Design is Not Neutral is a podcast built from a thesis project. As a present design master's student at the University of Notre Dame, I began a broader inquiry into the way design as a field was built and the way we now teach design. After doing more research, it became clear - that design in the United States has a diversity problem. The roots of our diversity issue are squarely in how we define and teach Graphic Design. Graphic Design was made for white, cis-gendered, able-bodied men in consumer-driven societies. With this foundation, how we determine what is ‘good design’ has become extremely exclusionary. Yet, despite increased conversation around equity, design education has yet to dramatically change. The designers and design educators interviewed on Design is Not Neutral have all deeply researched the field of design education in order to improve our field. This podcast will not only provide listeners with resources on how to challenge their own perceptions of what design has been defined by, it will also provide concrete examples of how this work is being done in classrooms. I hope you enjoy each conversation as much as I did and if you liked Design is Not Neutral please check us out on Instagram.
Leslie Harris (she/her) is a Senior Product Designer originally from Detroit, MI and currently based in Austin, TX. Leslie has spent the majority of her career working in an agency setting and at startups spanning the world of adtech, healthcare, logistics and fintech. Her focus as a designer includes understanding how to build graceful and ethical solutions for sociological and cultural problems we face today and potential problems in the future. Inspired by the human condition, Leslie loves digging into problems in the hopes of creating relevant and highly adoptable experiences for the groups that need it most.In addition to her professional experience, Leslie is also a recent graduate from Texas State University's Communication Design Graduate Program. During her studies, she explored how design functions as a mechanism for business and society and the socioeconomic impacts it has on the Black community.Join us as we discuss what it means to have an ethical design practice, how to teach design ethics and history, and what the future of design education looks like for the next generation of students.
9 Feb 2023
07. Nika Fisher
Nika Simovich Fisher is a Serbian-born, American-raised graphic designer, writer, and educator based in New York. Her written work explores how design and identity overlap, and highlights underreported voices in internet and design history. Her words have appeared in publications including The New York Times and AIGA Eye on Design. In 2018, she co-founded Labud, a design studio specializing in strategy, branding, and web design for clients across fashion, art, and tech. She is an Assistant Professor of Communication Design at Parsons School of Design, and previously taught at The University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University. Nika holds a master's degree from Columbia University's Journalism School, and a BFA in Communication Design from Parsons School of Design.
Join us as we discuss teaching web design and how the rise in user experience design and accessibility needs have shifted the way we think about the internet.
Please also check out some of Nika's latest work including a lecture (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMZpbp1M4lo) at Parsons and a story (https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/how-heart-shaped-frames-became-a-symbol-of-reclaimed-femininity-and-a-non-binary-fashion-staple/) on AIGA Eye on Design.
28 Nov 2022
06. Bobby Joe Smith III
Bobby Joe Smith III is a Black and Lakota (Hunkpapa and Oohenumpa) graphic designer and media artist. Design, computation, performance, writing, and lens-based image-making are mediums of expression and inquiry he turns to often. His creative practice is rooted in the ongoing decolonial and abolitionist movements led by Indigenous communities on Turtle Island and across the Black diaspora. His research draws from the decolonial, abolitionist, and post-apocalyptic strategies of Black and Indigenous people to construct a poetic vernacular of "unsettling grammars"—gestures, methodologies, and utterances that deviate, disrupt, and dismantle settler-colonial systems. By rearticulating these "unsettling grammars" through the disciplines of media art and design, Bobby Joe seeks to reveal vectors leading toward decolonial futures and generate work that resonates with the people and movements that comprise his community. He currently is pursuing an MFA from UCLA’s Design | Media Arts department and holds an MFA in Graphic Design from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), a Post-Baccalaureate degree in Graphic Design from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), and a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from Middlebury College.
In this episode, listen as we discuss how Bobby Joe utilizes design to uplift his community and how we can encourage students to think about design in a way that is meaningful to them.
