In this edition of the series Conversations on Design the two designers Laurence Humier and Alfonso Cantafora talk about the impact of digitalization, mass manufacturing, computerized production and online distribution on our society as well as about how these revolutions impact their work.

On a different level and at the same time both designers share a connection to being on the move, to a certain transience of existence itself. While Alfonso Cantafora invents vehicles and devices from bicycle components to dog sleds and beyond, the designs of Laurence Humier reflect a different kind of nomadic lifestyle. In her case each moment of permanence is the occasion to mediate with her environment while critically questioning the most recent phenomena of our social and economic environment she is faced with.

Tables and chairs developed around mechanisms found usually in umbrellas, prothesis for bicycles, which extend their potential terrain of exploration, and learning tools or games, which in a playful manner also educate about new economic mechanisms, are echoes of our changing lifestyles in the world of objects which surround us.

The resulting discourse is an interesting reflection on the most current developments in our life and their effects on the practice of design. Particularly precious in this regard are the reports on how recent technological and economic developments impact the way a designer can invent, produce and sell. Watch out! Social media, digital learning and DIY are only one part of the story.