“In this age of mass production when everything must be planned and designed, design has become the most powerful tool with which man shapes his tools and environments (and, by extension, society and himself)” (Victor Papanekin ‘Design for the Real World’ 2nd ed. ‘Preface’).
Design is human-centered, in that, it essentially reflects human needs and wants, as well as the central ideas and artistic, cultural perceptions of the time. The designer, with empathy, is expected to accommodate aesthetic, economic, technological, and commercial constraints and arrive at an appropriate synthesis – in a cumulative process of problem solving, goal orienting, questioning of assumptions, conceptual thinking, planning, decision making and creation. Design as an activity involves a wide spectrum of professions in which architecture, interiors, products, services and visual communications, all take part, with the overarching intention of enhancing the quality of life while transforming societies.