The Design Activist's Handbook

How to Change the World (Or at Least Your Part of It) with Socially Conscious Design

Noah Scalin, Michelle Taute

• Publisher: HOW Books
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781440329777
• Topic: Design
• Subtopic: Graphic Design

We Want You! Will you join the ranks of design activists?Doing good is too important to think of as work better left to those fictitious "other" designers. People more famous. More talented. More connected. Richer. Younger. Braver. (Insert your own mental roadblock here.) In truth, anyone can be a design activist.It just starts with a commitment to yourself and your values. A commitment to making conscious choices and realizing how all the decisions you make as a graphic designer affect other people and the planet. It's about being awake instead of sliding by with the way things always have been done.This book is for every graphic designer who's ever sat at a computer, thinking: Is this it? Isn't there more? It's a tool to help you figure out how to start making a difference and making a living at the same time--no matter where you live and work right now.Just open this book and we'll help you start walking in the right direction. It doesn't have to be perfect. Little actions from a lot of people add up to big change. This isn't a contest about who's the greenest or the most radical. It's a movement, and we're inviting you to join right now.

RESOURCES

Don’t want to type in all these links?

Find the free online version of this list here: www.ALRdesign.com/resources.

BLOGS

Design Altruism Project

A high-level discussion about socially conscious design that often acts as a counterpoint to writings, opinions and talks by well-known figures in the design community.

http://design-altruism-project.org

The Groundswell Blog

The companion site to the Groundswell Collective, which focuses on the relationship of art and society, specifically highlighting artists working for social change.

http://groundswellcollective.com

Osocio

An amazing and continually growing online collection of social marketing campaigns from across the globe. Get inspired, find out which design approaches work or just discover new issues to care about.

http://osocio.org

rebel:art

A constant stream of posts about street art, culture jamming and all sorts of other new activist art. Even though Alain Bieber’s site is in German, it’s well worth a visit by English speakers since it’s pure eye candy and most of its links take you to sites with English explanations, if you need to know more.

www.rebelart.net/diary

Social Design Notes

The grandfather of socially conscious design blogs. Spend a Friday afternoon sifting through the archives for hundreds of inspiring posts.

http://backspace.com/notes

Spare Change: Making a Difference With Social Marketing

No, it’s not another take on social media marketing. Instead, it’s an ongoing discussion of the best marketing techniques for social causes and issues.

http://blog.social-marketing.com

BOOKS

Ad Nauseam: A Survivor’s Guide to American Consumer Culture (Faber & Faber)

by Carrie McLaren and Jason Torchinsky

A smart and consistently funny critique of consumer culture from the creators of the fantastic and sadly defunct Stay Free! Magazine. The book collects articles from the magazine as well as new pieces from both cultural critics and comedians.

The Age of Persuasion (Counterpoint)

by Terry O’Reilly and Mike Tennant

It’s rare to find a book about advertising that both critiques the field while still showing a great deal of love for it at the same time. Through the authors’ research and anecdotes from years of working in the business, they paint an insightful and nuanced history of the industry of persuasion.

The Big Book of Green Design (Harper Design)

by Suzanna MW Stephens and Anthony B. Stephens

More of a coffee table book than a reference manual, but with an intro by Re-Nourish founder Eric Benson, hundreds of visual examples and several detailed case studies, it’s an inspiring resource for anyone interested in the environmental direction businesses big and small are taking.

Branding For Nonprofits (Allworth Press)

by DK Holland

Filled with plenty of real-world examples and resources, this book should be required reading for any nonprofit interested in harnessing the power of branding (which should really be all of them) and the designers who want to work with them.

Conscientious Objectives: Designing for an Ethical Message (RotoVision)

by John Cranmer and Yolanda Zappaterra

A great set of detailed case studies on how designers have worked to further social causes with their design skills. Includes an introduction to the history of design activism by Steven Heller.

Cradle to Cradle (North Point Press)

by William McDonough and Michael Braungart

Cringe every time you toss something in the trash? Read this book for radical ideas about overhauling the life cycle of everyday products, with waste feeding back into production.

Culture Jam (Harper Paperbacks)

by Kalle Lasn

The founder ...