by Wendy McNaughton
This is the third in our three-part Dotted Line series covering “The New Professional Frontier in Design for Social Innovation: LEAP Symposium,” hosted by Art Center College of Design Sept. 19–21, 2013.
Overheard (Random quotes from the day)
- “Fire it up.”
- “This has been like a wonderful summer camp.”
- “I can’t tell you how in awe I am of the amazing, creative people I have met.”
- “You fired every synapse in my brain, especially those that have been dormant for the last three or four years.”
- “The conversation has really progressed since I joined this field in 2009 and it’s been like amazing to be a part of this.”
- “I love the word designer. It’s sexy, it’s powerful and it’s dynamic just like me and that’s what’s important.”
Mind-blowing Ideation session at LEAP. Photograph by Teri Bond
Practical tools, next steps and taking action were the focus of the third and final day of the LEAP Symposium presented by Designmatters, the College’s social impact department. A key aim expressed by many attendees was to bring the valuable new tools they gained during the confab back to their home base organizations to help establish solid career pathways for young design talent and clarify the direct link between great design and success.
The last day was choreographed in three parts. First, working groups who had self-organized in to small thematic clusters, spent a few hours finalizing proposals that were later displayed on giant poster boards all around the student dining room, taking a page from grade school science fairs. Then, a spokesperson for each project pitched it to the larger group.