In January 2021 the Product Design course at Glasgow School of Art proudly presented an exhibition of two projects which address both local and Global issues.
Both speculated on how design can shape our society in the future through the relationships between people, products and places. Through close collaboration with external partners, student proposals respond to the realities of how these situations may evolve.
The full show can be accessed through the following link: pd.gsainnovationschool.co.uk/show21/
Future Experiences 2021
The Future of Cancer and Collective Intelligence in the Post-Covid World
This project is a speculative design exploration into future experiences of working and living with cancer ten years from now, where advances in collective intelligence have evolved to the extent that new forms and ecosystems of medical practice, cancer care and experiences of living with, through and beyond cancer transform how we interact with each other, with health professionals and the communities around us.
The GSA Innovation School’s final year Product Design students and faculty formed a dynamic community of practice with cancer practitioners and researchers from the Institute of Cancer Sciences at The University of Glasgow and beyond to envisage a 2030 cancer blueprint as a series of future world exhibits, and create the designed products, services and experiences for the people who might live and work within this ecosystem.
If collective intelligence holds the potential to truly connect people to people, and people to data, across diverse communities, linking peoples’ lived experiences locally and globally, what kinds of new health and care services might emerge to improve cancer control across the continuum from prevention, detection, treatment and survivorship, and what types of new roles might emerge for citizens, patients and community groups to collaboratively drive these forward with health professionals?
Collaborative Futures 2021
Glasgow's Future Stories; Social Innovation and Participatory Design in 2030
This project brought together a team of designers, final year design students and graduate designers, civic and academic stakeholders from the GSA Innovation School’s Master of European Design programme and the Centre For Civic Innovation at Glasgow City Council to collaboratively explore Glasgow’s future stories from a human-centred and place-based perspective.
In the Post Covid-19 world, the council needs to plan for the socio-economic challenges ahead, and ensure services are developed with, rather than for, citizens, their communities and the places they inhabit, to ensure they are fit for the 21st century.
So, what might a more porous, participatory future Glasgow look like in 2030, who might the citizens who inhabit it be? Where, and how, do their lives play out – how does design, data and innovation influence, involve and empower them and what might they need in terms of future products, services and experiences, and why?
For more information on both project's and previous years projects please visit the Product Design Department's project archive: