Poverty is understood as the lack of necessities and opportunities that determine quality of life. These include food, adequate shelter, clean drinking water, security and clothing, access to education and access to health. It also includes having a voice… “Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom”. What is the link between design and poverty? How are designers from all disciplines helping to alleviate poverty? Graphic designers, product designers, web designers, architects and so forth, all have a role to play in raising awareness and educating people that are poor and the people that can help.

People pay attention to good design.

People can be moved or inspired by good designs, and designers have the power to steer people’s attention to these important issues.

The Girl Effect website uses typography to tell a story, and the type as a visual element delivers their message very effectively. The ‘bus shelter house’ seeks to improve shelter for the homeless through environmental design. Poster design can educate people about their rights and about the opportunities they should have. Mentioned in earlier posts, Chaz Maviyane Davies’s poster works are examples of such designs that educate people about their position, politically and socially. ‘Help!’ is a fantastic web design project entered into the Millennium Promise Competition, where typography and graphics are used to inform people about poverty and the action that needs to be taken.  

Check out the Big Issue for an interesting approach using magazines to help the homeless.

Increasing the markets for recycled products will mean that environmental issues such as production, waste, and disposal are addressed. These are all damaging to the environment and through becoming more eco-conscious one is helping the environment.

A selection of the shortlisted designs will be used by the Tobu department store in Japan for eco-friendly disposable shopping bags and other promotional material. The department store helps organise campaigns that raise awareness about the environment and protecting the earth. The eco-bags will be also presented during the Tokyo Designer’s Week 2008 from 30 October to 3 November.

I entered projects into the two categories with the following briefs:
‘Green‘: Create a graphic artwork that illustrates environmental protection and how humans and nature could coexist in a greener world.

The graphic illustrates how people are never separate from nature, how there is always some part of nature inside every one of us and that this connection is important so that we can take care of the world. 

‘Earth‘: Create a graphic artwork that will make this festive time of the year a moment to consider what we can do to help our planet’s survival.

This graphic portrays a traditional christmas tree that is constructed out of the factors that contribute to a persons carbon footprint during the festive season (these include modes of travel, heating and electricity, purchasing of gifts and eating imported or non-organic foods).

I am so excited that both of the above posters were shorlisted, and the results of the competition are now available.

Matt’s statement changed our conversation from a chat about my new-found vegetarianism to an argument, where according to him, I was required to kit myself out in Captain Planet’s uniform if I wanted to make any difference in the world. Yes, to make a difference to our world does require a lot from us at this stage, but surely small changes in people’s lives will be longer lasting than packing everything up and retreating into the wild?

The same goes for our design practices. To be radical and change all aspects of one’s work and production is an expensive and difficult task, especially if your company’s or clients’ ethics are in line with one’s own. Change that long-lasting change can also be achieved when designers realise that they don’t have to change their habits in a drastic way. The corporate designer can still make a difference by re-considering the printing process, suggesting recycled paper to clients, or even boiling the water for that much-needed cup of coffee using the eco-kettle. Small changes to one’s design practices are better than none, and are in many cases easier to maintain than drastic changes.

The team at frog design have initiated the Kyoto Treaty of design that calls for environmentally consciousness for the individual and the design community. These valuable principles provide a simple way for designers to become more active in changing the environment, and so, become a planeteer from the comfort of one’s own desk.

The manifesto was signed by 33 high-profile designers including Vince Frost, J. Abbott Miller, and Milton Glaser whose work I admire. Mirko Ilic, co-author of Design of Dissent, is another designer whose work I admire and who I think, works within the objectives of the manifest.

The objectives of the manifesto are good reference for designers who want to make a difference. Campaigns such as Design Can Change, agencies such as ALR and websites such as Design Power and DesignCares show that designers are changing their approach to design.

