In This Issue

DECOLONIZING INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Industrial design operates within a capitalistic system. Industrial designers create things to be made, purchased, and used by consumers. In the end, this exchange most frequently benefits corporations and other entities who hold power in dictating how the system itself operates and who is allowed to participate in it. Decolonizing industrial design encompasses many things yet is centered on truly understanding who we design for and whose voices are privileged (or suppressed) in the process.

Colonized design perpetuates power imbalance. It ignores the needs of a diverse society and community in order to please a myopic group of stakeholders who don’t reflect the full diversity of our society. It has led to harm. From racist algorithms and poor education outcomes to exclusive and oppressive healthcare systems, design (broadly applied) has had a role in supporting systems of oppression, white supremacy, and patriarchy, which has led to (among other negative outcomes) environmental racism, sexual violence, and cultural erasure specific to industrial design and the products we use in our daily lives. Is it possible that these objects have been created with cultural biases built in, perhaps without the designer even knowing? Do the products we use create or perpetuate systems of oppression that empower certain user groups while diminishing the abilities of others?

The question of “What is good design?” is also increasingly tied to conversations around design decolonization. The answer to this question is often dominated by a Eurocentric perspective, aesthetics, and a material culture of good design. With that in mind, and with a critical lens applied, other questions emerge: What do other societies, cultures, and communities value as good design? Further, why aren’t those perspectives given the same level of regard as, say, Dieter Rams’ 10 Principles of Good Design? Has the design industry been built in a way that systematically amplifies the voices of some while marginalizing others?

In December 2020, Fast Company (Co.design) ran an article called “10 New Rules of Design.” The story was viewed over 60,000 times and was shared extensively across social media. In it, design leaders representing a wide range of design disciplines and academia presented a new manifesto, if you will, for how we might reshape our practices in an effort to overhaul the frameworks used by the design industry to create a more equitable future for everyone. Mark Wilson, a senior writer at Fast Company and the author of the piece, tells INNOVATION magazine, “The response was overwhelming … Every single industry is facing a mea culpa spurred out of the Black Lives Matter movement. Design is, in many ways, the most privileged creative class of all. We realized that to address white supremacy in 2020, we needed to question the very foundations of design itself. Because if you trace back almost any convention of ‘good design,’ it ends with the citation to some European man.” Mark continues, “To live under the influence of white supremacy is like being stuck in a 2D world. Frankly, I’m excited about what comes next, when the definition of ‘good design’ doesn’t only mean a vintage Braun record player. We’ll all be able to open our eyes and see the galaxy of possibilities.”

Whatever role design has played until now, it also has an opportunity and tremendous responsibility to be intentional and thoughtful about the methods and strategies it employs to heal these traumas of the past. Conscientious efforts to decolonize industrial design must include acknowledging oppression and dismantling oppressive systems, rebuilding our design education models, employing inclusive hiring practices, and amplifying marginalized voices across the lines of race, gender, and class. It’s also about honoring Indigenous perspectives and including diverse and pluralistic sociopolitical perspectives.

In this issue of INNOVATION, we explore this complex topic and shed light on how dismantling certain aspects of our institutional constructs could foster a more inclusive and diverse industrial design profession. We asked educators and practitioners to share their perspectives on the matter and hope to create space for transformation within the industry that starts from within.

—INNOVATION Editorial Team