Nov 06, 2015

Inclusion, Equality, Progress: Dignified Representation in Visual Culture

Andy Chen

About this video

Description

In recent years, “design for social change” has emerged as a topic of serious consideration for graphic designers yearning to apply visual representation to the lives of marginalized people. In practice, much of this work tends to fall into two categories: pitiful abjection or Messianic charity. Andy presents case studies that illustrate dignified representations of vulnerable populations including survivors of human trafficking in Southeast Asia, LGBT youth in sports and the beneficiaries of a chlorine dispenser program in Kenya and Uganda.

Andy Chen

Andy Chen is a Partner at visual identity and graphic design consultancy Isometric Studio. The studio collaborates with cultural institutions, startups and nonprofits including the US Agency for International Development, Columbia Business School, Soros Fellowships for New Americans and Rhode Island School of Design. Andy studied sociology at Princeton where he was awarded the Pyne Honor Prize, its highest general undergraduate distinction, and graphic design at RISD, where he received his MFA as a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow. He began his career at Pentagram, where he worked on the rebranding of Bausch+Lomb with partner Paula Scher. As a Fulbright Scholar at the Royal College of Art, he conducted ethnographic research on aging, sexuality and social stigma. Andy is a contributor to Design Observer, Design Taxi and Open Manifesto.