Design variables in a Post-Industrial era

Abstract

Design in a post-industrial era has become enveloped in the multiple specialist activities that determine the nature and rhythm of the market. This paper describes some emerging trends specific to the post-industrial design environment. It looks particularly at the designer and his relation to technology, as well as the effects information technology exerts as it erases the distinctions of place and time. It considers the development of a service economy and the use of mapping techniques which assist the designer function within complex corporate strategies and in a climate of rapid change.