Pirates, nurses and other rebel designers

The fluid, improvisational approach to design described in this TED Talk is explored in my book Hello World: Where Design Meets Life, which charts the role of design as an agent of change in our lives: past, present and future.

From military drones and an army manual, to a box cutter and the stiletto heel, this book on the Museum of Modern Art’s first online exhibition, Design and Violence, is a compelling analysis of design’s ambiguous relationship to violence, and its power to protect, control, manipulate, injure and destroy us.

One of my favorite books written by a designer about their work is the brilliant Dutch book designer Irma Boom’s personal account of the books she has made since 1986. This tiny book – 704 pages just 2 inches wide, 1.5 inches wide and 1 inch thick – is also a favorite example of the book as an object. Boom makes the book slightly bigger with each new edition.

This book tells the story of how King Louis XIV of France and his wily finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert created the legend of "Le Roi Soleil" or "Sun King" to convince his subjects that Louis was the greatest living monarch. They did so by executing an extraordinarily ambitious design strategy of commissioning sumptuous palaces, gardens, statues, clothing and weaponry.

PIG 05049 tells the story of what happens to the components of a single pig after its slaughter. The Dutch product designer Christien Meindertsma identifies 185 different objects or substances, including sausages and ham, but also cupcakes, cattle feed, anti-wrinkle cream and bullets in this conceptual design project, which takes the physical form of a book.

It is 45 years since Victor Papanek’s design manifesto for sustainability and inclusivity was first published, yet it remains one of the bravest and most compelling arguments for design to be more honest, humane, responsible and empowering, especially towards those who are disadvantaged or excluded.

The social scientist Richard Sennett’s book The Craftsman has forged an intellectual framework for the recent revival of interest in craftsmanship. Convinced that there is an inner artisan in us all, Sennett argues that engaging with craftsmanship can enrich our lives by strengthening our confidence and intuition as well as our practical skills.

One of my favourite cultural historians, Jenny Uglow, explored the role of design in the early years of the Industrial Revolution in this account of the intellectually engaged British industrialists, like the potter Josiah Wedgwood and engineer James Watt, who debated issues of the day with gifted scientists, such as the chemist Joseph Priestley, as members of the Lunar Society.

Rather than accept the poorly designed prosthetic legs she was offered, the actor, athlete and activist Aimee Mullins cast herself as a D.I.Y. designer by collaborating with artists, designers, prosthetists and biomechatronic engineers to design the type of legs she needed and wanted to enhance, rather than diminish her quality of life.

As a social scientist turned social designer, Hilary Cottam has pioneered the use of design as a tool to tackle unemployment, social isolation, fracturing communities and other urgent social problems. This talk at TED Global in London in September 2015 is an inspiring account of her design project to improve the care of the rapidly expanding elderly population.