Q: WHY DIY?

A: BECAUSE IT’S TURNING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE A DAY INTO DESIGNERS, AND THAT’S BOTH SCARY AND AMAZING.
Do It Yourself is not a new idea. It’s not as if families in medieval Japan or colonial Virginia looked at their home made furniture, clothes and homes and decided they were part of a movement—it’s just what people did.

But with the coming of industry, and specialization and industrial design, choosing to step outside the system of remote manufacturing and intensive marketing is a remarkable act. It’s not easy, for one thing: knitting a sweater or making a table is more work than picking one up at The Gap or IKEA. It’s also laden with cultural baggage, evoking stereotypes like the basket-weaving hippy, the cloistered nerd or the knitting spinster.

The big shift.
But all that’s changing. New technologies enable motivated individuals to do things that were once the domain of engineers and corporations, and new social norms are making it acceptable. Consumers value craft and localism in a way they’ve not for decades, to the point where a DIY enthusiast can look like anything, come from anywhere, and find resources and markets for her projects with a few mouse clicks.

The implications of this shift for the design professions are potentially massive. The DIY resurgence is making consumers question the need for mass production, and by extension, the need for designers.

What now?
The frightened response is to say that this will soon spell the end of good design: when anyone can create exactly what they want by themselves, who needs a professional? On the other hand, it might be exactly what the field needs, stoking an explosion of creativity and an appreciation for thoughtful products and experiences.

As with so many dilemmas, the answer lies somewhere between these two extremes. DIY is a threat and an opportunity; the end of an era and the start of a new one. The 2010 IDSA International Conference aims to explore the space between, rigorously and thoughtfully, for four full days. We’ve got some of the smartest observers, craftiest crafters and most passionate designers in the world coming. But to make it a truly great discussion, we need you.