innovation
tools, has the technical and
creative skills to make things
happen, and puts these to use
early on in the work.
CONNECTOR & CONVENER
someone with good
relationships, can create spaces
where people from different
backgrounds come together, and
joins the dots to create a bigger
movement.

11. System thinker
• Finding the root of a problem
• Holding complexity and expanding the brief
• Working at different levels
Someone who has the ability to see how
everything is interconnected, zoom between
the micro and the macro and across silos.

12. Someone who can tell a great story about
what might be possible, why this is
important and have the tenacity to see the
work through.
Leader & storyteller
• Encourage people to think more broadly and more
hopefully
• Develop wider concepts of value and measure and
demonstrate them
• Create stories about why these issues are important and
relevant to the work and then to gain buy-in from all
levels

13. Someone who has the technical and
creative skills to make things happen and
puts these to use early on.
Designer & maker
• Design products, places and services that make it
easy and desirable to live sustainably - that are
circular, regenerative and learn from nature
• In depth knowledge about what works technically and
from nature

14. Someone who can create spaces where
people from different backgrounds come
together and joins the dots to create a
bigger movement.
Connector & convenor
• Connecting different interventions at different levels
• Connecting partners to create greater ambitious or
market demand
• Connecting people with shared goals, designing the
platforms and movements that bring them together from
which further innovations can emerge

15. Design Council
The Double Diamond (2004)
Explore more
A widely adopted description of the
design process which helps
designers structure client work.
Systemic Design Framework (2021)
Including the environmental, social
and systemic implications of design
into a project.
The Design Value Framework (2022)
Using holistic (social, planetary,
financial and democratic values) to
think about a design project. In
collaboration with BOP Consulting &
Social Design Institute (UAL).
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16. Thank you!
Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino
alex.deschamps-sonsino@designcouncil.org.uk