Connection and community emerge as prevalent topics across London Design Festival

From engaging conversations to immersive events and a run club, the desire to strengthen our creative communities was apparent at this year’s London Design Festival

Has the design industry become enamoured with the hype culture of the fashion world?

As Milan Design Week returned earlier this month, a world of luxurious escapism set the tone while endless queues and influencer-filled crowds sparked a multitude of reactions.

How Minus Furniture is exploring a net zero business model

Can furniture really be carbon negative? Minus Furniture is a research-driven design studio seeking to explore the reality of a net zero and below zero business model. Roddy Clarke investigates

Milo Mcloughlin-Greening of Batch.Works on how we must change patterns of manufacturing

To truly bring about change we must foster entirely new ideas about how products are manufactured and consumed, writes Milo Mcloughlin-Greening of Batch.Works

Speakers at the Sharjah Architecture Triennial took inspiration from the past in redefining strategies of renewal and sustainability for Africa

The Sharjah Architecture Triennial saw a new focus on redefining scarcity and abundance in Africa, writes our new columnist Rue Kothari

Can the paint industry work together to find sustainable and less harmful solutions?

Plagued with toxic chemicals, microplastics and an abundance of greenwashing, the world of paint has been under scrutiny for several years. However, thanks to the passion, determination and revolutionary innovation of some manufacturers, is the tide turning towards a greener future for the sector? 

Why brand space needs pace: what we can learn from the art of filmmaking

Creative Director of LOVE, Russell Ashdown, shares how filmmakers use pace for dramatic effect and how designers can apply this to creating more impactful brand experiences

Why architects need to consider emotional inhabitance

The British poet LionHeart, who collaborates with architecture practices, explains why emotion-centred design is so important

Why coastal cities should adapt their industrial harbours to contemporary public needs

Adapting and opening up urban harbours to contemporary needs is vital to improving resilience and wellbeing, says Hanna Harris

The problem of a lack of diversity in architecture starts early, but it can be fixed

We need to do more to expand access to the profession from a young age, says Nisha Kurian

What if brand experiences were designed to trigger emotions?

Thinking beyond the instagrammable, what if spaces were designed to trigger specific emotions, such as hope? Or a sense of calm, intrigue, surprise? Creative Director of LOVE, Russell Ashdown, shares his thoughts

What the fight for inclusion needs in 2023

Don’t let fear of getting it wrong stop you from trying to do the right thing, says Design Can, a community and active resource platform calling for an inclusive and representative creative industry

Crimes Against Design: The plastic shopping bag

Its design proved so universal – and disposable – that it’s now facing bans. But, asks Tara Okeke, was this the future the bag’s Swedish inventor expected?

Why using local products and materials may not be an easy option but it is worth it

Designing local isn’t easy. It may bring extra complications but there are good reasons why it’s worth going the extra mile

In the design world, sustainability is too often skin deep

Companies are greenwashing their outside faces, but underneath lurks rampant unsustainable practices few are looking at

PROWL Studio is searching for ways to create a more positive future

Baillie Mishler and Lauryn Menard of Oakland-based PROWL Studio set out a manifesto for future-facing design

Emergency housing for homeless young people must be better designed

Three UK architects discuss how to improve emergency shelters for homeless youth

The dark arts of Big Oil advertising

Green fields, blue skies and nostalgic architecture: the fossil fuel advertising of 20th-century Britain inspired delusion. Now we are not such willing participants 

Designers can – and should – have local impact

The pandemic has activated designers to expand their traditional roles – and we’re not going back, write Andrew Brown and Katherine Sacco

We need to design AI systems free of bias and harm

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems can have damaging effects, especially on marginalised communities, says Sasha Constanza-Chock

Play is not a luxury – and our cities need to reflect that

Design should embrace children and their development by enabling diverse play wherever possible, argue Amica Dall and Penny Wilson