Design Dialogues: Value, Relationship and Responsibility

A reflection on what design has been, how it is changing and what it must carry forward. Through two panel conversations and a participatory
About this Event

Design is being practised under changing conditions. Its tools are more accessible, more roles participate in shaping outcomes, and designers are contributing across wider organisational, strategic and technological contexts. Yet design cannot be understood through its tools or outputs alone. Its value also lies in how it interprets context, frames possibilities, exercises judgement and considers the consequences of what it brings into the world.
Presented by EPC (Extended Pack Collective) in partnership with London Design Festival 2026, EPC Design Dialogues brings together designers, design leaders and people working alongside design for three connected sessions.
Each session can be attended independently. A Full Event Pass offers the complete progression from what designers bring, to how that value is exercised alongside others, and what design must remain accountable for.
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About EPC (Extended Pack Collective)
​This event is part of EPC’s continuing inquiry into the future of design and designers. EPC brings together practitioners and thinkers to examine important shifts in the field, connect perspectives across organisations and disciplines, and carry the resulting knowledge forward.

Agenda

🕑: 08:30 AM - 08:45 AM
Arrival
🕑: 08:45 AM - 09:30 AM
The Evolving Value of the Designer
Host: Simon Dixon

Info: How has the designer's value changed and how is it understood today?
This panel will consider what is expected from designers today, how their contributions are being recognised, and which capabilities may matter more as the conditions of practice continue to evolve.

🕑: 09:45 AM - 10:30 AM
The Evolving Relationship Between Designers and Non-Designers
Host: Thom Cowell

Info: How is the relationship changing when more people can shape design outcomes?
As new tools make it easier to express ideas and produce tangible outputs, the boundaries between designers and non-designers are shifting. This panel will examine what that means for expertise, trust, critique, decision-making and collaboration.

🕑: 10:45 AM - 11:45 AM
The Evolving Responsibility of Design
Host: Dr Idrees Rasouli,

Info: As design’s influence expands, what must it become more responsible for?
This participatory session moves the conversation from professional value and collaboration to consequence. Design leaders will help frame the inquiry before opening it to everyone in the room, inviting attendees to examine what design must answer for across the behaviours, systems, cultures and futures it helps shape.

🕑: 11:45 AM - 12:00 PM
Closing Remarks