Design has interested me for my whole life, although I’ve only recently been trying to articulate exactly what it is. Product design, industrial design, architecture, environmental sciences, nutrition and cognitive science are all wrapped up in the “design” package. The end-goal, for me anyways, is meshing this concept with social change - i.e. following what I’m passionate about and using that to tackle global issues like hunger and environment. I know, it’s a tall order.

This is the best articulation of “design” I have heard yet.

It’s “Design Thinking” - the phrase has a good ring to it.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/tim_brown_urges_designers_to_think_big.html

The nucleus of this project is conversations between students interested in the intangible concept of design. It’s something more than just interesting graphics or elegant product packaging or something mildly useful you might find in Sky Mall. Design, in the sense that we are interested in, is about systems and an integrated way of “design thinking.”

This blog is a way to pool ideas, to solicit help for various projects, to brainstorm, or just to share something cool you’ve found that’s related to design. This blog is also connected to the mailing list design.peeps@panlists.yale.edu. Feel free to translate things from one to the other.

Hopefully this area of Yale life will continue to grow, as people who are interested in design (we know you are out there) find and support each other.

Thanks! Enjoy your time here :)