There is a place of "copy-paste" designers in the America of Trump - anything that is bling glittering golden is top. And any ancient style will be copied and mixed only to creat the Bling-Bling.
editing by Earl of Cruise
editing by Earl of Cruise
Design, society and the economy are intertwined. With Donald Trump - a
man of vulgar tastes and backward thinking - we need to prepare for the
impact his reactionary policies will have on business and culture, both
in the United States and worldwide.
The golden glittered penthouse appartment of a certain person in a bronze-golden tower in Manhattan
In my opinion the typical look of : I have money, but no taste or style
And this comes on top of our
self-inflicted challenges: design has become a profession for lifestyle
victims for whom the cool design studio is more important than work
results, digital tools have made “copy-paste” an ever-bigger plague in
business, and so-called Design Thinkers have dummified the creative
process of converting advances in science and technology into cultural
and practical products and solutions.
Within the globally
connected economy, the United States still has the lead. Big part of
this dominance - aside of a large domestic market and entrepreneurial
spirit - is the global presence and paramount success of American
corporations abroad. But the goodwill disappears in a backlash against
Trump’s insults; lies and threats towards foreign countries and
companies.
So, aside of fighting for our constitution, we
designers need to deal with a government at war against free trade,
technological and social progress as well against culture.
After being a champion of free trade for about
seventy years, the United States now isolate themselves economically and
politically – a situation imposed by an angry, left-behind minority and
exploited by a corrupt elite. Looking at the global triad of United
States, Europe (led by Germany) and Far-East Asia (led over time by
China - promoting free trade but in fact still quite protectionist), it
is an illusion, that the United States will keep its leading position as
an isolated economy. But the change already is under way: with East
Asia and ASEAN, the United States are leaving the most dynamic economic
zone, and “requesting better deals” with so far loyal allies such as
Germany (part of European Union) is a schoolyard bully-tactic which
won’t work. Anti-Americanism is reaching unseen heights in Europe (under Obama about 30%, now under Trump 80%) and in Asia.
America
First? This slogan ignites very negative emotions abroad, because
historically, no other country except Russia has a more ruthless and
egotistical approach to extort an unfair advantage in dealing with other
countries. This also includes the threat and use of military power.
American Classic: aluminum series, Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller. Image by Vitra.
Creative peopple create industries
So far immigrants founded half of US Billion Dollar Start-Ups – but they won’t come anymore. Read the article “Study: Immigrants Founded 51% of U.S. Billion-Dollar Startups” by Yoree Koh on blog.wsj.com.
Cluttered design from ancient times - Source: frogmut
With
Trump and his billionaire clique in power just for a couple of weeks,
our country already lost the privilege and honor as a beacon of hope for
immigrants, and global trust has evaporated. In addition to economic
and cultural isolationism, Trump has dragged white-supremacist racism
into mainstream and the White House. This dark side (Klu Klux Klan and
Alt-Right Nazis) always has been here, but now it is the de-facto
government dogma: all people of color and non-Caucasian physique as well
as Jews, are exposed to discrimination, threats and hate crimes. And
the visa-process for qualified and needed foreign professionals has been
turned into a Kafkaesque torture.
Ironically, the short-term
effect of Trump’s multiple threats and announcements of tariffs for
foreign goods, lower taxes and less ecological regulations for
US-companies resulted in a boom in stocks and aspirations. But this
“boom” already is crumbling and doesn’t support advanced design as a
means of sustainable corporate strategies:
Trump promotes old industries.
These companies don’t build their mostly short-term business tactics on
design and advanced customer experiences, and they aren’t globally
competitive. The military industrial complex is another challenge with
wasteful programs without any civilian productivity: like Russia we
still may have a first world military, but soon also paired with a third
world economy.
New industries are being stifled. Nearly
all “new industry” companies in new energy, mobility and Artificial
Intelligence which promote and apply design, are cut down, also by
loosening environmental standards to frivolously low levels. AI (despite
Peter Thiel sucking up to Trump) and autonomous mobility also will
be driven out: even as Toyota, Nissan, BMW, Volkswagen or Mercedes have
factories here (Toyota invests US$1,3B in Kentucky – but no new jobs),
Trump’s threats of high tariffs are driving both their R&D and
mechatronic supply chain “back home”. High-flying Tesla may hang on, but
Obama-type government support will vanish, and Google’s “Waymo” may
create an open system mostly for German, Japanese and Chinese makers –
with the latter already buying all the brain power they can get their
hands on.
Trump’s talk about “high-tech jobs coming back” is both
naïve and cynical. China - combined with East Asia - already produces
78% of global electronics, and as the internet is global, this share
will expand with the “Internet of Things”. Companies such as Apple and
Google - as well as retailers such as Amazon, WalMart or Target - also
drive the trend: who wants to pay much more for an iPhone made in Iowa
or Idaho by inferior workers? Bringing even basic high-tech
manufacturing back, is close to impossible as Foxconn’s various efforts
show. (5% of American job applicants don’t pass drug tests.) And: mechanizable jobs will be taken over by more reliable and precise robots.
Conclusion
After Designers in America (incl. immigrant designers of whom I am a
proud member) have driven change and inspired our peers around the
world, our country will become very small and even more “white”. Silicon
Valley is losing its emotional magnetism as a center of global design
for the World’s most dynamic designers - aside of the new immigration
hurdles. And our great design schools, which depend heavily on
well-paying students especially from Asia, also will face a downturn.
But
the world won’t stand still: Europe, China and Japan also have some
World-Class design schools, and where Trump is cutting education (incl.
selling the job of secretary to naïve Betsy DeVos), they are expanding
education budgets and creative programs as of age 10 (talented High
School students are feeding design universities). I also may mention,
that the German BAUHAUS (1919 – 1933) - the world’s first
international-modern design school - was shut down by the Nazis. The
following systematic persecution of scientists and creative people also
contributed to Germany’s cultural decline into fascist barbarism - and
America welcomed this elite with open arms. One big beneficiary being
New York’s New School - which includes Parsons…
Money is like
water and flows with opportunity. American investors and companies
already invest heavily in China, as do European ones. After all, a
Chinese AI company is a better opportunity than an American coal mine.
In addition, Germany, Japan and China are redefining convergence, new
energy & advanced mobility. With the Internet of Things wave (IoT)
American companies so far are well-positioned, but due to lack of
hardware innovation and global access as a result of Trump’s follies,
their role will shrink - despite Google and Apple. Limited talent will
result in limited results! The silver lining may be that strangled
US-companies will move next door, especially Canada. So, American
designers could work across the border (assuming the TSA allows them to
re-enter the country in case of an “Un-American” name).
McKinsey Global Institute projected in April 2016, that China would surpass the
U.S. economy by 2028. With Donald Trump’s policies, this will happen
much earlier. The 20th Century was America’s century, the 21st won’t be - American designers must go global.
But we also need to re-invent and advance our profession beyond the Trump challenge.
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