Selling It

This is something I definitely struggle with. By nature, I do not have the qualities that make a good salesman. I just don’t have what it takes to really sell. I’ve been around people who can, and it is quite something to behold, both the good and the bad. But in order to be a successful independent designer, you have to get your ideas out into the world somehow.

I’ve settled into what works for me. I’m probably not as reassuring as I could be in the beginning. And I don’t comfort as much as I could along the way. But having been on the side of being “sold to,” I try to stay away from wowing and zowing right off the bat. I prefer to underwhelm and over deliver, not the other way around. It amazes me the times the other way around works out for people. Sometimes I feel like that’s just the way of the world. That in order to get the “big fish” I need to focus more on the hot buttons, the buzz words, and the whatever else. Instead of the actual work, because who really cares about that anyway, right? 

I digress. I actually don’t really feel resolved on this. More conflicted. Because I don’t think design is like plumbing. I think it’s more like a relay race. It’s a process that should be participated in by everyone. And everyone should know the discomfort that can come with it.

I don’t want to sell a song and dance. I don’t want to present this as easy, magnificent, and the answer to all your fears. I want to tell you what I know it is and what it can do. That’s it. My hope is that’s enough. And I hope that helps lead to those special relationships that are hard to come by. Grounded in honesty, with a good BS meter, and accompanied by a celebratory nature that only comes from being comfortable enough along the way to let everyone just do what it is they do. 

The Two Common Contradictory Misconceptions About Graphic Design

1. It looks so simple. Must be easy to do.
2. You, the designer, have all the time in the world to perfectly work and revise, work and revise, and the design only goes out into the world after you've had plenty of time to make sure it is the best thing anyone has ever seen. 

When in truth, it’s really difficult to design something that is simple, clear, and beautiful. And in the flow of the day, with multiple projects, juggling many things, you don’t have the time to mess with something until you feel it is the best thing anyone has ever seen. I don’t think perfection is something you should go for. It’s just not possible. 

Day by day, you work and you release, and you repeat. If something becomes great, it’s because of a summation of factors, many of which you have no control over. Best to just do what you do and let the chips fall where they may.

All Power To The People

Graphic design is a tool for moving people to action. When design is utilized to further the cause of social justice, to promote equity and opportunity, amazing things can happen. The type of design I’m most interested in and see the most promise with promotes diversity and inclusion, brings people together to solve problems, and advocates for a progressive culture of creativity and overall well-being for individuals and communities.

Reflecting on UNL’s Design + Social Justice Symposium, I feel so honored to have been a part of an educational institution celebrating the graphic design of a justice movement and having a discussion about how design can have an impact today, whether social, political, or environmental. Meeting Emory Douglas is certainly something I’ll never forget. I asked for his signature right next to the masthead of a Black Panther paper. He also wrote, “All Power To The People.” Something to always be mindful of. In the face of inequality, injustice, and hate, All Power To The People brings us together, breaks through the madness, and allows us to find ways to address our most urgent issues. 

Graphic design can make you smile. Make you mad. Make you change your behavior. It illuminates and can silence all irrelevant noise with magnificent clarity by perfectly capturing the core of an idea. It’s an obvious tool for social change as seen in the history of successful movements for justice. And it will continue to be so. 

The Limits

What are the limits on or challenges to graphic design as a vehicle for social change?

First, design on its own can only go so far. Without the organizations and activists working tirelessly to make change happen, a piece of graphic design, however loud it shouts, is over and done with rather quickly. In the fight for social justice, how long you shout, in strategic intervals of intensity, matters most. If the people on the ground aren’t there, change doesn’t happen.

Second, I worry about design for social justice being drown out by the thousands upon thousands of messages created every day for big brands with big budgets. Brands that most often push their consumer-focused answers to invented problems in their hyper-commodified version of the world on the airwaves and Internet streams they seek to dominate.

Additionally, when brands do raise awareness for important issues dealing with community, humanity, love, and the planet, their product-focused solutions remain problematic. If people take a consumer-centric view of these problems, that these very real problems are solved by buying specific products, there’s a false sense created that our challenges can be addressed without actively participating in the creation of meaningful solutions that are more difficult, less instantaneous, and are not as easy to see.

The Relationship

What exactly is the relationship between design and social change?

Designers who take on issues of social justice I think work in three ways. 1) There’s the solo designer using design to express his or her views. This can be done by participating in online poster sites for a cause, in design exhibitions, or by simply posting up designs on the streets of a neighborhood. 2) On a project by project basis, a designer works with organizations and activists using his or her skills to create design work used by the people working on the issues day in, day out. Either paid or pro bono. 3) The designer is part of the movement. With a stake in the fight, he or she is an integral part of an organization where different tools are used to move people to action. Design work is done alongside community organizers, strategists, fundraisers, activists on the ground, and so on.

When In It

In the creative moment, the groove. When you are trying like hell to make it happen. Bombardment, debris flying everywhere. Trying to get it all done... Rhythm, rhythm, move, shake. Nuthin’ but a G thang. Random cultural sounds, visuals, twists get thrown in and spun about. Pick it up, throw it down. How do you see it? How does it make you feel? How can it be new again? Where is the why? Why, always why? And then, when does it come together?

Friendships

Lost in the turbulent sea that is this crazy life, I'm counting myself insanely lucky to be surrounded by the bonds of such strong friendships. Cosmic level friendships. Some decades old, others just beginning. From just down the street to the edges of beautiful America. Bonds formed by the roots of place and the desire to make something new and exciting. By comedy, tragedy, and a forever swirling contemplation to try to make sense of all of this everything. How do we live, who do we love, what do we make, and why do we do any of it. Whatever it is, I think we've settled into a rhythm of quiet little voices followed by loud thunderous shouts from rooftops. Trial and error, trial and create. Then we get together for the raising of a glass. To our lives, to our hopes, to the what next, to who we live for. Cheers!