Hello, and welcome back to my research. I will now focus on some of the sources I found in my last post, therefore the main part of the research is now on the field of design activism.
From the 13th to the 14th of September in 2024 there was a symposium called “Design as Activism” in Chicago. Because there are already numerous designers in the city that create design activist pieces, they invited people to start a discussion, inspire others to engage with design activism and share their thoughts and experiences. Jessica Meharry describes:
The word activism comes from the Latin word actus: “a doing, a driving force, or an impulse.” In many ways, this is perfectly suited for design. We understand design as activism: as taking action, putting theory into practice, and learning through doing and making. Yet design is also deeply entangled with capitalist systems, with many designers working in service of clients that prioritize profit, growth, and extraction. What space is there for activism, for social and political change within those contexts? (2024, p. 7)
To be able to create design activist projects that matter and go in the direction you want them to go it is important to ask yourself the right questions. “Design activists must consider how we do or don’t reinforce power differentials. This includes how we engage with conflict and dissensus versus consensus and collaboration.” (Meharry 2024, p. 8) These questions often require continuous reflection, as well as, awareness where you position yourself as a designer and as a human being. Anything about your identity can have an influence on this.
Moreover, activism is a driving force that connects people, also designers, as they tend to share a similar vision of a better world. It is essential that the communication on these topics does not stop and evolves instead through learning and having an open mind. (cf. ibid. p. 9)
Anne H. Berry, the director of the School of Design from the University of Illinois Chicago, mentions that even though we mostly do not think about things in this way our everyday lives are highly political. (cf. ibid. p. 10) The question she asks is: “If you think about the things or experiences in your life that have influenced you, that have changed you, how are those [sic!] are tied to politics or democracy?” (ibid. p. 10) This is indeed a question that makes you more aware of how politics often influence even small decisions in our daily lives.
We as designers have the power activate people to use their voting rights or advocate for other important changes in our communities, countries or in the world. It is our responsibility as citizens to not just turn a blind eye on politics and everything that is going on in the world, because it is also changing our own daily lives. The question is, how do we get to the people we want to mobilize? To be able to do this it is important to start asking the right questions and to discern what drives these people that we want to reach. (cf. ibid. p. 11) And who is our target group in this specific case.
To conclude, in order to be able to become a design activist it is crucial to ask the right questions about yourself as a designer, as a human being and your target group. To add to that, it is essential to know that even if you do not want to be everything you do will always be political to some degree, therefore, it is important to be aware of politics and how they influence our daily lives and the things we want to promote as designers.
Source:
Meharry, Jessica (ed.): Design as Acitivsm. September 13-14, 2024. Symposium Proceedings. Institute of Design at Illinois Tech. California: ORO Editions 2024.