What Would a Designed American Future Look Like?

We got wind of this Initiative via our friendly neighborhood futurist @Frank and The Pop Tech Blog. It has to do with a movement to promote a National Design Policy for America.

This policy is comprised of 10 main proposals:

• Proposal 01 Formalize an American Design Council to partner with the U.S. Government.
• Proposal 02 Set guidelines for legibility, literacy, and accessibility for all government communications.
• Proposal 03 Target 2030 for carbon neutral buildings.
• Proposal 04 Create an Assistant Secretary for Design and Innovation position within the Department of Commerce to promote design.
• Proposal 05 Expand national grants to support interdisciplinary community design assistance programs based on human-centered design principles.
• Proposal 06 Commission a report to measure and document design’s contribution to the U.S. economy.
• Proposal 07 Revive the Presidential Design Awards to be held every year and use triple bottom-line criteria (economic, social, and environmental benefit) for evaluation.
• Proposal 08 Establish national grants for basic design research.
• Proposal 09 Modify the patent process to reflect the types of intellectual property created by designers.
• Proposal 10 Encourage direct government investment in design innovation.

A major component of this initiative is a call for videos of you speaking about your views on design’s role in America’s future, not just in terms of our own industry, but as a contributing factor in economic recovery and governance. These videos will be compiled and…

“Select videos will be included in our Design CEO’s videos communicating the same message to be presented at national design conferences, to government officials, and other promotional venues.”

For designers out there interested in literally getting your voice heard, this is a remarkable opportunity. Last time I checked there were only 3 videos up there and the deadline’s April 15th.

Upload your YouTube videos here or visit their facebook page here. Make sure and read their Art Direction and Script tips before starting.