Design Futures Forum 2025: Braving Complexities

In an increasingly complex and volatile world, what does the future of design hold?

The design process is never straightforward; it is a dynamic, multifaceted endeavour that reflects the layered and often unpredictable world we inhabit. Design navigates ambiguous, often contradictory terrains with agility, patience, and an openness to the messy, and often-times fluid nature of real-world processes.

As we look ahead, the pressing concerns of care, sustainability, and emerging technologies are becoming ever more deeply intertwined, presenting both immense challenges and unprecedented opportunities for design to make a profound impact. How can we continue to leverage design to go beyond solutioning and identify fresh opportunities, articulate critical positions and craft new narratives? Where do we see the role of the designer changing to go beyond mere delivery, testing and observations in practice?

This forum will explore new frontiers where designers become strategic visionaries, systems thinkers, and ethical advocates of positive change. This shift presents exciting opportunities for the design community to take on expanded responsibilities, influencing organisational strategies, shaping public policy, and fostering resilient communities. Join us as we celebrate design as an honest exploration of these realities and braving complexities — challenging conventional narratives and revealing the often unseen, complex processes surrounding innovation.