I’ll start off by saying that I think this competition generated some really great concepts, showing true ingenuity and skills.
Having said that, I cannot help but wonder if we, through events such as this one, end up generating more good self esteem than actual results – both on the side of the spectator (myself included) and that of the creators.
The question we need to ask ourselves is: will this competition end up serving those we intend to help?
Good intentions are undoubtably floating about in the design community, especially in times of crises. So I guess what I’m asking is: what can we designers do to ensure that our intentions have the impact they merit?
As it is, I think we’re serving ourselves more than those we actually want to help.