What Does Design Mean? Why We’re All Designing Our Lives
This year at Nashville Design Week, I had the opportunity to co-host Designed to Lead: Women in Design. We created it as and event to celebrate and elevate the women shaping Nashville’s creative landscape. Held at The Cordelle, the room was filled with designers, students, entrepreneurs, and creatives all eager to explore one central theme: the power of design to move culture forward.
The theme of this year’s Nashville Design Week was “Define Design.” And in the highlight reel video below you’ll hear my take on the question: “What does design mean to you?”
It’s a question that can be answered a hundred different ways depending on your career, your background, or the medium you create in. But my answer didn’t come from my role as a web designer, educator, or strategist.
My answer came from how I view life. Watch the video to hear my take…
So many people feel stuck, behind, or unsure of their direction — especially in creative fields. There’s pressure to “have it all figured out,” and yet the truth is, none of us do.
But we can learn to design our next step.
We can design clarity. We can design opportunities. We can design change.
Design is a practice. A mindset. A way of approaching life with purpose instead of autopilot.
Photos by Daniel Meigs for Nashville Design Week
We’re All Designers… Whether We Realize It or Not
When I think about design, I don’t just think about Squarespace, color palettes, or wireframes. I think about intention.
To me, design is the act of choosing how you move through the world.
From the the small, everyday decisions… to the big, life-shaping ones that build who you are and who you’re becoming.
You don’t need “designer” in your job title to be a designer.
If you’re making choices about your routines, your priorities, your relationships, your boundaries, your work, or your dreams… you are designing your life.
And that’s what I shared on the panel: design is not exclusive. It’s universal. We are all designers.
About the Panel & Designers
The Designed to Lead: Women in Design panel featured powerhouse creatives including:
Jenn Córdova, brand designer and strategist
Katherine Forbes (hi, it’s me!), web designer and educator
Zintrise Altovise, luxury design strategist and author
Megan Purdom, visual artist and founder of Flouncy (our MC)
Together, we explored creativity, leadership, purpose, and how to make space for others in the industry.
Photos by Lindsey Ballou
Special Thanks…
Tahseen Reza Anika of the Nashville Design Week content team for helping us coordinate
Designed to Lead: Women in Design sponsors: The Cordelle, Board & Cheesy, Bad Mermaid Energy, Malvern Coffee, Event Works
Flower wall setup by Flower Walls of Nashville
Designed to Lead logo and print designs by Jenn Cordova Design
2025 NDW Sponsors
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Curious how YOU define design!? Comment below so we can keep the conversation going!
