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proposal dec. ‘22
presearch II 


 Design like you give a damn. 



[working title] 


Can we consider designers as our powerful agents of change?



‘Design seems to have dematerialized from a profession grounded in mastering of specific technical skills into more of an attitude, a way of engaging with the world.’ 01

I am continuously redefining myself, trying to putt a pin on it, call it the phenomenon of profiling. Being critical about my position, but also about the profession that I am studying, makes me believe wether or not I can consider myself a powerful agent of change. When surrounding myself with people outside the academy, non of the thoughts of self defining seem to matter. The whole career path that I have been struggling to proceed and all of it’s thoughts, they all seem to disappear. In a way, within the bubble of the academy, I have created this idea that it’s important to become someone with a form of power. A power that says, when addressing political or social distresses, something has to change. Right?

We are educated into becoming critical thinkers, forming our opinions on questions society rises. Our generation of graphic designers are founded within social and political engaging stories: ‘this is how I crave to see the world, problem solved!’ But most of the time these concepts, never go past a hopeful futuristic perspective. Are we focussing more on being critically active than actually stimulating change? “I think calling that person a social designer actually benefits more these elite design spheres and not so much the person or the activity that such person is pushing forward. [...] and by saying that, through linguistics, they’re legitimizing design further and trying to show the world that design is essential because it can drive social change.” 02

Working within engagement myself, I’m trying to understand why I crave [or am educated into thinking] having an ability to change. I am wondering wether or not designers should be political, diffusing social topics within their projects. Is being a designer just a job, or is it more an attitude? Thereby focussing on the role the designer is performing when placing themselves next to a political topic. Embodying the change that they are craving to see. But in what way are they doing that? And does it actually drive constructive change?

Can we consider designers as our powerful agents of change? By using satire to unlock my opinions on social design[ers] and questioning the profession that I am studying. I want to create a followup of my typography frustrations. By unlocking my opinions on social design and engagement, I’ll be trying to answer the importance of this shift in attitude of graphic design. This can be in the form of a publication, where I’ll be writing and talking to others on their perspective of social design. Finding ways to add humor within this topic, creating a platform to communicate our generation of socially engaged graphic designers.


    Want to help local cheesemakers to be more palatable to their customers? Meh. There are more               important problems to fix, solve, correct.



click here for the one minute [trailer] 








 Joy as Necessity



[working title]


What is the responsibility of artistic practices when framing migration?




Migration is often seen as a conflict or a crisis. Journalists, filmmakers or artist are often showing the war on images; provoking shocking reactions. We’re not always able to look at it as emotional and in a way liberating uprooting. The perception we have and our understanding of migrations do confront us in ways. It threatens our own ongoing human mobility, and is thereby linked to a critique that interferes with our existing politics, society and culture. Artists work on solving the migration problem by creating from the thought that they can make a difference, changing our ways of seeing and thinking. They're adding a story to the visual landscape for a better understanding and representation. It’s important to acknowledge the way we bring creative practices as representation of conflicts and in particular on migration. By bringing art as a way to understand other perspectives and the boundaries of belonging.

Joy as Necessity [working title] will be the follow up of Design like you give a damn. [working title]. Having searched for the rol of design within political and social distresses. Continuing on how framing works; how we position ourselves in relation to a topic and how that contributes to the image we have of it. Are we cynical without these experiences? Can we be more open-minded, more emotionally involved when learning about political and social topics throughout the artistic practices? Focusing on moving image installations and ‘the experience’ in relation to migration. Looking for ways where it’s not so much about being historical and cultural invested, but more on creating together, finding a way to create with joy as necessity. Looking at examples such as ‘Crossing Birds’ from Jordy Dik and ‘Shadow Game’ by Prospektor, where young adults within and outside asylum centers are creating within the diffusion of art and migration.

How can I create a project where migration is represented in a way that doesn’t contribute to the problematic image, but finding a more hegemonic portrait. ‘Without denying either the historical particularities or the violence often associated with the displacement of individuals or groups, this suggests that migration potentially liberates a creative critique that “unsettles” established ways of world making.’04 Can I create from the perspective of a designer, and still be searching for joy within an important, yet difficult topic? I want to focus on the potential of the artistic practices within migration. Creating with young-adults, setting up projects for a more joyful representation. In this project I will be searching for a collaboration, between one or multiple young-adults within asylum centers, and letting the joy of creating be a priority. So as to show how art can change our ways of seeing.