Browsing by Subject "Social design"
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Item Design toward dialogue : a graphic design methodology(2004) Paredes, Xochitl Angela; Taylor, Chris, 1965-This report emphasizes the social design aspect possible in graphic design. It focuses on creating a dialectical environment where critical thinking can begin and flourish. A methodology of graphic design is presented as it relates to social design. How this methodology was created is discussed by presenting what is contrary, what is analogous to it, as well as, introducing positive design influences. Terms relating to this methodology are defined. Finally, works by the author are submitted as examples of how this graphic design methodology functions.Item The impotent toolkit : challenges and limitations of co-design for societal value in Southeast Louisiana's landscapes of African American dispossession(2015-05) McDowell, Robin Boeun; Lee, Gloria; Tang, Eric, 1974-; Lewis, RandolphThis report details a reflexive practice that lies in the emerging field of co-design for societal value. This territory marks a move from user participation to equal empowerment of stakeholders--that is, designers, users, and other project constituents defining objectives and working through design processes together via a shared vision for more just and sustainable ways of living. The body of design work examined in this report is a combination of traditional products of graphic design, participatory design methods, and ethnography. Initiated around a physically demolished and institutionally repressed history of enslaved Africans in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, the value of this work is not found in formal qualities of designed objects or in a groundbreaking process model, but in detailed documentation of consistent reflection on the role of the designer as outsider. This broadened analysis offers an expansion of the repertoire of co-design case studies.Item Se Busca : graphic design as a tool to shift attitudes about violence in Chihuahua(2014-05) Cano, Mariana; Lee, GloriaSince 2006, the city of Chihuahua, Mexico has been engulfed in a wave of drug-related violence that has resulted in thousands of murders, kidnappings, and "disappearances." Because bloody headlines sell newspapers, violence dominates the mainstream media, which contributes to residents' sense of hopelessness and helplessness. In response, in my graduate work I have investigated ways in which I can use the persuasive tactics and appearance of mainstream commercial graphic design to effect social change: specifically, to shift Chihuahuans' attitudes about their city. Through three interventions (The Graffiti Workshop, the Riberas school identity, and the Se busca project), I have attempted to encourage civic participation, recognize positive contributions within the community, and build an economic engine around local heroes. By doing so, I hope to reverse the prevailing belief that individuals are powerless to confront large, complex social issues. In addition, I hope these projects demonstrate some of the ways in which graphic designers can effectively apply their design skills to social as well as commercial problems.Item Social design as violence(2015-05) Nasadowski, Rebecca Shannon; Gorman, Carma; Lee, Gloria; Gunn, JoshuaFaculty in art schools, colleges, and universities have increasingly begun institutionalizing and professionalizing "design for good" in their curricula. Students are currently being taught that social design is good--or at least preferable to working for large corporations--but are not being urged to question this feel-good assertion. When the trendy phrase "design for good" is used, for whom is it good? Though social design can result in powerful, laudable work, it often escapes critical scrutiny--particularly in educational settings--for two reasons: 1) by default, many consider non-commercial (broadly defined) work de facto virtuous and thus assume that any and all partnerships with non-profit organizations, for example, must be ethically commendable; and 2) many consider good intentions sufficient and do not inquire about actual effects and consequences. My thesis work proposes that social design is just as ethically fraught as other kinds of design, if not more so, as any unintended harmful consequences of projects lie unnoticed and unchallenged under the guise of "doing good." Social designers' analyses of sociopolitical dynamics and histories of conflict are often thin. In some instances, their projects may actually enact violence, maintaining imbalances of power and perpetuating the oppression of the very individuals and communities they try to serve. I argue that insights regarding power, state control, and privileges afforded by race, class, and gender should form a critical foundation for designers seeking to work in this field. If designers and design educators are serious about design providing a "social good," it is essential that they broaden their scope of analysis and critique to include the insights and strategies that activists and academics in other fields can offer.