Thesis Statement

Design for the other 90% is an important topic within the world of design. It combines technical design created in first world countries and applies them to third world countries and countries in need.  Design for the other 90% has changed poor countries, for example the LifeStraw, created by Danish innovator Torben Vestergaard Frandsen, which purifies water as the person drinks it.

The first source picked is an online article written by Cynthia E. Smith titled Design with the Other 90%: Cities. In this source she has an effective statement when defining her experience living within a poor country 

"I had set out to find successful design solutions to rapidly expanding informal settlements, and had found that the most innovative were hybrid solutions that bridge the formal and informal city. " 

 For this thesis i want to research how design can be applied to assisting poor countries and how when taken into perspective, designing for those in need rather than consumers within a richer country can change the face of industrial design. The critical perspective i have chosen to research into is the idea of socially acceptable design in terms of third world countries and design should provide for those in need, rather than richer consumers.

The second source i picked is Socially Responsible Design in and for the Third World which features several different notable authors (E.F. Schumacher, Victor Papanek) which write about how design should be acceptable for the third world.