Curated by Henrik Lübker, CEO of Design denmark and Lotte Nystrup Lund, Founder of Futurista.dk, in collaboration, and supported by The Danish Arts Foundation (Statens Kunstfond), this manifesto is the result of a co-creation journey involving contributions from over 100 designers representing diverse design disciplines, and countries. It was developed through the international design event Design Matters DK 2024 in Copenhagen and enriched by insights from Design denmark’s members, and network.
What the world needs now more than our Danish modesty is our craft, our humanity, and our optimism.
In a world of uncertainty design must inspire possibility by continuously advancing beyond our craft to create positive impact and add new value, as a mindset of how we as humans engage the world. It points to a better tomorrow shaped by our actions today.
A future not only imagined, but what we make of it.
Design is possibility in the making.
Design denmark is about community. It is about giving and sharing resources, knowledge, and energy. Forming bonds of trust and friendships – not only between designers but also between design and the world. It is about years and years of experience and the grand visions of the young. It is about the importance of design for the world of tomorrow.
Design excellence is obtained through deep inspiration,
courage, and the ability to bridge current ways of thinking and doing with the
needs and dreams of tomorrow. In critical times like now gathering and sharing
design excellence might be one of the most important ways to strive for a
regenerative future. Together we can explore how design entangles with and
moves the world, and how we as designers make ourselves parts of new
entanglements and more-than-human paradigms.
As a member association with a wide diversity in design disciplines, small and big studios, different approaches to business, we have in common an indisputable knowledge of design. This is the base we work from to safeguard that design is respected and grow; we support each other in this, as colleagues, and on a legal level in a larger perspective – this creates visibility in the community we work in and for.
Design denmark is about community. It is about giving and sharing resources, knowledge, and energy. Forming bonds of trust and friendships – not only between designers but also between design and the world. It is about years and years of experience and the grand visions of the young. It is about the importance of design for the world of tomorrow.
Design excellence is obtained through deep inspiration, courage, and the ability to bridge current ways of thinking and doing with the needs and dreams of tomorrow. In critical times like now gathering and sharing design excellence might be one of the most important ways to strive for a regenerative future. Together we can explore how design entangles with and moves the world, and how we as designers make ourselves parts of new entanglements and more-than-human paradigms.
As a member association with a wide diversity in design disciplines, small and big studios, different approaches to business, we have in common an indisputable knowledge of design. This is the base we work from to safeguard that design is respected and grow; we support each other in this, as colleagues, and on a legal level in a larger perspective – this creates visibility in the community we work in and for.
