# Why Play Matters in Design INNER CHILD exhibition explores designers' shift toward playful forms. - **Source:** [design archives | designboom | architecture & design magazine](https://brifing.si/source/11868f8d-1e20-41ac-bc2d-8c5af32d721b) - **Published:** 2026-07-22 - **Topic:** [Design & UX](https://brifing.si/c/design) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/b7c41ec4-faf2-4d21-9613-3ecaecb6ca4b ## Intersection of Play and Design The INNER CHILD exhibition examines a design movement ranging from animal-shaped furniture to tactile materials. Curators Edelkoort and Fimmano argue this trend reflects not just aesthetics but a fundamental shift in creative mentality. ## A Global Creative Language Featuring 100 designers worldwide, the exhibition reveals an intriguing pattern: independent creators converging on handmade, experimental approaches. This signals the emergence of a shared global design language rooted in emotional authenticity. ## The Inner Child Concept While named after the 'inner child,' the exhibition isn't about nostalgia. For the curators, it represents a creativity approach fueled by curiosity, intuition, and freedom to fail - becoming a refuge in today's uncertain world. ## New Material Relationships Works transform ordinary materials like cardboard, wood scraps, and textiles. These personal material dialogues offer alternatives to consumption-driven design paradigms, emphasizing sustainability through creative reuse. ## Small-Scale Impact Fimmano highlights designers' 'ego-less' approach, prioritizing local community impact over grand promises. This generation integrates craft with family life, creating meaningful change through modest, tangible interventions. ## Human Response to Technology Edelkoort frames this movement as a 'correction' to digital acceleration. Tactile, emotionally resonant objects become designers' humanistic response to technological overwhelm, reclaiming physical making processes. ## Crisis and Creativity The curators analyze how economic instability and environmental anxiety transform creative processes. These challenges push designers toward authentic, hands-on solutions that address contemporary anxieties through materiality. ## Aesthetic Activism Positioning slow, thoughtful creation as cultural resistance, Edelkoort calls this 'activism in aesthetics.' Each piece represents tactile rebellion against disposable culture, proving design's power to model alternative values. ## Future of Creativity INNER CHILD underscores human creativity's irreplaceable value in the AI era. The exhibition delivers a powerful message: imagination, play and empathy - qualities beyond quantification - will define tomorrow's design ethos. ## Sources covering this story - https://www.designboom.com/design/creativity-play-lidewij-edelkoort-philip-fimmano-inner-child-artipelag-interview/ — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._