The Design Activist Institute is a Philadelphia-based, intersectional, feminist, autonomous, grassroots collective of designers working for radical, utopian resistance and building a better world.
Participants in this workshop series collaboratively designed a guide for utopia using consensus-building, systems design, design thinking, principles of social justice, and democratic organizing tactics. Workshops were held every other Thursday evening at the University of the Arts throughout the summer and participants worked cooperatively, with group ideation influencing collective direction. The final project results of the workshops were presented at a DesignPhiladelphia event on October 4 at Elixr Coffee. View or contribute to that project here.
Even though the workshops for the season are concluded, we welcome new collaborators all the time. If you're interested in getting involved, click "Join Us" to get signed up for our next meeting.
The Institute adopts the great leftist traditions of horizontal, democratic decision-making and organizing, bringing it to the world of design. A commitment to partnering within marginalized communities is at the core of our approach. The Institute works with other organizers, using strategic design thinking, investigative research, and community engagement to implement design interventions that lead to lasting, palpable change.
Inspired by the revolutionary collective models of the Medu Art Ensemble, Taller de Gráfica Popular, Atelier Populaire, Luther Blissett, Guerrilla Girls, the White Rose, and Gran Fury, the Institute strives for cooperative design solutions both self-initiated and along with other activists. These groups were born out of specific flashpoints in history, creating art that signalled defiance against tyrannical rule, oppression, and autocracy. They each manifested the spirit of critical moments, and left behind a lasting visual legacy. The impact of these forebears was deep and meaningful, and the Institute aspires to uphold their ethics.
The Design Activist Institute brings multi-disciplinary designers together with writers, researchers, engineers, activists, students, and other experts, and are always looking to collaborate. If you’re interested in getting involved, are a community organizer who wants to collaborate, want to attend a workshop, or are looking for more information about our projects, feel free to email us at the link below.
The Institute is currently working on a guerrilla exhibition of posters, guidebooks, a series of video shorts, and collaborative social resources and community-building. The group organizes for environmental justice, refugee and immigrant rights, the rights of queer and trans people, restorative justice, feminism, racial justice, equality, fair and equal housing rights, universal health and wellbeing, workers’ rights, and against any form of hate. Some completed projects include zines and publications, various events and workshops, an interactive pop-up display at an event to celebrate the anniversary of a local design program, a design system for expanding sanctuary, and a policy platform for a local candidate.
Our program structure consists of a biweekly summer workshop series, regular meetings throughout the year, special events and field trips, participating in demonstrations, and regular planning and communication.
Our cadre structure is syndicalist and cooperative, without hierarchy. We are strictly volunteer-based, and the long-term nature of our projects and supportive nature of our personal interactions keeps designers invested and involved.
The first Design Activist Institute workshop took place on June 2, 2016, with eleven participants. The theme for the 2016 series was determined in advance of the workshops, with flexibility in place in the instance that participants voted to focus on a different subject matter. A presentation was given on climate justice, covering historical resistance art movements, then-current background information expressing the urgency of the climate crisis, Philadelphia’s sensitivity to various aspects of climate change, information on various feedback loops, examples of local climate injustice, comparisons between individual human impacts and industrial / systemic impacts, ending with three different project concepts: sustainable food production, composting, and removal of heavy metals from the waste stream. As the workshops continued, the group coalesced around a few concepts and areas of focus, conducted research, and proceeded to get to work. The following is a summary of various findings by the group during the first workshop series:
Working class people already live more sustainable lifestyles than wealthy elites, and institutional effects on environmental degradation vastly outweigh the impacts of individuals, so it is most fruitful to target wealthy elites as an audience and to empower working class people with tactics to counteract power
For the second year in a row, the Design Activist Institute conducted a series of biweekly summer workshops and events at the University of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia. The series was open to the community and included a panel discussion with community activists, tutorials on open source design tools and information design techniques, explorations of cryptography and cybersecurity, a collaborative, guerrilla poster series, and more. The summer sessions began on June 1 and were held every other Thursday evening through the end of August. The Institute also took part in local protests and field trips to destinations like the North Philly Peace Park, as well as a workshop in conjunction with Tell Me a Story, "Art and Storytelling for a Better World" at DesignPhiladelphia in the fall.
If you're interested in learning any more about any of the Institute's research, workshop subjects, or ongoing projects, contact designactivist@protonmail.com.
