On Thursday, November 8, Incite/Insight 2007 featured designer, entrepreneur and sustainability guru Peter Nicholson, who shared how his personal search for meaningful work led him to a unique approach to the business of design. The attendees at Loyola University’s Rubloff Auditorium heard how a designer from an affluent Detroit suburb gradually awakened to the social and environmental costs of a hyper-capitalist society and how he has tried to change the role designers play in society in order to use the creative and critical thinking skills of design to affect positive change.

“What if designers’ livelihoods weren’t tied to the marketplace, but rather to society, i.e. the mix of people, place and culture that surrounds them? What would the projects look like? For whom and what would you be designing? Who would pay?” Peter’s answer to the these questions has led him to found several nonprofit organizations, including the green social networking group Chicago Green Drinks, the Chicago Sustainable Business Alliance and the nonprofit design cooperative Foresight Design Initiative. “Foresight is, in essence, a multidisciplinary design firm, creating everything from Web sites to business plans to events to communities of like-minded people, all with an emphasis on sustainability.” The evening provided a lively and engaging discussion of the role and responsibility of designers to their community and to the future of our society. Visit the Foresight Design Initiative Web site to learn more about their efforts in sustainability.