Science is important, but it’s not nearly as important as most governments and scientists like to make out. I find there is an enormous arrogance amongst many scientists that science and the scientific method are the be all and end all of contemporary culture. Whilst I wouldn’t want to do without the science behind, say, the Internet or how planes stay in the air, I also wouldn’t want to do with out music or books. There is an enormous over-emphasis on the importance of science and reductionist thinking within education too, but that’s another story.

But in terms of simply design/graphic design, I was thinking it the other day when I read a copy of Wallpaper that Phillipe Starck had curated. He believed the only value design had for the human race anymore was to aid the realm of science. So he interviewed half a dozen scientists about what they thought needed to change in the world. All of it actually involved the development of new technologies, which would of course need new designers to interpret and sell to the public. It’s a pretty interesting issue that kind of addressed this exact issue. Look out for it – it was last months, and some issues featured a cover by Karl Lagerfield and some by Starck.