SUNY Purchase︎ (DES3240) Design Issues
Topic:
Decolonizing (Graphic) Design
Background
This topic is largely a deeper dive into Ramon Tejada’s work on the topic. We’ve seen him in the Cranbrook A=B Conference video and in the Walker Soundboard piece from the Queering Design Education topic. This topic is not dissimilar to the past couple of topics. We should however, examine what the differences are. In particular, I respond a bunch to Tejada’s use of really visceral language like “puncturing” “blowing up” and “toppling.” It’s not a solution in itself, and that’s not necessarily the goal of the class, but I think it helps keep the idea of embodiment and that we, as (graphic) designers have a responsibility to be aware, vigilant and active.
Questions to think about
- Is “expanding” the canon enough?
- What are the subtler conversations we can (continue to) have about POC in the design space?
- When (if ever) is the or a canon valuable?
- What does decolonization or attempting to change a canon mean with systemic forces like tenure and privilege around?
- How does decolonization mean from a literary and aesthetic standpoint? How does it manifest?
- Is “big machinery” (institutions, schools, systems of privilege) always slow?
Required Readings
- “Decolonizing Means Many Things to Many People”—Four Practitioners Discuss Decolonizing Design︎
- Google Search for “famous designers of color”︎
- What Does It Mean to Decolonize Design?︎
- Decolonizing Design Reader︎
This is a big-ass Google Document. Putting this here mainly to take a gander at and look at what appeals to you. Also as an alternative archive/object it’s cool to see.
Here are some highlights: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the danger of a single story (TED talk)︎ Is there a canon of Graphic Design History? by Martha Scotford︎ Good History/Bad History by Tibor Kalman, J.Abbott Miller, and Karrie Jacbos︎
The White Man’s Guilt by James Baldwin︎
Scratching the Surface (podcast) with Danah Abdullah︎ Scratching the Surface (podcast) with Silas Munro︎
So, Gutenberg Didn’t Actually Invent the Printing Press︎
Insights 2017: Clara Balaguer and Kristian Henson, Office of Culture & Design︎