In light of all of this one still questions whether professionals care enough to make changes to their practices. I read an interesting blog post asking: “must support activism to be good designers?” I think it raises interesting questions about design practices and the intentions of the individual designer…

I draw attention to my previous post “Our Struggle” after reading an interesting essay by Ian Sutherland published in 2004. The paper outlines the history of graphic design in South Africa and discusses the role of design in changing and shaping attitudes in a developing nation.

Graphic design is a culturally sensitive industry. The political identity of graphic design in South Africa during times of political unrest reflects this. But what is the design identity of post-Apartheid South Africa?

In an article in Review, Sean O’Toole highlights the designs of Garth Walker, founder of Orange Juice Design, as being at the forefront of creating a new South African visual language. Walker uses African signifiers with the purpose of creating a new identity. Faith47 is another illustrator and graffiti artist who is producing work with an African visual identity. Both designers draw inspiration from the world around for the Africanisation of their designs.

Looking at these designers, it becomes apparent that as young designers we have a rich heritage and culture to draw inspiration from for our designs. As a socially-situated designer, the visual language responding to the complexities of South African life is where one will create an identity. I think that finding this identity lies within each individual. If you need inspiration, ijusi is Orange Juice Designs contribution to the new, vibrant and as yet unnamed visual language.

I chose to raise awareness about South African primary school education, which I believe is an important issue to address. Each poster tackles a different issue surrounding primary school education using graphic and typographical elements.

Projects like this one allow designers to interact with society, and allow one to produce work that does have social relevance. I look forward to more of these projects in the future. Have a look and tell me what you think.

ABOVE: The white lines of the images where cut-out on the hardcopy of the poster, so that the lines were empty and one could see the wall behind the poster.

I recently paged through a collection of resistance posters from the South African apartheid era in Judy Seidman’s book Red on Black: The Story of the South African Poster Movement, and questioned whether young socially conscious designers still have so much to say, using design as a force for social change

The works of Zimbabwean designer Chaz Maviyane Davies, and Brazilian designer Icaro Doria, come to mind when thinking of design as a vehicle for comment. Chaz Maviyane Davies’s ‘30 days of graphic activism’ campaign produced in 2000 before the Zimbabwean elections, was a grand demonstration of design as a cultural weapon. Powerful ideas about human rights, voting rights and freedom of expression were communicated through a simple visual language. Similarly, Icaro Doria’s ‘Meet the World’ campaign cleverly communicates information about human rights violations in countries around the world. His use of colours corresponding to statistics is a simple yet ingenious idea that made me say “why didn’t I think of that?”

We are faced with complex social problems such as education, political participation and housing in South Africa today. As socially conscious designers surely we have to address these issues, and thus have the opportunity to communicate our own ‘I thought of that’ designs?

British architect Mark Dytham presented his project titled “Green Green Screen”. Planting shrubs at a construction site – instead of a corrugated iron screen to corner off the area – was a simple, effective idea. It is environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing. Often as a designer, one gets caught up in your own bubble – it is important to let real life inspire you, to go out into the world and look at the world for inspiration. Often, the simplest solution is staring you straight in the face.

Last year I attended a lecture about the role of journalist’s in democracy and social change. We were in the third week of the lecture series that was part of my third year Journalism and Media Studies course. This was the fifth lecture about social change that highlighted the broadcast journalists’ means of producing meaningful content through mediums such as public service announcements and audio slideshows. As I listened, I became increasingly aware that the graphic designer’s role in this kind of production was more ambiguous… And then I stopped listening.

What is the role of the designer in critical media production? How do we successfully communicate about societal challenges through the visual medium, producing a visual language that the public can respond to? How can our designs matter to other people? Surely there is more to design than just making something look good.

Searching for something that was more than just a pretty (type)face, I found Colors Magazine… and then Chimurenga, AdBusters and more…and I saw that designers are doing real things that matter.

Through this blog, I hope to discover more about how designers engage with the world, how their designs are interactive, and how design can address and work towards solving problems that our world faces.

My eyes are open, and I’m listening.