The Life-Centered Design School Principles

There are a few inspiring manifestos and a list of principles about Life-Centered Design. Together with the LCD Collective, we created 9 overarching principles. Bruce Mau has 24 inspirational principles, which he brought together in his book MC24. The 10 pinciples Johnathyn Owens makes you feel especially guilty and motivates you to change how you design. Lastly, the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design uses 7 guiding principles to start design with a positive impact. 

They are all relevant, inspiring and thought-provoking, which is excellent! So why would we want to create our own? A significant gap exists between most of these principles and the actual doing. As a design school, we want you to be able to act; that is why we came up with 9 design principles that motivate you to do something or purposefully not do anything at all. Our principles are divided into Nature, Design, and responsibility.

These are our guiding principles:

Nature

1. Less Design Sprints, More Design Walks

In a world where everything is rushed, we slow down to focus, connect and become one with Nature & our community. Creating better outcomes for your projects and the world.

2. Wander Aimlessly

Practice being okay with not synthesising and being in the unknown. Aimlessly wandering around in the “forest” allows for discovering the undiscovered. You start to see, hear, smell and feel the previously invisible. These might hold the answers to sustainable and regenerative questions.

3. Establish a relationship with Nature

Connecting with nature is not just beneficial for your mental and physical health as a designer. Still, if you create a deeper understanding of the nature around you and your design project, you can include biological ecosystems in your design work.

Design

4. Co-create with nature, communities and economies

The era of creating value solely for the end-user and your business is ending. Our creations need to benefit nature, communities, and economies for all to thrive and survive in the near and far future.

5. Prototype First, Design Second

Start prototyping at the beginning. Make it now and determine the blindspots in your design research. From what you uncover, you design a pathway forward.

6. Keep Zooming In & Out

Zooming in and zooming out, conceptual thoughts and practical actions, thinking globally and acting hyperlocally, looking at the biological ecosystem and the single species, etc. The holistic and actionable Nature of Life-Centered Design requires constantly looking at the bigger picture and the single elements of your design simultaneously.

Responsibility

7. Design with Soul, Heart, Mind & Body

Design is much more than an act of the body and the mind. What our hands & heads create is emotional, touches the heart and is spiritual. Design has an impact on souls from around the world. Include these often invisible people & spirits in your design work. Trust your emotions and gut when you make decisions and pair them with your mind & body.

8. Let Design Ripen.

Like good wine and cheese, give your design time to mature. Put it away for a while, and then collectively have a look at it again. Does it need changes? Are you still enthusiastic about it? Is your design ripe enough to be shared with the ecosystem?

9. Own your Design, be a Steward

Take care of your design as long as possible. Keep taking responsibility for your creation after you have released it into the world or handed it over to your client. Track the impact of your work on Nature, the user, and the invisible communities. Listen, learn and adapt where & when needed.

What are your thoughts on our school principles?

author: Jeroen Spoelstra
images: Jeroen Spoelstra, Ian Chalmers