Design + Social Justice: Panel Discussion

Part of UNL’s Design + Social Justice Symposium, a panel discussion will take place with Emory Douglas, Billy X Jennings, Suzun Lucia Lamaina, and myself. It will be moderated by Patrick Jones, Associate Professor of History and Ethnic Studies (African and African American Studies Program). His initial setup for the discussion follows:

What is the relationship between design and social change? How does graphic design – and visual culture, communicate a message; create community; educate the people; uplift and empower; foster a sense of identity and pride; sway opinion; change hearts and minds; affect institutions of power; and, ultimately, play a role in creating meaningful and substantive social change? In short, what role(s) does (or can) design and the visual arts play in creating “a revolutionary culture” and “radical change?”

Panel Discussion
September 16, 2015 @ 5:30 PM
Love Library Auditorium
University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Design + Social Justice: Q&A

Next week I’ll participate in UNL’s Design + Social Justice Symposium. For a bit of a primer, here’s an interview I did for the Daily Nebraskan on graphic design activism, who inspires me, challenging projects, and how I found my passion in graphic design. 

Read the Interview »

Looking Ahead 5 Years From Now

The work continues. In our 3rd session this afternoon we’re going to discuss the progress made by the group last week on a vision statement for the Schuyler Media Network. Katie and I feel we have a couple very strong directions on the overall vision. Connected, empowered, responsive, reliable. All excellent word choices in the mix for what this network could be. To get there, in the 2nd session we divided the group into two teams. In them, with folks feeling a little more comfortable expressing themselves, we heard great discussion and debate. And now, time to get some consensus. 

From there, we’ll look more at the goals needed for getting to the vision. To help focus that part of the session, we’ve established a few goal types including revenue goals, community adoption and usage goals, and website traffic goals. We want to keep looking long-term but also start to consider short-term goals. After today, we have a big break in the action where Katie and I will pull everything together to start to solidify some elements of the strategic plan. And then we’ll pick it up again in three weeks in the 4th session where we’ll firm up the group’s collective thinking.

Design + Social Justice Symposium

The graphic design program at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln’s Department of Art and Art History announces a Design + Social Justice Symposium. 

This is happening in less than a week. The Love Library Exhibitions have been up since mid August. Yesterday, I led a cause poster workshop for Advanced Graphic Design students. The work of Emory Douglas opens in the Sheldon on Friday with his lecture happening next Tuesday. And the Love Library Panel Discussion is next Wednesday. I’m really excited to be part of such an important event at the University. From the Art college:

The events and exhibitions of the symposium will highlight the visual communications, stories and portraits of revolutionary social movements and will examine how graphic design is a tool for organizing. The graphic artifacts that will be exhibited represent the role of art as a revolutionary force and how art and design can communicate about a need for social change. The symposium will examine the role of graphic design in creating messages that promote civil and human rights, preservation of the environment, and advocacy of equal opportunity.

Design + Social Justice Symposium
September 15–16, 2015
University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Design + Social Justice: Workshop

The brief: Make someone else care about an issue that’s important to you.

The poster. Possibly the purest form of visual communication. In a flash you must arrest the attention of a passerby and alter his or her perception. Change it. Reinforce it. Make it see something differently. Surprise, delight, inspire, motivate. Part of my involvement in UNL’s Design + Social Justice Symposium is to lead a poster making workshop for Advanced Graphic Design students. Working with Stacy Asher, Assistant Professor of Art, we’ll invite the students to use graphic design as a tool for social change. The workshop will take place next week with final designs displayed in Richards Hall during the week of the symposium. 

Prep: The Design of Dissent + How Posters Work

Design + Social Justice Symposium »

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

We’re getting ready for our 2nd session this afternoon with the community leaders of Schuyler. In our first session, Katie and I got the lay of the land. Through a SWOT analysis we established a solid foundation and got everything out on the table as we begin to work together toward a Schuyler Media Network. We met some great people who hold a variety of positions with the city, the school system, the community college, the bank, and the cable television distributor. Overall, we learned a lot about what makes this small, rural community great and what challenges it faces. Of all the post-its, the strengths were by far the most numerous, with population diversity seen as a great asset to be embraced.

From SWOT, we’re now moving into visioning. Katie and I will be facilitating this next session in hopes of establishing a clear vision statement as well as the long-term goals for the project. We’re in the thick of the strategic plan development now, where the real work begins, and I’m excited to see what the group comes up with. I’m also extremely excited about burritos with her folks afterward. Because seriously, best burritos in the state. 

Do Not Like This

At BarCamp 2015 on August 29th at The KANEKO I gave a 20-minute talk about the importance of knowing what you don’t like. A practical (and somewhat cathartic) guide to productivity (and maybe joy). When you have good reasons and know precisely why you don’t like something, it not only helps you focus priorities and manage your time better, but it helps you to know what you really love. Love being more profound and powerful than what you like. Very much a talk about not being neutral and not just passively liking everything you come into contact with. For the people out there who find beauty everywhere and something special in everything. When done well, it is okay to be vocal about what you don’t like, even if you’re only being vocal with yourself. 

Special comment: This was not a talk for moody hipsters who think everything sucks, nothing is ever good enough, and shit on anything anyone creates because it’s what they do. I have no patience for that view of the world anymore.