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The Designer Resilience Podcast

Cultivating resilience in the design profession

In a complex world, designers face the dual challenge of bringing about change while maintaining personal well-being. The Resilient Designers Project presents ten principles for cultivating resilience as a designer. This project is based on extensive research and provides a rich resource for designers at all stages.

Principle 1

The resilient designer might be lost now, but knows every day is a step closer to finding their purpose.

Find purpose by embracing the journey

Principle 2

Build instincts to ‘go for it!’ and leave your comfort zone. Always striving for impact.

Decisively go beyond your comfort zone

Principle 3

It’s a courageous contribution to live authentically and be confident in our own journey.

Be authentic to your identity & purpose

Principle 4

Cultivate a practice of mindfulness to prepare oneself to address and even solve complex problems.

Fuel your appetite for change

Principle 5

Design ideas become stronger when we are brave enough to share our unpolished concepts.

Share unfinished
work

Principle 6

Balance your desire to excel with the ability to zoom out and see your progress from a different perspective.

Be reflexive to performance culture

Principle 7

Construct the right environment in order to get constructive feedback.

Form the right environments for feedback

Principle 8

Work toward progress and remember that perfection is an illusion.

Trust and drive
the process

Principle 9

Accept the messiness of co-creation and participatory design.

Embrace the messiness of pluralism

Principle 10

Generously contribute to the success of others and develop a community of like-minded peers seeking positive impact.

Shape community & collective resilience

New!

The Designer Resilience Podcast

Listen to the Resilient Designer Podcast

Through open conversations with design practitioners and educators, we discover what skills, knowledge and attitudes are needed to become more resilient as designers.

Episode 4 (54 min.)

Navigating Complexity with Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer

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Episode 3 (48 min.)

Partial Delusion with Tiiu Meiner

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Episode 2 (49 min.)

Swap The Perspectives with Itika Gupta

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“When design propositions challenge the status quo, designers find themselves facing what feels like unfair criticism.”

The Resilient Designers Project aims to build knowledge, tools, and publications to help designers develop the thick skin needed to cope with uncertainty. Co-directed by Rebecca Price and Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer at TU Delft, we co-create research, organize events, and share ongoing insights. Join us to learn, collaborate, and strengthen your capacity to thrive in challenging design landscapes.

About the project

Co-directed by Rebecca Price and Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer, The Designer Resilience Project is a group of researchers and designers at the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands. As a community, we engage in conversations related to design theory, practice, and education to further advance the study of designer resilience.

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Join us on 27 October at Dutch Design Week for ‘The Resilient Designers Event’, a gathering that aims to equip designers tackling sustainability challenges with the tools to strengthen their resilience and increase their impact.

As designers, we often encounter resistance and personal overload when tackling complex challenges. This event will present valuable insights and practical tools, curated from extensive research by Dr Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer and Dr Rebecca Price, to help designers thrive in their craft and build a cohesive design community.

Industry professionals and academics will share their stories, from the challenges they faced to the strategies they used to overcome them.

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