The article discusses the issues related to the construction the future and the responsibility it entails. As a social agent, the designer usually has a pragmatic and instrumental relation with the future. However, any attempts to construct the future in a rigid manner will likely lead to the reproduction of the existing algorithms of thinking and acting, which may prove ineffective in the face of future challenges. The author’s methodology of semiotic discursive modelling of the design project, developed within the neopragmatist paradigm, makes it possible to arrange (discipline) the creative consciousness without limiting its freedom. This methodology gives the designer an opportunity to perceive the future as a set of variants, letting her or him choose the one that better corresponds to the challenges of the changing situation.