Hope in Industrial Design
Esteemed Designers, Writers, and Scholars,
We invite IDSA and other design communities to contribute to the Summer issue of INNOVATION. The theme: Hope.
Industrial designers are professional optimists. They see problems to solve everywhere, sometimes problems no one knew were there.
Yet it can be easy to take a dark view of things these days. Cynicism. Conflict. Doomscrolling. So, what does it mean to design a glass that’s half-full? This issue will cover the struggle to create solutions that are at once delightful and useful, reducing the friction in our everyday lives and promoting connection.
The summer issue of INNOVATION is looking for contributions around the theme of “hope.” We’re looking for stories of optimism within your design practice, classroom, or company. How does optimism manifest itself in meaningful outcomes in new and historical projects and profiles? What challenges have you addressed?
We invite you to share stories of projects or work that demonstrate overcoming the odds or obstacles, with lessons applicable to your colleagues in the field. How can design optimism become contagious, bringing new zeal and energy to company culture and therefore growth potential? How do designers understand their clients’ needs and help reveal new pathways of “possibility” thinking?
Submission Guidelines
- Articles should be between 1,000–1,500 words, if submitting written content
- Submissions must be original and not previously published or generated from AI
- Please include a brief bio (up to 25 words) and a headshot with your submission
- Submit your article as a Word document
- Please include 2-3 high-resolution graphics (more is OK too) related to your submission (300 dpi) with proper credits and permissions
Deadline to submit your article: COB, June 1, 2025. Send all submissions to [email protected].