Design Values for 2026

This year, I was honoured to be invited to join the VAND International jury board, contributing to the evaluation of work that prioritises meaning, intention, and long-term impact over trends or noise. 

What is VAND International?

VAND International is a global platform dedicated to recognising, curating, and elevating design that creates real value — not just visually, but culturally, socially, and strategically. Their work sits at the intersection of design excellence, thoughtful critique, and future-facing conversations about where our industry is heading.

It deeply resonates with our values. Calm design, for us, is a strategic choice — one that allows brands to communicate with confidence, purpose, and long-term intent.

Recently I was invited to speak at their live online event, “Design Value for 2026”, alongside Kevin O’Neill. Kevin is a highly experienced creative leader and strategist in the communications and design space, known for his work with global brands (IBM, LEGO, Panasonic, AT&T, Unilever and others) and for mentoring emerging talent.

The event brought together designers and creative leaders to reflect on one central question:

What gives design value in an increasingly fast, loud, and AI-driven world?

One of the core themes of my talk was Calm Design — not as an aesthetic trend, but as a mindset.

We’re living in a time where tools can generate endless options in seconds. Layouts, copy, concepts — all multiplied instantly. But real value isn’t found in how much we can produce. It’s found in what we consciously choose to remove.

AI is a powerful addition to our toolkit, much like the shift from film to digital photography years ago. It accelerates execution. It expands possibilities. But it does not replace human judgment, intuition, or responsibility. Software can process information — it cannot decide what truly matters.

We’re living in a time where tools can generate endless options in seconds. But real value isn’t found in how much we produce. It’s found in what we consciously choose to remove.

The real challenge for designers today is finding calm within the chaos.

When generation becomes effortless, meaning becomes fragile. We risk producing more words, more visuals, more ideas — with less depth. Our role shifts from creators of volume to editors of intention: filtering noise, distilling complexity, and protecting clarity.

True expertise isn’t about moving faster. It’s about having the confidence to slow down. And to ensure that the final decision remains unmistakably human.

That, to me, is where design value for 2026 truly begins: Calm, Clarity, and the Human Choice