Council cards — Design thinking toolkit for councils
Print design, Icon design, Illustration, Design thinking
More than just providing a service, Australia’s councils are evolving into community innovators. Their big ideas, better-designed services and improved communications, in near real-time through social media, work hard to create an engaging, sustainable future for the communities they serve.
It’s not always an easy transition from simply providing a product or service, to creating insight-led solutions that make the most of technology. That’s why many Councils look for design partners who can do more than just make a poster. They seek thinkers and creative problem solvers, who can use technology and design to address the needs of modern communities.
Not just helping, but enabling
We’ve worked on some rewarding projects with Australian councils over the years. They’ve included marketing campaigns, information and service design, online communications and customer journey mapping. You can explore some of this work here, here or here.
But being a good partner means more than just doing, it means sharing. So we reached out to councils across NSW, and sent them something to help them approach any problem from a new angle – a beautifully designed pack of 38 cards.
Design-thinking for councils
Each deck featured a range of easy-to-action problem-solving exercises, based on the principles of design thinking. The idea is that for any problem that needs solving, you pick a card at random, and follow the instructions. Different ways of thinking, and new perspectives on a problem can lead to exciting, unexpected solutions.
They’re great for team development too, encouraging collaboration and innovative thinking that breaks with convention.
As a result, councils all over NSW have access to design-thinking at their fingertips. Something we hope will ultimately help lead to stronger connections and richer experiences for communities all over Australia.
