Inside the liminal space, I see a window, showing me blue sky and fluffy clouds. This is an illustration I made the day before I flew to the UK. This week, we’re all writing about what we hope to get from the programme, professionally and personally.
After being trained as a graphic designer, and working as one for many years, I started wondering what else could design do? There is an important manifesto in the graphic design world that provides a vague answer: First Things First, A Design Manifesto, asking designers to change their focuses from selling dog biscuits and designer coffee, to “more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication” that addresses social and environmental issues, using the unique problem-solving skills of design.
The question is, how do you go from designing dog biscuits to designing user manuals for illiterate mothers in Nepal? Also, is it only about “problem-solving”? In the YouTube video Why Western Designs Fail in Developing Countries, the author argues that these feel-good designs aiming to help developing countries neglect the realities of how things are actually used, and how they are presented (for example, hospital equipment made of old car parts could work perfectly fine, but no hospital wants to be seen using them, as they look illegitimate).
Maybe the “problem-solving” mindset alone is not going to solve the problems. Designers like to call themselves problem-solvers. This way, we make ourselves sound like engineers, suitable to change the world in a masculine, measurable way. But we are also storytellers. In the realm of the heart, only magic can conquer magic.
I don’t know exactly what I want to do for my project, or after the degree finishes. But I am here to explore, how to tell stories to inspire hope, or bring people together. I am very impressed by my cohort and I can feel new ideas emerging every day.
Hello, my beautiful liminal space.
