Where else — whether in a piece of writing that you find outside of the reading list, or in someone else’s creative practice — can you find evidence of a similar or opposing position?
My road map as a designer is to decant the experience and skills I’ve gained on commercial projects towards causes that could benefit society. I’d like to use visual research to develop an understanding of socio-political issues. Developing a deeper comprehension of these to then be able to expose them. An example of this approach is present at Futuress, the intersectional feminist platform in favour of the underrepresented.
“We stand together, a community for transnational solidarity. We view design as a social and political practice — one that shapes our lived realities. Design is in the words we speak, the objects around us, in the things we do, in the systems around us — all of which, too often, are fundamentally flawed. But design can also be a lens to critically look at the world, and unite us toward a common goal. The daunting struggles for social, spatial and environmental justice require us to come together, across our differences, as a learning community.”
Futuress
https://futuress.org/about/
The Common Goal
Many if not most creatives are vocal in their political views, expressing solidarity towards social struggles. Yet as an industry, we work mostly in favour of private interests incentivising inequality prompts such as consumerism. There seems to be a leap between ideology and practice where we express discontent with radical capitalism while we serve it. Not with malice, rather imposed by capitalism – we have bills to pay. As challenging as it seems to revert the whole system, we can still push it progressively into the direction we want it to take. As Futuress say design is in the words we speak, the objects around us, in the things we do, in the systems around us, therefore by changing design, we can change the systems of which it’s embodied. It’s a matter of empathising on the aspects that will improve the way we live as a society.
“Empower and amplify the voices of womxn, BIPoC, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, migrants and refugees, and others from historically marginalized backgrounds.”
Futuress on their vision
futuress.org
Listen and Amplify
Futuress involves communities in online workshops, lectures and panel discussions on design research, writing, and creative storytelling, through what they call radical listening. The outcomes are then published as articles, stories or essays on their website making design research public. The only way to empower the underrepresented is by giving them the lead. We have to work at their service, provide them with the tools to voice their stories.
Discuss the undiscussed
The first project by Futuress was a speculative collection of unwritten design books. Unwritten in the sense that they were about topics that hadn’t been discussed yet. Anyone could upload ideas onto a website, which would then materialise as floating books on the screen. These are the topics that require research and that we should focus on.
“Futuress is not just a platform but an ecosystem: our growing hive of learning is a community that is alive, buzzing with the power of our voices and our stories.”
Futuress
futuress.org
Co-operation
Futuress connect with other designers, researchers, journalists and activists through their digital channels across the globe to problematise the role of design, and challenge power and privilege. This internationalist approach allows us to co-operate as a community.
Co-operate discussing the undiscussed to listen and amplify in favour of the common goal.
