Design Revolution: 100 Products that Empower People
- Author
- Emily Pilloton
- Year
- 2009
Emily Pilloton profiles more than 100 real products, from low-cost prosthetics to rugged wheelchairs, that put design to work solving social problems rather than simply selling. The book argues designers should act as changemakers, drawing on Pilloton's own humanitarian design practice.
Pilloton showcases a hundred need-based products that empower people rather than just sell to them, challenging designers to be changemakers instead of 'stuff creators.' It braids the SDF's Social-Responsibility and Economics mottos through Partners — design done with communities, for their own capacity.
The book features more than 100 contemporary products and systems, including safer baby bottles, low-cost prosthetics for landmine victims, Braille-style building blocks for blind children, rugged wheelchairs and DIY soccer balls, presented as evidence that design can address major social problems in sustainable and engaging ways. With a foreword by Allan Chochinov, it grew out of Pilloton's own practice, including Project H Design, the nonprofit she launched in 2008 to deliver humanitarian product design.
Where to find it
In the framework
- Social Responsibility
- Partners Component
- Economics
Books and references