Smart Design featured in Design Forum at INTERIEUR 2010, Kortrijk, Belgium

• Founding member of Smart Design and expert on inclusive design, Dan Formosa, leads the Master Talk for Design at Work, 18 October at 17:00
• Speaking on design and gender, Smart Design’s Barcelona-based designer and co-founder of Femme Den, Agnete Enga will present on 18 October at 13:00
  

Barcelona, Tuesday 28th September - Smart Design will have two featured speakers in the programme at Design Forum 2010 taking place at the 22nd Design Biennale INTERIEUR 2010 in Kortrijk, Belgium. Their featured talks are part of the Design at Work Expo taking place during the two-week long Biennale. Both lectures will take place on 18 October at the Kortrijk Xpo.

First Lady Michelle Obama recently quoted Smart Design saying, "Design is about people, not things." In his Master Lecture for the Design Forum, Smart Design founding member Dan Formosa, PhD., will delve into this core philosophy in the context of the shifting role of aesthetics in design. With the rise of social networking, people and their often vocal opinions are reshaping design in many ways—away from traditional aesthetic considerations to inspiration on a deeper emotional level and creation of personal meaning.

Formosa will share insights from the company’s 30-year approach to designing for real people in their everyday lives and thoughts about how design can remain culturally relevant to today’s consumers. Known for a deep understanding of consumer behaviour and emotions—throughout the spectrum—and for uncovering their true desires and needs, Smart Design has proven over and over again how to improve people’s lives through considered and relevant design. The consultancy has worked with many global clients, including UCB, World Kitchen, GroupeSEB, OXO, Johnson & Johnson, Ford Motors, and HP.

Building on Smart Design’s core philosophy, the company’s latest initiative, Femme Den, explores design and gender and how to make products and services more relevant to today’s women. Femme Den co-founder Agnete Enga will help Design Forum 2010 audiences take a closer look at how gender plays a role in design.

According to the Economist, women control over 80% of consumer purchases but, as referenced in the book She-conomy, women think they are only considered for beauty and cleaning products. Women are becoming increasingly aware that stereotypes are driving design decisions. As a result, companies that continue to base design decisions on a misunderstanding of women are overlooking their most powerful consumer.

Femme Den aims to bridge the gap between assumptions and realities about women, and to inspire companies and designers alike to explore this underdeveloped opportunity for good design and good business. They’ve developed 5 guiding principles for considering gender in design, created a dialogue in the design community to promote balanced teams, inspired women designers in the field to take a stand, and on a daily basis, have implemented their approach in all of their work.

Enga works from the Smart Design office in Barcelona, Spain. Formosa is based in their New York office. The company also has offices in San Francisco, with partners in Melbourne, and Sydney.

_{Notes to editors:}

_{About Smart Design + Femme Den:
Smart Design has been turning insight and innovation into successful results for 30 years. Our strategic approach integrates product, interface, and brand to ensure winning solutions. Smart Design’s consistent results are delivered by our multi-disciplinary, international staff working in teams across offices in New York, San Francisco, and Barcelona, with partners in Sydney and Melbourne.}

_{The Femme Den is here to save good women from bad design. An internal initiative at Smart Design, the movement consists of researchers, designers, and engineers seeking to explore the underdeveloped opportunity for good design that speaks to the emotions, desires, and lifestyles of today’s female consumers.}  

_{http://www.smartdesignworldwide.com
http://www.femmeden.com}

_{About Design Forum 2010 + INTERIEUR 2010, Kortrijk, Belgium:
Design Forum 2010 is part of the cultural programme of Design Biennale INTERIEUR 2010 along with Design at Work, a trade show about visualizing innovation, design and product development of materials, products and services. This is the 22nd Design Biennale in Kortrijk, Belgium and runs October 15-24, 2010.}

_{Dan Formosa, PhD. will be presenting "Effects, after effects and the diminishing role of aesthetics in design" on 18th October 2010 at 17:00: http://www.designatwork.be/danformosa/}

_{Agnete Enga will be presenting "Saving good women from bad products" on 18th October 2010 at 13:00: http://www.designatwork.be/agnete-enga-save-good-women-from-bad-products/}

_{Mercedes Coats
Marketing Communications Manager
T: +1 415 355 6205
mercedes.coats@smartdesignworldwide.com}

_{Julia James (design media)
Julia James Public Relations, Ltd.
T: +44 (0) 20 7350110
julia@juliajamespr.com}

_{Juidth Ingleton-Beer (business/trade media)
Press Office, PR for Smart Design
T: +44 (0) 20 7350110
jingletonbeer@pressoffice.targetwire.com}

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