The Futureproof Series.
Postcards
From the Future.
Postcards From the Future
As part of designbivouac’s Futureproof Series, this collection offers a set of visual explorations and concise narratives designed to spark conversation, challenge assumptions, and inspire strategic thinking about what lies ahead.
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
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Methodology
Futurecasting is a creative process where designers explore various social, cultural, economic, political, and ecological factors to envision potential futures. Rather than predicting the future with certainty, futurecasting focuses on imagining possible and preferable scenarios that inform long-term strategies. It helps businesses understand the forces shaping the future, anticipate changes, and create proactive strategies. Preferable futures align technology with human needs while ensuring sustainability from a planetary perspective.
“The best way to predict the future is to design it.”
Frameworks
The Futureproof: Postcards From the Future series draws on frameworks, such as Joseph Voros’s Futures Cone and backcasting, to guide its exploration. By working backward from a desirable future state to our current reality, backcasting helps identify the necessary conditions to achieve a preferred vision. The aim is to encourage thoughtful consideration of our shared future and inspire active participation in shaping it.
Visual and Narrative Approach
The series' visual approach integrates AI tools into the creative process, blending visuals with written narratives that evolve organically as each postcard from the future takes form. The series is designed to inspire deeper reflection on the necessary actions to make our collective preferred future a reality.
Futureproof: Endoskeletal Workwear
These work jeans by Sustain™ help me get through long days at work. I feel like I am 30 again. The endoskeletal support structure sewn into the selvage jean material bears most of the weight I lift daily. The system makes working on my feet far more bearable.
Future Narrative
These endoskeleton work jeans by Sustain™ help me get through long days at work. The endoskeletal support sewn into the selvage jean material bears most of the weight I lift daily. The system makes working on my feet far more bearable. It is not bulky or complicated, unlike other exoskeleton systems. My favorite feature is that the system allows you to sit and rest, even without a chair. I take more frequent microbreaks and adjust my posture, which increases my overall wellness and efficiency. I also love that this high-tech garment line supports traditional craft jobs in places like North Carolina, where Sustain™ manufactures its endoskeleton armatures and sources its long-lasting denim material.
Implications
As breakthroughs in supportive and assistive garments occur, how might we protect the physical and mental health of those doing physically taxing jobs, rather than assuming they can do more work over longer hours?
Futureproof is a series of occasional provocations illustrating possible future paths for technology and culture. Think postcards from the future.