What Does it Mean to ‘Decolonise’ Design?

We continued on with the iceberg exercise from last week, however, this time my group focused on gender inequality in the tech industry. First, we were asked to use the top-down approach to analyze the issue as it is today. We then switched to the reverse order of the exercise which actually helped so much in finding our myth/metaphors! This approach allowed us to create a world where we dismantled the “individualistic” ideology created by the patriarchy and ended up with a world made more for community-based interactions. We discussed the possibilities in the workplace in terms of equal parental leave, displaying transparency in wages, and creating space for education between different fields and mediums (of the same workplace/company).

Notes from the lecture:

On Decolonialism and Design Education

+ Viktor Papanek: one of the first people to talk about ethics in design

-looked up to in industrial design, other fields EXCEPT for architects

-Papanek despises ads, anything that persuades the consumers to buy something that they don’t need

-hates unsustainability (ex: having to buy an iPhone every 3–4 years) (actually called planned obsolescence)

-known for design ethics and design sustainability, both physical and mental, destructible for the environment but also destructive for people

-READ HIS BOOK: DESIGN FOR THE REAL WORLD

+ Pat Kirckham & Judy Attfield

-one of the first (white) women to write about feminism and design

-Attfield talk about everyday things!!! (maybe useful for the project — could compare white perspective with brown) — Book: Women Designers in the 1900–2000

+Tony Fry

-associated with sustainability in design — not just sustainable materials, but also world views/attitudes

-“whatever you design and put out in the world, the world will respond and you are indirectly designing people”

-basically called ontological design

Norm Sheehan

+ on ”Indigenous Knowledge & Respectful Design”

+ Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall on designing for respect

-first black person and first female dean in a design school (making history!) (2018..?)