Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss how designers lead and direct ‘technology-driven society’ using their creative communication skill. To this end, it is required for communication designers to take conscious steps to recognize the future direction of their profession. Despite the advancement in technology, there is a human being at the center of all design activities. From a certain point of view, contemporary communication design takes an open-ended exploration of the subject matter, rather than a finished output. The notion of creative leadership may potentially expand more in terms of improving the methodology of today’s visual culture. The paper will examine creative leadership that could be proposed by the challenge of discourse upon the upcoming industrial revolution. Today, communication designers are confronted by new leadership opportunities and challenges. Some leading designers seem to focus on brand new media technologies to prepare the 4th industrial revolutions. However, communication design cannot be discussed in the medium but can be understood as a process. Top-down and bottom-up process is always a concerned about the relationship since the focus of leadership has changed. In the top-down process, the leadership has existed between ‘designer and client’ because designers have played their role as a problem solver. On the other hand, there is a different model of leadership between ‘design and technology’ based on bottom-up process, which stem from the design authorship. In this regard, the new definition of creative leadership in the 4th industrial revolution proposes a designer as a problem-finder based on the relationship between the ‘designer and the public’.