Assembling Tomorrow

Description

A powerful, fully illustrated guide to using the tools of design thinking to create a more positive and cooperative future, from Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.

Assembling Tomorrow explores how to use readily accessible tools of design to both mend the mistakes of our past and shape our future for the better. 

Despite good intentions, the impacts of the things people create and do are hard to notice, predict, and repair. From the effects of social media to the uncertainty of AI and the consequences of climate change, the outcomes of our creations ripple across our lives. Assembling Tomorrow imagines the future as if it has already happened and considers the past with a critical yet hopeful eye so that all of us—as designers of our own futures—can create a better world for generations to come. 

We live in an era of runaway design, where innovations tangle with our lives in unpredictable ways. The book explores the intangibles, the mysterious forces that contribute to the off-­­kilter feelings of today, and follows up with actionables to help you alter your perspective and find opportunities in these turbulent times. Mixed throughout are histories of the future, short pieces of speculative fiction that illustrate how things go haywire and what might be in store if we don’t set them straight.“This brilliant book offers a new approach to all creative work that will expand your understanding of what it means to make and open up possibilities you didn’t know existed—it did for me.”—Adam Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Orphan Master’s Son

“Assembling Tomorrow is a dazzling, disturbing, optimistic, and relentlessly useful gem to help you shape the future by understanding the past. I am especially smitten with how Carter and Doorley weave in ‘Histories of the Future’—thought-provoking flights of fancy that explore how everything from sibling rivalry to sexuality to the Amazon rainforest just might have evolved seventy years from now.”—Robert I. Sutton, organizational psychologist and New York Times bestselling author

“An elegantly conceived and executed book, Assembling Tomorrow addresses the problems and potential of runaway design with science, art, scrutiny, and speculation. The result is a guidebook, instruction manual, and secret recipe for creating a future we all can live with and in. It is the design manual that everyone needs, whether you consider yourself a designer or not.”—Thomas Hayden, science writer and author of On Call in Hell and Sex and War

“A beautifully crafted and timely call for design and technology to embrace the very thing they’ve often sought to transcend–constraints, nature, and our own humanity.”—Liz Carlisle, agroecologist and author of Healing Grounds and Lentil Underground

“Prepare for a wild ride! Through a brilliant intermingling of non-fiction and speculative fiction, Assembling Tomorrow will challenge your current mindset and empower you to create a brighter future.”—Dr. Jennifer Aaker, behavioral scientist and author of Humor Seriously

“A crucial part of your creative toolset that will expand your imagination. [1] Telling stories about tomorrow enables us to expand our imagination and establish a bond with the futures that await us.”—Liza Chong, founder of the Design Impact Fund and former CEO of The Index Project

“Assembling Tomorrow brilliantly navigates the complexities of our modern world, blending insightful analysis with imaginative storytelling. It is a must-read for those looking to find harmony in today’s dynamic landscape.”—Jason Mayden, chief design officer of the Nike Jordan brand

“Assembling Tomorrow is a brilliant and important book. Carissa Carter and Scott Doorley have created a powerful guide to design—its history, processes, and extraordinary potential. They weave together riveting illustrative stories and perceptive insights to create a book that has tremendous value and meaning for everyone.”—Bill Guttentag, Oscar-winning writer-director

“In this era of runaway design—where complexity rules and the stakes for humanity and life on earth are so high—Assembling Tomorrow is both a meditation and a guide, a poetic road map to flourishing.”—David Sun Kong, PhD, director of the Community Biotechnology Initiative, MIT Media LabScott Doorley is a writer, designer, and creative director at the Stanford d.school. He has overseen everything from books to workspaces to digital products and initiatives focused on the future of learning and design. He co-wrote the book Make Space: How to Set the Stage for Creative Collaboration and teaches courses in design communication. His work has been featured in museums from San Jose to Helsinki and in publications such as Architecture + Urbanism and the New York Times.

Carissa Carter is a designer, geoscientist, and the academic director at the Stanford d.school. She’s the author of The Secret Language of Maps: How to Tell Visual Stories with Data, and teaches design courses on emerging technologies, climate change, and data visualization. Her work on designing with machine learning and blockchain has earned multiple design awards, including Fast Company Innovation and Core 77 awards.

The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, known as the d.school, was founded at Stanford University in 2005. Each year, more than a thousand students from all disciplines attend classes, workshops, and programs to learn how the thinking behind design can enrich their own work and unlock their creative potential.

Armando Veve is an award-winning illustrator whose drawings have appeared in publications including The New Yorker, National Geographic, Scientific American, MIT Technology Review, and Wired, among others. He studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design and currently resides in Philadelphia.CN

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