Fire comes in many forms. Most of us think of the fast, red-hot burn, but there is also the deeper and slower coal-burn, and the lighter and wispier, clear, top-of-the-fire burn. All three are fire.

Currently, we are in the red-hot burn. Society is making a major shift and we are in the thick of it. More is being asked of us for less (burnout) and we are uncertain what is ahead within our smoke-filled society. Hints into the future can be found in the trends we have been tracking these several years.

My original profession began in design when I worked at Nike, The Gap and Starbucks, cube-to-cube, desk-to-desk. I learned many valuable skills that help me to this day and I also experienced various forms of continual burnout serving up creativity to the greater machines of which I was a part. Shifting to serving my own passion within my own business led me to what I do today. This article is about shared and personal fire for greater and ever greater growth and contribution. As a trend researcher and speaker, I have focused these last years on the shift from industrial, top-down, brand driven consumption to the cross-shared, consumer- and community-driven innovation models.

As a trend strategist, I have worked the last several years on the personal passion theory for self and company. If you are inspired and are addressing whatever you address with energy, focus, meaning and flow, your outcome can be quite creative and innovative. Like the consumer today, the designers must feed themselves with inspiration to stay vibrant and useful in society. The consumer has become an energy reader; they will be drawn to what brings fresh energy to them and will move away from products that “take” away and drain them.

The tried and true success of smaller “conversational” companies such as Threadless is an example of energy engagement. It is known that Threadless started as an online passion concept and made over 3 million dollars selling T-shirts in one year. Unlike most companies that start as brick and mortar and move online, Threadless was able to open a physical space after succeeding first online. Why such a success? A mixture of personal passion with an invitation to others to submit their passionate and playful designs struck a chord with users. A passionate and playful back and forth conversation is key going forward.

Products are shifting to serving human need first and not necessarily consumption. I mean this in an ever-deepening way as we begin to address economic and environmental distress. An inspirational product that is bright, sexy, cool or happy alone may attract but it will not build a relationship with the user over time, nor will it move the user with a meaningful connection. Solution-driven design builds respect by building what is needed at the right time.

As a visual designer at Nike, I felt a need to move into more meaningful endeavors. When the Lance Armstrong benefit bracelet exploded into society, it was clear that modern brand could influence social action. People were willing to wear “what mattered” to them on their sleeve for everyone to see. This was not a one-time event but the start of a meaning trend that we are in the middle of today. A newer example of this personal passion and contribution trend is GOOD magazine’s campaign with Pepsi Refresh in which people submit and share their social innovation ideas for communal vote. Pepsi has taken the millions of dollars needed to advertise at the Super Bowl and put them toward smaller, social innovation concepts created by and voted in by the people.

In a bigger frame, there is a shift from one style of consumption to another. The HAVE DO BE model I learned while working in trend at The Gap can explain it. Brands no longer define what is cool and what matters and we no longer go to the brand for information about the brand—we go to each other. The Gap Foundation, Bono and Project Red charted this shift: The older industrial model was about HAVING money to make money to DO what you need to do in order to BE who you are supposed to be. This required a dependency on larger corporations, companies and financial sources.

The newer model consists of self-empowerment to DO what you love now, BE who you are supposed to be and define what HAVING is to you. Society and individuals across the globe are redefining what HAVING is to them. The economic crisis has accelerated this process and has taken the larger company by surprise. A reinvention is occurring as a result. Design and design strategy is poised to help usher in this new model.

This does not mean brands are redundant, rather they are shifting how they engage with the consumer by looking at what matters, and by taking a lead from smaller agile groups, entrepreneurs and cultural influencers. This is something I am working on with many companies: meaningful consumption.

Today, a personal path of passion requires communal contribution to be “of the future.” The economic and environmental problems facing the globe today ask designers to think differently and make a move from the “thinking about it and working on it” slow burn to a passionate and consumptive “fast” action burn with a focus on brighter and authentically clear new directions. This future flame is about designing within a new category in a new way.

The next generation is already being, doing and having what is important to them quite naturally as cultural citizens. No brand permission is needed to enter this level of influential market engagement, and here are a few examples of new influencers in design and strategy that I respect.

Jeri Chou

Jerri Chou stands as an example of a young gen woman using her design and strategy skills to drive forward influential groups in NYC. Working in advertising was a start; being an entrepreneur and driving forward new relationships with brands is her passion. Companies are looking at her and to her for new ways of engagement.

Check out her projects:
www.ourfutureistbd.com
www.itsalovelyday.com
www.feastongood.com

Article on compassion for The Huffington Post: www.huffingtonpost.com/ jerri-chou/compassion-a-simple-elega_b_409945.html

Emily Pilloton

Project H and its creator, Emily Pilloton, are at their core about collaboration between designers, and social innovation that’s making a difference to those who need it. www.projecthdesign.org.

Emily on The Colbert Show:
www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/262000/ january-18-2010/emily-pilloton

Her book, published by Metropolis, contains curated products of meaning in design: www.projecthdesign.org/designrevolution.html. Emily is being supported by her own endeavors, by the design community at large, and by various brands offering space for lectures and workshops.

Bjoern Lasse Herrmann

Bjoern Lasse Herrmann is a young gen man who built a next generation online school that is live, social and scalable. Roles in the school are dynamic; the curriculum is created on demand and collaboratively; people can build a knowledge repository with references from subject matter experts. Essentially they are doing for education what blogging has done for publishing. They built the first prototypes of this school and tested it inside companies like Google and Intuit, and launched it for the public in the beginning of January. Since then, they have experienced a huge demand from around the world. Also involved is Steli Efti, CEO and shared Principal of Supercool School.

Check out School’s latest presentation on stage at the DEMO Conference:
www.bit.ly/cJme1b

Latest coverage from USA Today: www.bit.ly/9PSL64 Links:
www.Corp.SupercoolSchool.com
www.SupercoolSchool.com
www.Startup.SupercoolSchool.com