Jan 03, 2022

Designing for Politics

About this video

Description

As speaker Lucienne Roberts has said, "Utilised by the marginalised and powerful alike, traditional media now rubs shoulders with the hashtag and the meme, making graphic design critical in giving everyone a political voice." From campaign billboards to posters, from logos to t-shirts, design has transformed political campaigns and political engagement. Design also can have an adverse impact on political life, when poorly designed ballots lead to frustrated voters, miscast votes, and overwhelmed poll workers. Join our speakers as we explore the influence of graphic design on politics, protest and democracy.

Panelists

Lucienne Roberts AGI, HonFISTD, FRSA, Founder of LucienneRoberts+, Co-founder of GraphicDesign&

The work of LucienneRoberts+ spans exhibition design, books and corporate identity. Lucienne’s books include Good: An Introduction to Ethics in Graphic Design. She was HMCT Typographer-in-Residence 2018 at ArtCenter, Los Angeles, and is currently HMCT International Fellow. Lucienne co-founded GraphicDesign&, to nourish her abiding interest in definitions of ethical design and create intelligent, vivid books and exhibitions that explore how graphic design connects with all other things. She and GD& colleagues originated and curated the critically-acclaimed London exhibitions Can Graphic Design Save Your Life? and Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics 2008–18. A graduate of Central Saint Martins, Lucienne also studied English Literature at the University of London.

Rudy van Belkom, Founder at Design for Transition

Rudy is a researcher and designer of change. His concept for a new political electoral system (The New Vote) was nominated for an international design award (‘The Index Project’) and was exhibited in Design Museum Holon in Israel (‘State of Extremes’). He conducts research on behalf of The Netherlands Study Center for Technology Trends into the impact of technology on the future of democracy. He previously researched the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the future of decision-making and wrote AI no longer has a plug - about ethics in the design process (2020). Rudy graduated from the European Institute for Brand Management with an MA, Master of Brand, Design & Reputation Management. The focus of his thesis was, "Which factors are decisive for consumer confidence in radical technological innovations?"

Whitney Quesenbery at Director, Center for Civic Design

Whitney is passionate about making interactions with government effective and enjoyable, bringing design literacy to elections and other government workers, and on a mission to ensure voter intent through design. Her work in civic design began with her appointment to the Election Assistance Commission’s advisory committee writing usability and accessibility requirements for new voting systems. Seventeen years later, she is still excited about the opportunities to approach democracy as a design problem and to improve the voter experience. Whitney has written three books — A Web for Everyone: Designing accessible user experiences, Storytelling for User Experience and Global UX — to help keep users in mind throughout the creative process.