THE
PILGRIMAGE OF A DESIGN BELIEVER an interivew with David Rojas Le贸n
THE
PILGRIMAGE OF A DESIGN BELIEVER by David Rojas León, April 14th 2025
I
an interivew with David Rojas León
n April 2005 David Rojas León was 21 years
Nevertheless, he renewed his vows with design along with
old; he was finishing his last semester at colle-
his passions, declaring himself a design believer by 2015.
ge, attending the last classes in graphic design
Adopting to a new role as a social innovator breathed life
school. He already had plans for the future,
into his relationship with design, unfolding new dimensions
but he was experiencing the characteristic
and possibilities that were not only urgent and necessary for
anxiety of those who are facing the uncertain-
himself, but for society. In 2015, the concept of social inno-
ty. 10 years later, he was about to finish his first year of gradua-
vator was new and foreign for the common citizen, especia-
te school in a pretty young MFA Design for Social innovation
lly when it was accompanied by a discipline as design.
course at School of Visual Arts -- which this year was gradua-
Nowadays we are on a different landscape, where disciplines
ting its 12th cohort -- and going through his first year living in
and knowledge are particularly interwoven in order to
New York City. Both were amazing, but overwhelming expe-
create collective consciousness. “The task is not complete
riences for any designer, especially for those in their early
yet” insists Rojas León. “It’s an endless, but compelling
thirties and from overseas. Having one decade of work expe-
process”
rience under his belt, David was going through a phase similar
mixture of humility and pride – the pride resulting of being
to the one he went through in 2005…not having a concrete
part of a generation of pioneers, and the humility generated
answer to a question: What are your plans after graduating?
by his knowledge he’s still just one person.
he continued, pronouncing his words with a
David, there is certain pattern in your experiences every 10 years? Is it repeating itself now? A new decade in your life gives you the chance to access your learning, not just in order to judge yourself and calculate what has been delayed or neglected. It gives you the chance to identify what your dreams are and goals to accomplish during the years to come. Now I'm about to turn 42, and the main difference with my early 20s and 30s is my view towards that balance. I was really hard on myself back then; I didn't give myself enough credit. I was my own worst critic. I internalized so much. Now my main goal in life is being peaceful with my choices, my environment, my co-workers, and my loved ones. How does happiness look like now? Happiness is a matter of balance and coherence. Ten years ago I thought that happiness was a temporary state which has to be contrasted by other experiences – unhappy experiences – in order to find it. I still think so, but now I believe in the human capacity to extend that state and find happiness nuances and
state and find happiness nuances and sparks in your daily routine. Happiness is a state which is expecting you to give it an opportunity. And what is success for you now? When you go to school, college or even graduate school we are indoctrinated with several ideas of what success means. All of them are represented as materials: money, properties, titles, awards, more money. For sure most of them are indicators of how well you have been doing in life, or how bad -depending on your set of values- . But as indicators they only show raw data, cold numbers and figures. Success is the representation of your expectations against your achievements. To that extent during the years you learn to find balance in that relationship: making your goal achievable, concealing your expectations with reality and learning, always learning. Success is the capacity of never stop learning.
Back to 2015 you defined yourself as a design believer; do you think that design is an act of faith? It is. It always will be, but I would say it is an act of pragmatic faith. Faith shares values with uncertainty and creativity, all of them deal with the infinite, the possibilities, and the unknown. Faith makes visible the invisible, so design does. Sometimes design becomes invisible along with its good results, being part of people’s lives as the mean to live them. I declared myself a design believer because I found in design not only a discipline or a method, but a philosophy, which gave me the right to question it and challenge its dogmas. It is part of the language I have been building during the last two decades or more, where I prefer to talk about faith or spirituality rather than religion, or believers instead of fanatics or followers. Design needs believers, but also enablers. I became the first in order to become the second.
Design needs “believers, but also enablers. I became the first in order to become the second.
