Carl Bass, CEO of Autodesk Inc. summarized what he sees as key trends that affect design at the Autodesk World Press Day 2007, recently held at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. He says important trends include:

Globalization
-- Labor is cheaper for everybody. He gave the example of an artist in West Oakland Calif. who designs his huge sculptors at home, then has them made in China.
-- Large markets are being opened up.
-- Global competition. Commoditizing will happen more rapidly and more certainly.

The design problem: How do you create designs that are differentiated?

Global infrastructure
-- Emerging economies need vast amounts of new infrastructure to support growth.
-- There is a great need for rebuilding and repairing of existing infrastructures.

The design problem: How do we maintain the level of infrastructure we need given the lack of new civil engineers and the high costs of materials?

Energy issues
-- Worries about straining the Earth's resources.
-- Interest in sustainable design.

The design problem: The need to rethink products and processes. For example, how much energy is required to build a product?

Time spent on digital devices
-- The need for more devices and content.

The design problem: How to create more compelling and reusable designs that can be used across all these devices?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Leslie Gordon,