Digital Tools and Design Voodoo: The Visual, the Virtual and the Meaningful

Last month we were invited to speak at Breather, a conference encouraging interdisciplinary design discourse within the creative community. Had a great time in the sessions and between sessions as well, with other speakers including folks from Milliken, SCAD Savannah and Imaginary Forces which creates film titles, commercials, virtual destinations and more.

Only a few years ago, design imagination was limited by the practicalities of physical production. But today's technologies can help create elbow room for creativity, by serving as tools that expand rather than limit possibility.

Architects, interior designers and product designers are moving away from old processes that build prototypes and demos (to save money) toward improved processes that create platforms around core models (for increased and replicable revenue). And digital tools are one step ahead, opening up new doors into the marketplace.

Using examples and case studies from design, technology and manufacturing companies, we showed that the glory of these advances lies not in the technology itself, but in opening up meaningful experiences for designers, end users and the way we do business. The new design imagination breaks old assumptions and utilizes constantly developing tools to embrace - and advance - change for the better.