Globalization And Designers

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Globalization and Designers

The world is shrinking, markets are expanding and manufacturing industries have decentralized. New industrialized nations have risen; global economies are shifting and changing. This idea that the world is becoming a “smaller” place is from Thomas Friedman’s book, The World is Flat, in which he describes how the world flattened before our eyes and is now a level playing field, where all competitors have an equal opportunity. Geographical, cultural, financial and economic boundaries are gone, and countries, companies and individuals must adjust to remain competitive in the global marketplace. This shift has been described as a “globalization,” characterized by the rise of emerging markets and the simultaneous economic crises in developed countries. Due to economic downturns, developed countries began moving production to emerging markets to take advantage of lower labor costs and more lenient regulations. However with this globalization technology continues to speed forward at an exponential pace (Ray Kurzweil Ted Talk). With the evolution of the world around us the role of the designers has evolved along with the changes of global development. Multinational corporations, who once sold the same product they developed for consumers in their home market and launched it in the global marketplace, now enlist designers to develop new products that will appeal to all the multicultural consumers of the world. The goal of the global designer is to identify the common denominators the function and form, of an object, despite cultural differences around the world.

Technology

Advances in communication technology such as the Internet, along with email have replaced airmail and faxing. PDFs which turn large ...

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...ion. Shipping lines, freighting and airlines depend on moving vast quantities of consumer goods on a daily basis, providing Western markets with items manufactured in the Far East and all over the world. According to experts, this could all be about to change. A potential threat to the logistics industry, 3D Printing has the ability to revolutionize production techniques, allowing the use of more automation and thus saving on cost. The rise of 3D Printing is expected to cause a decline in the cargo industry, reducing the demand for long-distance transportation such as air, sea and rail freight industries. Despite the potential loss other industries that take advantage of this asset will benefit through reduced costs of shipping and fabrication and as production moves closer to it’s end market there will be benefits such as cheaper transportation reduced pollution.

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