Perfect Fit
Last night saw our third, and best attended, programmed event for the local Pittsburgh chapter of IxDA. We were hosted by Fit Associates in their Shadyside studio. I’m afraid I missed the first thirty minutes of socializing, but I arrived just in time for the their presentation. Marc Rettig and Jenna Date gave us a compelling overview of their firm’s philosophy and their approach to solving problems. They cited examples from a few interesting projects and painted a clear picture of where they want their work to take them. In a nutshell, they affect change by creating ripples that extend from their customers to the users, and into the community. Their hope is to create ripples that eventually influence global society and the world itself. As stated on their website:
We believe in creating change for the greater good. By understanding people, we inform the ideas, design and products that make lives better. By putting our time, talents and experience to work for important causes, we put our energy where it will do the most good. By nurturing, leading and equipping our valued clients, we help them create ideas that change companies, organizations and lives. By looking toward the future, we make a difference every day.
However, the presentation wasn’t simply for the sake of tooting their own horn. They used the context of their work to initiate discussions about sustainability, the influence designers can have (at various levels), and the responsibility of designers to design with intent. They finished the program with an invitation. They are looking for other local designers that are interested in working together to improve Pittsburgh. This could very well be the beginning of something interesting.
