THE
DesignUp25
THEME
In today’s interconnected world, Design is more than aesthetics:
it’s a powerful medium of exchange that drives innovation, shapes behaviours, and delivers impact. Just as currency fuels economies, Design propels industries, cultures, and sustainability initiatives.
The Design Currency as a theme explores how Design creates value: economic, social, and environmental. We explore how Design can go beyond a transactional economic exchange, to becoming a currency of transformational change for people & planet, via tech & business.
With this lens, our 2025 theme emphasises the transformational power of Design and its role as a way to humanise and contextualise tools, technologies in a rapidly changing, anxious new world.
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This theme invites discussions about the role of Design as:
- A Business value generator.
- A Social connector that fosters belonging and innovation.
- A Sustainability enabler tackling the world’s pressing challenges.