Jun 01, 2022

Abolitionist Design

Terresa Moses

About this video

Description

In a world where 84% of ads are never seen, most brands are functionally invisible. Good design has the power to fight invisibility — arresting our attention, creating meaning without interruption and communicating in ways most brand marketers only dream of. But beyond fighting invisibility, design has the power to use invisibility. In recent years neuroscientists and behavioral economists have confirmed what philosophers and artists have long known — we are not thinking creatures who feel; we are feeling beings who post-rationalize our experience. In this session we will explore the power of design to create brand worlds that resonate on unconscious levels. We'll discuss ways to use the invisible facets of emotion to create visibility for clients.

Terresa Moses

Terresa (she/her) is a proud Black queer woman dedicated to the liberation of Black and brown people through art and design. She uses creativity as a tool for community activism through projects like her recent solo exhibition, Umbra. Terresa is the Creative Director at Blackbird Revolt — a social justice-based design studio — and an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design and the Director of Design Justice at the University of Minnesota. As a community engaged scholar, she created Project Naptural, which creates spaces to educate, connect and empower Black women about their natural hair and self-identity, and Racism Untaught, a curriculum model that reveals ‘racialized' design and helps students, educators and organizations create anti-racist concepts through the design research process. She is currently a PhD candidate in Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto. She also serves as a core team member of African American Graphic Designers (AAGD) and as a collaborator with the Black Liberation Lab.