The networking event I had picked was postponed, which made me a bit scared since my two page essay was due that week. My professor was nice enough and gave me another week to get it done. luckily I found one that same day and attended Parsons School of Design networking event called The Future Design Can Make. The inside of the school gave me this museum type of feel. The school was open in a sense and looked better than my school. The only issue I had was their elevators because they were small and could only fit like 4-6 people only. They did have several elevators but they all were small. I and Michelle attended this event together and since we had no clue how to get to the sky room, we followed this group of people that looked important and had a flyer for the event. Once on the 12 floor, we checked in and sat down till the event started. There weren’t many students when we arrived but it quickly filled up once it started. Of course, you had those really late folks coming in and distracting everyone.

The whole point of this networking event was to give an overview of how design can make a difference in society and the world itself. Also how we all need to understand that in order to do this we need to learn that it takes the business side and the creative design world as well to work together to accomplish these things. Jesper Von Wieding spoke about an app called Be My Eyes, which is intended to help the blind. This app would be used to call people and read things for the blind or use your sight to help them in any way they may need it. I found this interesting because commonly we think of designing the next “big thing” but yet we forget that we can design something to help others in need.

Another person who gave a speech was Matilda Mcquaid. One design work that made me realize the way we are accustomed to seeing certain people can be wrong. By this, I mean people with disabilities. Matilda Mcquaid has an exhibition in mid-December where designers redesigned icons and images that represent people with disabilities. The point of this was to show that people with disabilities are not helpless because they can do certain things as everyone else. For example, the wheelchair icon was redesigned to show that people in wheelchairs can be mobile by themselves and that being in a wheelchair is not an impediment.

This networking event opened my eyes to how I can use design to help others. Even though I still don’t have an idea but I want to find one, I just need to think outside the box.

Networking Event Essay