Design for the Other 90%
19Jun07
The majority of the world’s designers focus all their efforts on developing products and services exclusively for the richest 10% of the world’s customers. Nothing less than a revolution in design is needed to reach the other 90%.”
—Dr. Paul Polak, International Development Enterprises
If I were in New York, I’d love to stop by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. The ‘Design for the Other 90%’ exhibit is running May 4–September 23, 2007 and aims to support the growing trend among designers to create affordable and socially responsible products and services. See the website and great little video here.
This fact has really stuck in my head - I didnt realise that design was that hugely focused on paying consumers! The $1 laptop (http://laptop.org/index.en_US.html) is a great example of the opposite, I hope there are many more out there in the future.