Daniela Vélez: Design for the World

Daniela Vélez (MDes + MPA 2025) spoke at this year’s End of Year Celebration on May 16, 2025. Following is the transcript and video of her speech.

Today marks a significant milestone, a pivotal transition in our lives. We stand at a threshold, and it’s okay—more than okay—to feel a sense of uncertainty. Many of us are pondering the immediate future, and that’s a natural part of this journey.

As designers, we possess a unique toolkit to navigate ambiguity and shape the future we envision. This is a moment to pause, to reflect, and to remember. Remember the first time we stepped into this building, perhaps a bit wide-eyed, and consider the individuals we were then. We arrived from diverse corners of the world, carrying a multitude of questions, yet united by the understanding that this experience was not solely about who we were, but about who we were becoming.

I vividly recall my own first impression of ID, gazing at this expansive space we call “the Pitch.” I felt a mix of intimidation, pride, and being utterly overwhelmed. The sunlight streaming through the massive windows, the echoes of conversations, at that time—it was all a bit much!

I remember thinking, “I’ve arrived at a place where others share my passion, my curiosity for learning, for experimenting, and for taking risks and action to challenge the status quo.” That initial feeling evolved into an overwhelming sense of joy, though not without its share of challenges, moments of self-doubt, and productive tension and frictions that yielded invaluable lessons.

And now, we know we can. We can push boundaries, we can advocate for change, we can lean on one another, and we can guide others toward a shared vision. We’ve demonstrated our resilience in the face of setbacks, our ability to rise after failures, and our capacity to emerge stronger through collaboration, even in the face of differing perspectives.

This experience, where design intersected with diverse disciplines and a multitude of backgrounds, has broadened our perspectives and revealed the power of collective knowledge. The debates, the frantic working sessions, the shared moments of breakthrough—these have forged bonds that I hope will last a lifetime.

Yet, the most cherished aspect of these past two years has been getting to know each of you: fellow students, dedicated faculty, and the supportive staff. I’ll always treasure those lunchtime conversations around the big table in the kitchen, the exchanges about our projects, our challenges, our hopes, our fears, and our dreams. Your stories, your perspectives, enriched us and became the building blocks for something greater: a home away from home.

We should all take immense pride in the work we have done that has filled ID’s walls and made them our own. Our discussions and ideas will undoubtedly resonate far beyond our time here, shaping the future of this institution. I am confident of that.

Throughout this journey, our parents, siblings, partners, and friends—our unwavering support system—may have wondered exactly what we’ve been doing for the past years. In my words, we’ve been learning how to cultivate possibilities for a different future. We’ve become facilitators of change, masters of navigating complexity, and expanders of understanding of how things and humans interact with each other in an ever-changing world. We’ve learned to unveil hidden connections, to embrace an abundance mindset. We understand that envisioning futures and possibilities comes with an immense responsibility—a responsibility to strive for a future that is just, equitable, sustainable, functional, and resilient.

This space, the Institute of Design, has been our sandbox. Here, we weren’t just students; we were builders, experimenters, and dreamers. We dug deep into problems, constructed innovative solutions, and sometimes, we knocked down what we built and started again. Like children in a sandbox, we collaborated, shared our tools and ideas, and created things we never could have imagined on our own.

Now, as we conclude this chapter, having tested our resilience and grown together, we join a long and distinguished lineage of ID designers who embody the values of the New Bauhaus: learning through doing, relentless experimentation, and a deep-seated belief in the potential of design to serve both functionality and social purpose.

I urge you all to remain hungry, to never settle for the status quo, and to be as my mother always told me—eternal nonconformists. Stay curious about people and their stories, and never let your spark dim, even in the darkest of times. Embrace the power of “not knowing,” for it is in those moments of uncertainty that we often discover the most profound knowledge. Remember Robert Frost’s words:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

The final thought I want to leave you with today is this: Design is what we make of it. It can encompass something as vast as the most complex interconnected system, or it can be as intimate and personal as the teddy bear that ignited my own passion for design. But regardless of its scale, good design has the power to propel humanity forward. As Tomoko would remind us, “Design is not for design; design is for the world.” So now, let’s design for the real world.

Thank you all. Muchas gracias!