Scott Stowell
OPEN
2008 Judge
“We’ve been designing a magazine called Good for a while now. They call it ‘the magazine for people who give a damn.’ I call it a lifestyle magazine for people who are interested in changing the world. It's a great project that demonstrates my belief that it’s possible to use design to change the world just by making things a little bit better every day.
For me, a piece of design (or anything) is successful when it’s made with care, effort and a point of view. If it’s apparent that the person making it was thoughtful about the world and took pride in his or her work, then it feels good to me, whether I agree with all of their decisions or not. As an Ideas that Matter judge, this is the kind of work that I was looking for. Of course, these things are always subjective. But the proposals that worked for the judges (and especially for me) were the projects that clearly had the ability to do something real, no matter what particular topic or issue they addressed. I think the name of the program — Ideas that Matter — is meant to be taken literally. These are projects that can actually change things.
A lot of designers don’t think about the people who will buy or read or use their work. They’re more concerned with what their clients or bosses think, and they’re not always looking out for the end user. So as an Ideas that Matter judge, I was looking for projects that would not only help non-profit clients, but also the people that those clients serve.”
