Morley, Madeleine. Eye on Design: Celebrating the African-American Practitioners Absent From Way Too Many Classroom Lectures (2018)
Munro, Silas.  Eye on Design: Typography as a Radical Act in an Industry Ever-dominated by White Men (2019) 
Rawsthorn, Alice. NYTimes: Design Gets More Diverse (2011)

Question / Prompts

  • How do we change the commercial design field to include a diversity of voices and visions?
  • What will the commercial design field and the study of design history look like in 20 years?

The commercial design field can change to include more diversity by interacting more with people of color and generally, people with different backgrounds. There are already some spaces within design such as Seal’s Vocal Type, so I believe the next step is to further integrate those spaces within the mainstream commercial design field, and maybe a little more spotlight on these areas. By doing this you have more visible role models for more people from different backgrounds to get interested in design, further increasing diversity. Much of history regarding people of color, is already not told in schools (or even accurately). Having a more inclusive, and accurate, history of design would also help to show diversity within the commercial design field.
In 20 years I think that the commercial design field would have benefited from more diverse voices and visions, resulting in new ideas and concepts forming and being practiced. The advancement of technology may also play a part in that. I also believe that making design more accessible will also lead to more designers in the coming years. More people are already getting interested in the design field so easier access would increase the number of designers.

Annotations:

https://hyp.is/EcjVMi8LEeyrNItMqS34WA/www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/arts/21iht-DESIGN21.html