”
How did you finally encompass design and social innovation? Umberto Eco said “Our life is full of empty space.” An obtuse understanding of design would dare to say that design’s goal is to fill that empty space with objects, images and products. But even the baroque artists knew that emptiness and silence were part of the composition. I like how the English language distinguishes the act of being alone between solitude and loneliness, dignifying it or making it look undesirable. A designer for social innovation learns to distinguish between a pleasant silence and an unbearable one, between a comfortable empty space and a baron space. Through the years, I have learned to identify and act whether there is enough room to do it, sharpening my senses and even improving my intuition, which is nothing more than the deep understanding of systems thinking…and maybe good eyes. Your words sound confident; do you think you are a social innovator now? My confidence is a result of consistent work, but as we said at SVA in 2015: I am a work in progress… we all are. The task is not complete yet, it has not to be, it is part of an endless but compelling process. What about your other passions? During my 20s I was running a crazy race against myself, exploring, learning new skills, drawing upon many sources. It was exciting but exhausting at the same time. Nonetheless I’m still eager to drink from several fountains, but I don’t push myself to the breaking point anymore. I still dance flamenco because it completes my life. I have been through
other physical exercises, combining them, sometimes leaving them as well, but dancing has a particular sensibility. Writing has been an interest that has gone back and forth because it is demanding and hard to produce, but I have been eager to do it. In my early 30s I was writing to please my readers. Now I write to please me. It sounds selfish, but I have discovered that a good writer is honest. During the last years you have been expanding your limits, working in projects in the US and around the world. How is your relationship with Colombia now? I have never stopped working for Colombia or imagining bridges between projects around the world and its application in my country. My thesis project for graduate school was the first step towards that purpose. By 2015 the peace negotiation process was taking place in the midst of critics, skepticism and hurdles; I saw an opportunity to create a bridge between that process and the everyday reality of citizens, using design. After that first experience I could bring back to my country some experiences that comprised common local and global factors. As a result of those processes, my relationship with Colombia got better. When I left Bogotá in 2014, and during my first years in New York I had a troubled relationship with Colombia -- like a conflicted parent-child bond, which fortunately I never had with my parents. The tensions have always been based on the amount of social injustice in Colombia – the disparity between the rich and poor is wide - but also in my will to be part of the solution. I’m happy to be part of the solution.
as we said “ at SVA in 2015: I am a work in progress… we all are.
”
Are you interested in politics as part of your career? Politics are still an abstract concept for most citizens; it is not easy for an average citizen to follow up on the impact of their electoral choices because the game has been made to work as a black box method. Laws are still being made for average people, not for people in particular. There is not a sense of human-centered development in most governments, a concept that sounds dated for design now, but which is not understood yet by leaders. A healthy political structure in a society is unfeasible whereas the ultimate goal is to conserve institutions before lives, not only human ones. That affirmation sounds like an outburst now, but it is still happening everywhere. The role
of design in politics and legislation is not only relevant, but urgent. But there is still some fear among designers to plant one foot firmly in the political arena, including me. I have been challenging that fear by participating in other scenarios, which is a common practice for social innovators. For some of them, taking part in politics seems comparable to join “the dark side”, but we all agree on the great impact it can have. What is your dream now? I have always thought that life purpose doesn’t lie on duration but quality. I’m still young, but I wish I could talk to the time as if it was a person. I will look the time to the eye, create a connection and then establish some agreements with it.
After the questions there is a space to linger the words and the soft taste of a cup of Colombian coffee, an intermittent companion in his life, but always a reminder of his roots. Minutes before during the interview, David found out his responses by taking a glimpse at the view from the windows in the room from time to time, looking for precision in his statements but seasoning with some air of inspiration. Smiles timidly while listen to the questions, takes a short time to compound a reply and then elaborates his point, with serenity but a sense of enthusiasm. He is still a dreamer, by day and night.
Phtoto: Nazlı Cangönül