Recently, the graphic design profession has made proactive efforts beyond discussion to establish socially responsible models of practice, which Powell calls an “ambitious aspiration, but one that is an unmistakable priority for the emerging generation of young designers now entering the profession.”[1] The AIGA launched the Design for Good initiative in 2011 “to provide designers with opportunities to work together with other community leaders on solving complex problems that benefit from the power of creative solutions.”[2] Additionally, Dr. Suguru Ishizaki of Carnegie Mellon University was awarded the AIGA Design Faculty Research Grant for his research project titled, Making Design Research Matter: Toward a framework for socially-responsible design research. Perhaps the most significant evidence is the emergence of new graduate programs for socially responsible design. In Fall 2011, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) launched the Master of Arts in Social Design to equip designers with “investigative, problem-solving and project management skills needed to affect social challenges.”[3] Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) also launched a new Master of Fine Arts in Collaborative Design program in Fall 2011 to engage students with methods and tools for ‘wicked’ problems requiring “dynamic design practices that take into account the concerns of a diverse range of human and non-human stakeholders.”[4] In Fall 2012, School of Visual Arts (SVA) will open doors to its first crop of graduate students in the new Master of Fine Arts in Social Innovation and arm them with “principles and ethics of social innovation as filters for understanding and as a discipline for engaging with and improving the world through design.”[5] Additionally, SVA began offering a six-week summer intensive program in 2010, named Impact! Design for Social Change, to help students and professionals either “conceive and execute their own projects for social change with a focus on funding projects that are not client-based” or engage in a team-oriented summer project to address social needs in a particular community.[6]
The programs’ titles vary, which is characteristic of how the terms are used interchangeably to denote the application of creative problem solving for social issues.[7] A common denominator is the recognizable need to provide designers with methods, tools, and ideas to effectively examine and develop solutions for a wide range of social problems in various domains. The graduate programs seek to shape what George Mulgan, director of the Young Foundation, views as underdeveloped skills needed to address social complexities, such as research, evidence, economics, understanding sociopolitical contexts and power, management, integration of interdisciplinary theory and field experience, and implementation of large-scale projects.[8]
[1] Powell, Douglas. “Making Change a Priority.” AIGA. August 5, 2011. Accessed on June 15, 2012. http://www.aiga.org/making-change-a-priority.
[2] “American Institute of Graphic Artists. “AIGA Launches Design for Good to Harness Creative Talent for Social Good.” Press release, October 27, 2011. Accessed on May 28, 2012, http://www.aiga.org/news-20111027.
[3] “Overview.” Maryland Institute College of Art Masters of Social Design. Accessed on July 5, 2012, http://www.mica.edu/Programs_of_Study/Graduate_Programs/Social_Design_%28MA%29/Overview.html
[4] Pacific Northwest College of Art. “PNCA Launches MFA in Collaborative Design.” Press release, December 6, 2010. Accessed on March 5, 2012, http://pnca.edu/news/press/5406.
[5] “Frequently Asked Questions.” School of Visual Arts Design for Social Innovation Program. Accessed on July 5, 2012. http://dsi.sva.edu/faq.
[6] “Worldstudio and School of Visual Arts launch Impact! Design for Social Change.” Worldstudio, (blog), February 11th, 2010. Accessed on July 5, 2012. http://blog.worldstudioinc.com/worldstudio-and-school-of-visual-arts-launch-impact-design-for-social-change.
[7] Murg, Stephanie. “Worldstudio’s Mark Randall on Social Design, Woodsy the Owl. And Making an Impact.” Unbeige, February 10, 2012. Accessed June 2, 2012. http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/worldstudios-mark-randall-on-social-design-woodsy-the-owl-and-how-to-make-an-impact_b19499. According to Mark Randall, chair of Impact! Design for Social Change program, social design, which he describes as “design thinking and creativity to improve the human condition and to ensure a sustainable future for us all,” is slowly being defined.
[8] Mulgan, George. “What is good social design?” Keynote presentation, Design Management Institute 14th annual European conference, London, UK, September 7–8, 2010.