In celebration of World Industrial Design Day on 29 June 2010, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) invites designers from around the globe to initiate events reflecting this year's theme "Industrial Design: Humane solutions for a resilient world".

The ad agency sector as well has not been spared from the economic crisis—on the contrary. Last year was a difficult year, with many lay-offs, mass pitches, and immense cost pressure. Many contractors used and still use the economic crisis as a killer argument to continually push prices further down, and pitches for little or no money are no rarity.

On 18 January 2010, British star architect Lord Foster was awarded the Knight Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Issued to him in London by the German Ambassador Georg Boomgaarden, the Order of Merit was given to him for his outstanding achievements in architecture in Germany and around the world.

In a global appeal following the devastation in Haiti, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) has launched a call to designers from all disciplines to unite in an open dialogue with international relief organisations to assess potential designeffective rehabilitation projects.

In 2010, the Australian design magazine Curve is again one of the international media partners of the red dot design award. Curve is an exclusive design magazine, which reports about trends in international industrial design and the latest innovations in product design and is published quarterly in a print as well as an online edition. This year Curve exclusively offers all red dot online readers free access to the magazine’s online edition for the duration of one year.

Early in December 2009 Professor Dr. Peter Zec again travelled to Asia, in order to give a lecture as a design expert. At the Xue Xue Institute in Taipei he explained in his lecture “Good Design is Good Business” why design creates value in the long-term and is one of the key factors for commercial success particularly during a crisis.

“Design Difference - Designing Our World 2050” will be the theme of the Icsid World Design Congress 2009 to take place from 23 to 25 November in Singapore. The congress offers designers, business leaders, politicians, and academics from all over the world an international platform to establish contacts, exchange ideas, discuss the role of design and its accompanying challenges, and build the foundations for future collaborations.