Journal Entry
September 12, 2020
I’ve been thinking a lot about how design can bring social change and impact communities in positive, permanent ways. I’ve noticed in the past few months that designers on social media have been using their voices and platform to inform, educate, and take a stand. I respect that a lot, and I want to be a designer that can use my voice for positive changes. As a designer I have the opportunity to elevate causes I care about and movements I think are important. I’m a part of a lot of communities: a student, a womxn designer, a young adult, a Bostonian, and so on.
September 12, 2020
I’ve been thinking a lot about how design can bring social change and impact communities in positive, permanent ways. I’ve noticed in the past few months that designers on social media have been using their voices and platform to inform, educate, and take a stand. I respect that a lot, and I want to be a designer that can use my voice for positive changes. As a designer I have the opportunity to elevate causes I care about and movements I think are important. I’m a part of a lot of communities: a student, a womxn designer, a young adult, a Bostonian, and so on.
Design Theory Response
Education and Power
I strongly believe it’s up to my generation of designers to fix the representation issue in design education and art history by doing work to find minority artists and supporting their process. I had pretty strong reactions to the “Education and Power” readings from this week, because it was really refreshing to see that the things that bother me in the design world are also things other people are thinking about. There’s a real lack of diversity in high profile designers and in art history as well. I strongly believe it’s up to my generation of designers to fix the representation issue in design education and art history by doing work to find minority artists and supporting their process. Margaret Andersen says, “While every design student loves a good Walter Gropius story, teaching design from a Eurocentric perspective fails to reflect the diversity that exists in the student body or regional history of contemporary institutions.” I agree with this statement: even in Boston University’s design program we have a refreshing mix of nationalities, sexual orientations, and ages. Design history should be inclusive of that as well. In Martha Scotford’s “Is There a Canon of Graphic Design History?” the question of design canon centered around the singular perception that comes with a canon.4 Unfortunately, the people creating the so-called canon are usually wealthy, upper class white men. A lot of work included is why any modern artist gets big recognition- sometimes they’re doing innovative, outside the box work, but a lot of it is about who you know, and how well connected you are in the art world. That inherently is exclusive to the majority of artists and designers. Museum collections are problematic because museums are pretty universally Eurocentric, and even though the collection is well regarded, it definitely is a small window from very limited viewpoints throughout history.
Education and Power
I strongly believe it’s up to my generation of designers to fix the representation issue in design education and art history by doing work to find minority artists and supporting their process. I had pretty strong reactions to the “Education and Power” readings from this week, because it was really refreshing to see that the things that bother me in the design world are also things other people are thinking about. There’s a real lack of diversity in high profile designers and in art history as well. I strongly believe it’s up to my generation of designers to fix the representation issue in design education and art history by doing work to find minority artists and supporting their process. Margaret Andersen says, “While every design student loves a good Walter Gropius story, teaching design from a Eurocentric perspective fails to reflect the diversity that exists in the student body or regional history of contemporary institutions.” I agree with this statement: even in Boston University’s design program we have a refreshing mix of nationalities, sexual orientations, and ages. Design history should be inclusive of that as well. In Martha Scotford’s “Is There a Canon of Graphic Design History?” the question of design canon centered around the singular perception that comes with a canon.4 Unfortunately, the people creating the so-called canon are usually wealthy, upper class white men. A lot of work included is why any modern artist gets big recognition- sometimes they’re doing innovative, outside the box work, but a lot of it is about who you know, and how well connected you are in the art world. That inherently is exclusive to the majority of artists and designers. Museum collections are problematic because museums are pretty universally Eurocentric, and even though the collection is well regarded, it definitely is a small window from very limited viewpoints throughout history.
Inspiration
Inclusive Design Tooklit, Kat Holmes
Kat Holmes’ Inclusive Design Toolkit for Microsoft is an exploration on what inclusive design means. She explores how inclusion shows up in what we create and how the make-up of our teams leads to designed outcomes. The toolkit initially focused on physical disability and diversity, and has evolved to cognitive ability and social inclusion. It includes a manual, activities, and also videos aimed at educating designers on how to identify areas for inclusive design, how to utilize diversity, and basic principles for universal design. A key point about this design is that it’s also free for designers to download, and therefore bypasses a cost barrier, and lives up to its mission of being inclusive. This resource is a 32 page PDF, and is formatted in simple, digestible phrases that are straight to the point. It’s educational but also is formatted based on its principles, and is cleanly designed. Microsoft Design writes, “If we use our own abilities and biases as a starting point, we end up with products designed for people of a specific gender, age, language ability, tech literacy, and physical ability. Those with specific access to money, time, and a social network.” That really made me start thinking about some biases I likely have in my work without even realizing it. As a designer who wants to work in social responsibility, I realize it’s up to me to educate myself on ways to make my work the most inclusive it can be.
Inclusive Design Tooklit, Kat Holmes
Kat Holmes’ Inclusive Design Toolkit for Microsoft is an exploration on what inclusive design means. She explores how inclusion shows up in what we create and how the make-up of our teams leads to designed outcomes. The toolkit initially focused on physical disability and diversity, and has evolved to cognitive ability and social inclusion. It includes a manual, activities, and also videos aimed at educating designers on how to identify areas for inclusive design, how to utilize diversity, and basic principles for universal design. A key point about this design is that it’s also free for designers to download, and therefore bypasses a cost barrier, and lives up to its mission of being inclusive. This resource is a 32 page PDF, and is formatted in simple, digestible phrases that are straight to the point. It’s educational but also is formatted based on its principles, and is cleanly designed. Microsoft Design writes, “If we use our own abilities and biases as a starting point, we end up with products designed for people of a specific gender, age, language ability, tech literacy, and physical ability. Those with specific access to money, time, and a social network.” That really made me start thinking about some biases I likely have in my work without even realizing it. As a designer who wants to work in social responsibility, I realize it’s up to me to educate myself on ways to make my work the most inclusive it can be.