The Latest

Community • Issue 018

Design Activism

On February 9, 2021, Niki Franco moderated a conversation with Ivy Climacosa, Dustin Gibson, Annika Hansteen-Izora, and Liz Ogbu around the new protest movements that have arisen in reaction to the ongoing scourge of police brutality in the United States. As designers and activists, the participants were invited to talk about their own creative practices, including, according to Franco, “The relationship between artists, designers, and folks on the ground.” Together, the group addressed the various crises people of color experience in this country, including, “the spatial dynamics that contribute to racism, classism, anti-homelessness, ableism,” and more.

Community • Issue 018

Futures of Policing

In the future, police could use remote technology to peacefully disarm suspects without ever firing a shot. Or perhaps police will use lasers to slice off the legs of even nonviolent offenders. In the future, police forces may expand, but their demographics could reflect the multiculturality of a minority-white America. Or maybe drones will replace police altogether. If they don’t, community gardens potentially will.

Community • Issue 018

Designed for Harm

The conversation about policing is a Molotov cocktail of trauma, bias, propaganda, and cognitive dissonance. Many Americans are raised to think of the police, and by extension policing, as a mechanism to protect and serve. Yet, this stands in stark contrast to the experiences of those who interact with one of the nation’s largest and most dominant civil services as a purveyor of fear and dominance.

Community • Issue 018

Abolish the Cop Inside Your (Designer's) Head

American policing has always faced crises: of legitimacy, of efficacy, of budgeting, of racist discrimination, and of heinous violence. Over the last year, radical calls to defund, disarm, and disband police departments drowned out the historically widely-accepted explanations of these crises. Black women have always led these calls, but in 2020 much of the U.S. public heard them for the first time.

Community

The Policing Issue

A special Design Museum Magazine issue on how one of the most powerful institutions functions by design

Colorful neighborhood with people, some entangled by a string.

Blog • Workplace

Redesigning Coworking for the Age of Social Distancing

As we begin the second year of the pandemic and the worldwide shift to remote work, we reflect on the process that went into adapting a coworking business for a new era. The power of a long and trusting relationship allowed for quick action and little downtime. With careful consideration of brand and culture the changes that were implemented a year ago are still working today.