Design Activism

Last night I had the pleasure of speaking to the wonderful Ladies Wine and Design community in Newcastle: A monthly salon night connecting creatives in the North East of England. My talk theme was ‘Design for Good’, with donations going to my choice of charity – the Angelou Centre. The Angelou Centre is a black-led women’s centre based in Newcastle upon Tyne. They support black women, children and women of colour locally, from training and development to fighting to end violence – their work is incredibly important.

It was an inspiring evening where we got to chat all things social change, inspiring content, recommended reading and how we can make change using our skills as creatives. Shout out to everyone on the call, please do keep in touch!

By Mandy Barker

Creative Industries must do more to be Anti-Racist

We had a chat with Renee Davis today to ask what more we can do as allies of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

RACE MATTERS

RACE MATTERS. It matters not only because equality is a FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT. It matters for representation, perspective, dignity, respect, evolution, humanity.

Today, black out Tuesday – what an incredible campaign showing solidarity gone viral. But, don’t just post. Share resources. Educate each other. We can all do more but we need the signposts.

White people need to learn to feel uncomfortable. The world is built on structural racism, we need to DO MORE. 

Follow, read, listen and learn. Connect with the accounts of black voices. Donate to a black organisation so they can continue their crucial work. Think of ways YOUR workplace can do more. ASK black people. Understand your privilege and what you can do to do more…

Access for all – well overdue.

Art organisations: put down your power. Inspired by recent tweet @joverrent

Unlimited commission disabled artists in the UK to produce groundbreaking work. They improve accessibility and push systemic change. ‘The arts sector is built on privilege, putting physical buildings at the centre means excluding the different. It’s time to CHANGE.’ Covid19 has proved this can happen, accessibility and digital should have been pushed long ago.

We worked on two projects with them in 2018 and 2019, about increasing inclusion and asking the challenge questions in the sector about inclusion. You can download the cards for inclusion here https://weareunlimited.org.uk/cards-for-inclusion/ Start the conversation.

Stamping out the stigma

Danni here – Today is the first day that marks Mental Health Awareness week and I wanted to take this opportunity to shout about The Made of Millions Foundation and to share my own experiences with mental health in the hope that we can all keep taking positive steps forward in fighting the stigma. 

What to ask a design studio before working with them on branding

Deciding who to work with on creative work, branding or design can be a challenge. If you are not experienced in working with a creative or in the industry, it’s often hard to tell apart who has the right skills and who doesn’t. Skills and experience vary so much, prices can vary from 500 quid to 100k+.

I wanted to share some tips on the best approach for those that may not have purchased design before. Before gathering quotes, have a read…