Using the power
of design to serve life
Design Serving Life
Designers want to do ‘good work’ but in the face of commercial realities and time pressures, sometimes we need space – and a structure – to talk about what that means.
Design Serving Life is a values-led body of work for designers who care deeply about their craft and want to feel proud of what it serves.
It asks a simple but radical question: What would change if we used the full power of design to serve more than business metrics or short-term tasks?
This isn’t a manifesto. It isn’t anti-commercial. It’s a structured invitation to pause – before the brief, before the pitch, before production – and ask better questions.
The approach is built
around six interconnected
provocations:
ISSUES - What problems are we solving?
Because if we are solving the wrong problems,
we are wasting creativity.
MONEY - How much is enough?
Because if design only makes rich people richer,
we perpetuate inequality.
VALUES - Are we doing good?
Because if we are not striving to do good,
we are doing harm.
PEOPLE - Who are we missing out?
Because if we only design for certain people,
we create exclusion.
NATURE - How do we replenish?
Because if we are not protecting the environment,
we are destroying it.
TIME - What will be our legacy?
Because if we only design for now,
we jeopardise the future.
For design leaders and agency teams
Anyone leading a design team will recognise the growing tensions out there:
// Clients who talk values and sustainability but quickly default to “this time, we just need to stick with the brief.”
// Bright young designers who want more meaningful work than you currently have.
// Commercial pressures that leave little room to manoeuvre.
// A diminishing sense of energy and purpose you don’t quite want to admit.
Design Serving Life creates space to breathe. To reconnect with what great design is capable of. To seek and renegotiate with clients with renewed confidence.
This isn’t about rejecting commercial reality. It’s about navigating it more consciously:
// Give your team shared language around purpose and responsibility.
// Retain ambitious, values-driven talent
// Strengthen your positioning in a changing industry
// Shape better briefs, not just execute them
Design Serving Life brings together 20 years of experience in design, business and sustainability, across agencies, institutions and commercial organisations, helping teams understand how design creates value and how it is managed. It’s not theory and it isn’t a sustainability compliance tool. It’s lived experience, grounded in a deep belief in design and designers.
“This is a conversation we should all be having. A brilliant set of questions for clients and teams." Toby de Belder, Innovation Director, Magnetic
For universities and
design educators
Students are arriving with big critical thinking questions about design ethics, sustainability and impact.
They need more than space to explore their interests. They need language, structure and confidence to deliver on their ambitions in the face of employment opportunities and commercial client realities.
Design Serving Life offers a grounded, honest framework to help students step into the industry with clarity, not disillusionment.
It prepares young designers for the pressures they will face while equipping them to lead conversations, not just produce outputs.
How it works
The Posters
A beautifully designed set of six large-format posters. They live on studio walls and in university corridors. Daily prompts for deeper thinking. Not just decoration, but conversation starters and a shared reference point inside teams.
// Order a set
"Designers have such great potential to bring creativity and imagination into sustainability. These materials captured my imagination - they put the conversation together in a new way." Karen Blincoe, author of Achieving Sustainability: The Ultimate Human Challenge.
Workshops & Facilitated Conversations
This is where the real shifts happens. In a single session or a longer programme, we:
Acknowledge the pressures you’re under
Surface unspoken tensions
Explore what “good work” really means in your context
Identify practical shifts with clients, projects or positioning
Not design activism.
Not overnight miracles.
Greater alignment inside your team.
More confident client dialogue.
Stronger strategic positioning.
Renewed pride in the work you do.
Talks & Events
Facilitated debates tailored for industry gatherings, leadership teams and design courses.
Design Serving Life: What Is Your Work Really Serving?
Beyond B-Corp: Reconnecting Design with Responsibility
Six Questions to Shape a New Era of Design
From Brief-Taker to Conversation Leader
The Six Questions Every Designer Should Ask Before They Design
