A BETTER WORLD

Designers are the ones who change the world.

But not all design is good in both senses of that word.  In the first place, plenty of designs are just plain lousy, hasty, and sometimes even nasty. 

And not all design is for the good either.  The entire history of innovation and effort directed towards suffering, human misery, and evil proves the point.  Yet this is the very reason that it is so important for us as designers to keep our sense of humanity right there at the very core of our work.

We are the ones who make dreams real but whether we realize our best visions or our worst nightmares makes all the difference.  There are so many problems in the world that we can address and try to fix that at times all those logos and posters, chairs and interiors, toothbrushes and cars that need styling and shaping, seem like a distraction.

Can we design a better world?

We can start by thinking beyond the three F’s that guide most design efforts...form, function, finance.  We can question the cultural and ethical impact of the things we make.  We can and should challenge ourselves to think about the role of design and of designers in improving life and reducing suffering.  We can force ourselves to think beyond form and software, beyond hip and hype...all the way to larger humanitarian questions.

Seeking non-profit clients, volunteering design time, doing pro-bono work for service agencies, and including service learning in our curriculums are some ways we can adjust what we do.

One of the proudest projects that I ever worked on with my graphic design students was in this category.   It was called the TalkChart, a communications device for patients in hospitals who could not speak to explain their needs.  The TalkChart was a laminated page with simple symbols for basic needs on one side and an alphabet, a pain chart, and diagram of the body on the other.  Patients who could not speak were able to communicate their needs to family and staff.

The TalkChart was conceived, created, and designed by a group of students working together under my guidance after a discussion about a parent who had had a stroke.  Thoughts of profit or perks were the farthest from our minds; we simply saw a problem, came up with a solution, and offered it to places that could use it.  No client, no assignment, no deadline, no brief.  And no intention of making money or winning kudos.  We saw a need and addressed it and were shocked to find that such a product did not already exist.  Many years and grants later, that TalkChart is helping people and families in thousands of hospitals across the country.  The letters of thanks we continue get from people who have been helped by our design are more moving than any payment.

This is design as activism.

It is a practical but visionary approach that anyone can participate in.  All you need is the intent and the desire to look for problems to solve.  You won't run out of material.  Every designer should keep the idea in a corner of the hard drive, studio, and imagination.  Make it part of the practice, part of the teaching.

After all, we are the ones who remake the world through design.  We ought to make sure that the world we are making is the one we want to live in.