Social Dreaming Through Design
Social Dreaming Through Design

978-4-2954-1006-5
© 2024
Image of social dreaming through design
Masaki Iwabuchi _ Author
speculative designdesign fictionstrategy
Join nearly 19,000 members connecting art, product, design, technology, and futures.
Description
Facing the reality of a mountain of complex problems, we will work together to create the ideal future for organizations and society. This book explores a framework for envisioning long-term future “worldviews” and methods for implementing actions within an organization to achieve these visions. It incorporates emerging design theories like Speculative Design, Designed Realities, Transition Design, Futures Literacy, and Defuturing, based on Masaki's professional experience in Japan and the US.

Envisioning a bright future is increasingly challenging with current worldviews focused on speed, quality, and cost. To address complex 21st-century issues like climate change and economic disparity, we need to reinvent our way of living and being. By “imagining” a long-term future society and backcasting from that vision, we can identify what is truly needed for today’s world.

This book emphasizes exploring “multiple possibilities” through imagination, contrasting with the traditional focus on committing to a “single solution” in education and business. It aims to inspire a diverse audience—including young people, business professionals, science fiction enthusiasts, and adventurous designers—to engage both their creative and analytical sides. Although the word “design” is in the title, no prior knowledge of design is required to read the book. (Although fluency in Japanese and ability to read Kanji are definitely required. 😉)

In the face of kinetic, chaotic, intermingled and entangled global challenges, the future requires that we #imagineharder and bring new approaches to envisioning and acting to shape the worlds we will inhabit. Masaki's book offers a framework for imagining alternative futures and creating actionable strategies, and the ways that the kinds of organizations that can bring about material change can invigorate their own collective ways of imagining in order to achieve them. Masaki draws on principles from speculative and transition design, as well as futures literacy, with the hope that these can help transcend the typical focus on short-term gains and mere operational efficiency. Masaki is encouraging a broader, more imaginative approach—one that empowers individuals and organizations to explore multiple futures and rethink what’s possible today.
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
A photo from the book Social Dreaming Through Design by John Doe
An additional image social dreaming through design
An additional image social dreaming through design

Contributors

Masaki Iwabuchi
_ Author

Biography of Masaki Iwabuchi

A New York-based design practitioner, researcher, and educator, born in Asakusa, Tokyo. After graduating from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo and the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies at the same university, he gained work experience at IBM Design and has been living in the United States since 2018. He completed his studies at Parsons School of Design in 2020. He is currently the first design futurist at JP Morgan Chase Bank in the United States, where he is engaged in strategic future insights and concept design for new services. He is also a specially appointed associate professor at Tohoku University, where he is dedicated to fostering value creation in 21st century students through research and education on worldview design. Recent awards include the Core77 Design Award in the United States. He is the representative of the Tokyo branch of the Design Futures Initiative and a judge for the Good Living 2050 International Vision Contest.

Publisher

Crossmedia Publishing

Specifications

Size 15cm x 21cm - Portrait
Pages 287 Pages + Cover
Language Japanese
Illustrations Extensive
Join nearly 19,000 members connecting art, product, design, technology, and futures.

Notes

  1. Includes images and description of The Work Kit of Design Fiction (2023)
  2. Includes images and description of IKEA Catalog
Floating Icon
Want to learn more? Curious how we work? Feel like your organization could use a bit more Imagination to help make sense of the dynamic character of a kinetic marketplace?
Use the Contact Form below to discuss how you can engage Near Future Laboratory to help you make sense of your organization's possible futures.