In new tabs, open the essays Celebrating the African-American Practitioners Absent From Way Too Many Classroom Lectures by Madeleine Morley, Eye on Design, 2018, Typography as a Radical Act in an Industry Ever-dominated by White Men by Silas Munro, Eye on Design, 2019 and Design Gets More Diverse by Alice Rawsthorn, NYTimes, 2011
During this week’s reading, the words scarcity and diversity came to my mind. “Historically, design has had difficulty with diversity.” (Rawsthorn) Because of the inequality of the past, I’m not surprised that diversity was difficult. As in history, white men dominated the design industry, defining its aesthetic and value. But even though the design industry was dominated by white men in the past, African-American designers have never been absent. And even today, the design industry has added many designers from different cultural backgrounds.
The way to change the commercial design field to include a diversity of voices and visions is to be more inclusive, to embrace racial diversity, to embrace cultural diversity. The simplest and most direct way is to add more designers with different cultural backgrounds and identities to create an equal environment.
“And design increasingly reflects the cultural diversity both of its established Western markets and expanding ones in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where a new generation of designers is emerging.” (Rawsthorn) Times are changing, and there are more and more designers from different cultures involved in design than there have been in the past. So, I believe that in 20 years, the field of business design and design history will have changed dramatically. I think the future is bright, where there will be no inequality in the design industry, and every designer can create their own value and share their own cultural stories in an equal environment.
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