Overview

Examining how creative decision-making is fundamentally tied to our values and modes of thinking in an era of accelerating change and deepening challenges, this book offers a timely reminder that design can be a powerful force for renewal, when grounded in a sense of responsibility, humility, and shared humanity. Drawing on insights from philosophy, global traditions, real-world examples, and hands-on making, the book explores how creativity can be guided by deeper values of compassion, inclusivity, and conservation. It invites us to reflect on why we create, how we create, and who we create for, and shows how such values can lead to more enduring, meaningful outcomes, and how design can help restore connections, foster equity, and bring us closer to the world we want. More than a design philosophy, it offers a hopeful vision of creativity not as spectacle or strategy, but as a thoughtful, enduring contribution to the common good. Design Shift will be a key text for designers, students, lecturers, and researchers across design disciplines, craft studies, and sustainable futures, as well as practitioners and policymakers involved in social and environmental reform.

Full Product Details

9781041150565

Table of Contents

Reviews

“I was struck by the distinctly different tone, content, and flow. Every word feels considered, and the structure – titles, essays, and parts – acts like stars in a constellation, guiding the reader through a reflective journey. Joyous and deeply enlightening, Design Shift invites us into a quiet, powerful conversation – one that coaches, challenges and ultimately transforms how we should engage, lead, and practise creative design.” Professor Louise Valentine, Editor in Chief, The Design Journal Chair: Design Leadership, Heriot-Watt University (Dubai Campus). “As a designer, this book inspires me – it is both critique and contemplation. A whisper amid the noise, it reminds us that to create is not to dominate, but to care. Walker invites us to transform haste into pause, and production into an act of love. It is a quiet manifesto for our times, a masterpiece.” Mariana González De La Rosa, Departamento de Arte, Diseño y Arquitectura, Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla, Mexico. “Design Shift critiques consumer-driven capitalism and calls for culturally rooted approaches to creativity that are grounded in tradition and ecological responsibility. Integrating notions of beauty, goodness, and accountability, Walker shows us how design can change the world. This is an important book, especially for today!” Professor Karl Stocker, University of Graz & Tbilisi State Academy of Art, coauthor Lessons on Change (with C. Hedin & S. Kauper). “Stuart Walker takes the reader on a transformational journey. Drawing on global philosophy and spiritual wisdom across the ages, he proposes a new set of creative values and ‘product as process’ where design is no longer fixed with beginning and end, but a continuous cycle as we find in nature. A deeply philosophical and spiritual meditation on design for people and planet.” Cat Drew, Chief Design Officer, Design Council, London.

Author Information

Stuart Walker is an Emeritus Professor of Lancaster University, UK, and the University of Calgary, Canada. He is also Professor of Design for Sustainability at the Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University, and Visiting Professor at Kingston University, London. His propositional design work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Design Museum, London, and has been featured in numerous books, magazines, and on the BBC. He has published dozens of peer-reviewed papers, and many books, including Sustainable by Design (2006), Design Realities (2019), Design and Spirituality (2021), and Design for Resilience (2023).

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