How do you design the best vehicle for creating impact?
In my profession, I act as a vehicle. This analogy helps me explain how I apply theoretical concepts to my work as a designer in marketing. I’m passionate about making an impact through design, and marketing is what makes me competent. As a marketing professional with a design background, I’ve found that it’s all about connections, relationships, and community building.
The motor runs the system. It’s capable of transforming some type of energy to accomplish a function. It’s a force that produces movement.
As a design student, I was constantly producing ideas, and I developed the ability to execute and materialize them. I learned that design isn’t only creativity and making things look pretty — it’s a way of thinking. A way solutions-based way of viewing our flawed society. The problems we face today can only be understood if we approach them with a holistic, collaborative vision, and use systemic thinking to find connections and new insights. This is how I started my relationship with what I’ve dubbed my ‘motor’.
The rudder works as a guide to push the vehicle in the right direction.
In university, I began to see the world through the eyes of a designer, learning the language of human-centered design. Was it normal to want to solve every problem with design methodologies? How could I generate a positive impact with my newfound skills? As a budding designer, I searched for a clear direction to guide my work. And thus social impact became the helm of every project I’ve undertaken.
The gearbox sets the vehicle in motion when it is stationary. It overcomes resistance to forward motion.
At Designit, I’ve learned that the impact of any solution can and should be measured. This is in large part why I’m in marketing. While searching for leads and other business development activities can be challenging, it’s all about helping others do good through design. It’s about showing what we are, what we do, and the positive impact we dream of making. That’s why I consider marketing my gearbox.
Through marketing and communicating the value of design, I empower my team and my colleagues. Now, in my journey as a project leader, I want to make it known that the key is relationship building. The key is seeing everyone else as an ally. We generate impact not from romanticism or philosophizing, but from action. In any design project or creative endeavor, what matters most is creating valuable personal relationships. This helps us develop empathy, which is a key muscle for any strategic design or marketing.
Ultimately, these three metaphors are how I integrate my passion for social impact with my experience in design and marketing. Through design, I aim to inspire and create a valuable relationship network for the design community.
