Cheradenine- It was certainly an interesting statement. In the context of the film, it came across as more of a hopeful suggestion than an overly prideful statement of fact. I believe it was meant to emphasize the power that designers (of all disciplines) find they have, and how this power might manifest itself as the field evolves. No longer will it be good enough to just design covetable objects that look nice; rather a more holistic approach will become necessary, especially as the negative effects of consumerism become more severe. It was about questioning the role of the designer in today’s society, and proposing a potential next step.

Uhm. Normally I take design-wankery in stride, but that’s some rather incredible hubris. As interesting as arranging physical materials into pleasing shapes is, it is not the philosophy of the future. Unless you have a severely deflated view of what philosophy is or an extremely inflated view of what design is.