11 Oct 2022
05. Valentina Vergara
Valentina Vergara is a NYC-based art director & designer, who’s interested in using visual communications as a catalyst for change. She’s collaborated on projects addressing gender disparity in graphic design education (https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/how-can-we-bring-a-more-inclusive-history-to-design-education/) including her undergraduate thesis at Pratt, Led By Example, which was a (graphic design focused) campaign that rallied for more women at the head of our classrooms and more women included in the history of design education. As part of the campaign, two events took place—a one week installation called Missing Pages & the panel discussion called Against All Odds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_5RMptKDCE).
Valentina is also the co-author of Extra Bold: a feminist, inclusive, anti-racist, nonbinary field guide for graphic designers. (https://papress.com/pages/extra-bold) She's interested in continuing to explore new ways of rethinking oppressive design norms while advocating for/uplifting marginalized perspectives.
In this episode, we discuss how design education can better address the needs of the students once they leave the field, Valentina's work on Extra Bold, and how her thesis project impacted a larger push for representation in design education.
23 Apr 2022
04. Erik Carter
Erik Carter is a graphic designer and art director running an independent practice based in New York City. He's previously worked as an art director at Google, a senior designer at MTV, an art director for The New York Times, and as a designer at the Office of Paul Sahre. His clients include The New Yorker, The New York Times, Verso Books, and New Directions. He is currently a visiting professor at Pratt Institute and has taught at the California College of the Arts. He also writes about "Typography. Color. Capitalism. Chaos." in his newsletter Design Harder (https://designharder.substack.com/).
In this conversation, we discuss graphic design's rooting in capitalism and how that impacts how we teach design in the classroom. As well as how we are helping design students think critically about their work's impact on culture.
19 Apr 2022
03. Brian Kwok
Brian Kwok 郭斯恆 is an Associate Professor at the School of Design of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is Programme Leader of Communication Design and a Lab Leader of the Information Design Lab. Brian’s research focuses on communication design and the visual culture of Hong Kong. He holds an MA in Design from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, an MA in Visual Culture Studies, and an MPhil in Communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the leader of the Hong Kong Neon Archive project and author of "Fading of Neon Lights: Documentation of Hong Kong Streets’ Visual Culture”.
Join us as we discuss teaching in today's design world, new technology, and how this affects and impacts student work. If you liked this episode please check us out on Instagram @designisnotneutral.
16 Apr 2022
02. Jarrett Fuller
Jarrett Fuller is a designer, writer, educator, editor and podcaster. He is an assistant professor of graphic design at North Carolina State University; contributing editor at AIGA Eye On Design; director of the design and editorial studio twenty-six; and host of the design podcast Scratching the Surface. His research focuses on design discourse, media, and publishing, with a special interest in institutional histories, alternative practices, and critical design.
In this episode, we discuss 'design thinking', how to teach a better design history and how to create design classrooms that encourage students to be successful.
15 Apr 2022
01. Anne H. Berry
Anne H. Berry is a writer and educator whose research focuses on design education, design for social impact, and diversity issues within the design profession. Her writing has been published in AIGA’s Eye on Design, Communication Arts, and the inaugural issue of the anthology Recognize featuring essays and commentary from indigenous people and people of color. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art + Design at Cleveland State University (CSU). She is also the author and editor of the new book; The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression & Reflection.
In this conversation, we discuss how to create a more inclusive and open classroom, how to develop and build better critiques, and how to help students find their voices.
If you liked this podcast check us out on Instagram @designisnotneutral
12 Apr 2022
00. Introduction
Welcome to Design is Not Neutral, the new design podcast interested in design education criticism hosted by Grace Hamilton. Each episode features a conversation with designers and design educators who have deeply researched design education in order to improve our field. This podcast will not only provide listeners with resources on how to challenge their own perceptions of what design has been defined by, it will also provide concrete examples of how this work is being done in classrooms. Additionally, the podcast’s website provides resources for both design practitioners and design educators that have been gathered from each interview. For more information and links from this episode visit us at designisnotneutral.com or follow us on Instagram @designisnotneutral
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