thinkbothways

[thinkbothways]

Week 12 / MarcX

Marc X is a terrific guy. I enjoyed listening to his story and philosophy on design and life. I can really see his character shining through the work of KNOW Identity Global via their instagram.

The anagram “KNOW” being “Kindly Navigating Our World,” resonates with me. It acknowledges the act of life, which is navigation. Simultaneously the word know in the context explained by MarcX is about knowing thyself. I think of it as knowing yourself through your actions, or method navigation. It’s an excellent name for a company and overall brand. It efficiently summarizes the brand philosophy of design with ethical production in mind.

It was great learning about what inspires MarcX. I was excited when he brought up Virgil Abloh because he has such an interesting story and creates interesting work for Louis Vuitton. In a recent runway show, Virgils collection of menswear used high fashion to tell the story of the urban man growing up in 80′s New York. It’s amazing seeing an artist like Virgil tell his story in the world high fashion. His work has been a breath of fresh air in the market.

I’m excited to see what MarcX and KNOW do next!

[thinkbothways]

Citizen Architect

Citizen Architect was AMAZING.

To be totally honest, I’ve been unsure of how I’ll ever be able to apply my degree to affecting actual social change. This doc showed me it’s possible and how it can be done.

I took notes of my favorite moments, and I’ll start by addressing them;

-At one point early in the doc one of the rural studio architects emphasized the importance of creating “spiritual comfort.” I think this phrase has multiple meanings. It means creating something that with total purpose and heart. A space injected with the humanity of the designer and the client. In this case it was “music man.” The way they got to know him was beautiful, and a lesson I may not have realized if not for this doc. They learned how he was living, what made him happy, and what made him comfortable. It was amazing seeing the final home and how it reflected his personality as well as the team’s.

-A student said he learned the importance of “earning the respect of your clients.” He wasn’t talking about about wealthy clients or your boss, but he was talking about clients in their nature as real people. Earning respect isn’t just showing your competence as a designer, but showing your decency and empathy as a person. Also, particularly in this case, it means really getting to know the client and letting them know you.

-The yale architecture professor was an interesting contract with the rest of the cast. There was a moment that spoke volumes of his perspective; he said something along the lines of “architects should know more about what a client wants than they do.” He also said that he doesn’t think it’s smart to meet with clients (in the case of his project on low income housing in Brooklyn, which he claims was very successful.)

This was interesting after spending so much time getting to know the rural architect studio and their process. I cannot imagine the Yale professor even considering spiritual comfort in his designs, and I would imagine his housing design lacked empathy. If him, as the architect, chose not to get to know his client base, it suggests he saw them as unworthy or unimportant, simple even. I disagree with his philosophy and I don’t see him producing effective designs for lower income people to actually live in. 

-Towards the end a student says he learned to “study the people” through this process. I think this was the overall message of the film. An architect can’t just study architecture, they must study people. Buildings and spaces don’t just exist on their own, they are inhabited. That means the inhabitants are a part of the project. I always knew this, but after seeing this doc I can see how important it really is to slow down and listen to a client. 

Don’t tell them what they want. Understand what they want and translate that through your design.

[thinkbothways]

Week 10

Interview with Trent Dougherty & Sustainable Consumption

It was great to hear Trent talk about what he does with such passion. When it comes to any career that revolves around social change, I feel daunted by the idea of facing such a dark force on a regular basis.

Something that stood out to me was his mention of holding politicians accountable. 2020 was a crazy year, and 2021 already feels crazier. Before this pandemic I wasn’t very interested in politics and how we’re governed. Since I’ve started following things I’ve been shocked on a regular basis. Voting is crucial, but at this point, holding politicians accountable feels even more important! I’m glad he called attention to that and I hope that monitoring our politicians (even those we vote for) becomes more common.

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Sustainable Consumption was an interesting read. I’d like to focus on the psychology section. In it, the author pointed out that having more “stuff” does not translate to satisfaction with ones life. As a designer, I apply that philosophy to my work. For too long have we been brainwashed as consumers, which has become such a big problem that we’re polluting the earth at unprecedented rates. I think that this is something we can ease with our designs. I not only want to design sustainable interiors, but also sustainable style. Something I challenge myself with is avoiding trends, which is WAY harder than it sounds. But I believe that a good design utilizes unique style rather than trends, and it is those designs that increase in value over time, while trendy designs inevitably become trash.

[thinkbothways]

Entry 05

Ashleigh Axios gave a great interview. It was pretty cool hearing from someone that really got to the top tier of designing for social change. It was interesting hearing her describe the process of investigating a business or client before signing any contracts. I think it’s more common than we realize that charities put a significant chunk of profit in the wrong place, and her discovering/explaining how to spot that was enlightening. I admire how thoughtful she is and how critical she remains to ensure her work goes in a direction she can stand by. On top of that, she seems like an excellent communicator and is able to correct observed problematic behavior from others in a way that is respectful and educational. What a great example for us as young designers in pursuit of positive social evolution. It’s important we maintain our moral standards in our careers, and Ashleigh is a great role model for that.

Regarding my Wicked Problem solution design, I’ve been researching types of mobile spaces to base my “Mobile Medicaid Assistance” prototype. It has to be as economical as possible, while being efficient and legitimate in appearance/branding. I’m early in the process, and will be posting my brainstorming on moddle. 

[thinkbothways]

Entry 04

“A wicked problem is a social or cultural problem that is difficult or impossible to solve for as many as four reasons: incomplete or contradictory knowledge, the number of people and opinions involved, the large economic burden, and the interconnected nature of these problems with other problems.”

______

The “wicked problem” that I’m interested in is obstacles in accessibility to Medicaid in America. When I moved to Ohio from Boston, I became a full time student and qualified for Medicaid. I found the process of actually signing up successfully to be near impossible, which is a huge problem that few people are aware of. Shouldn’t it be relatively straightforward to simply apply for government healthcare? Apparently not. I personally believe that it is a combination of poor UX design on their website, and a lack of government priority in a making a non-lucrative service accessible.

This is certainly a wicked problem, and one that I had to work very hard to figure out just for myself. I ended up discovering a free service provided by a local social worker. She was able to assist me in my application and override all of the glitches and inexplicable road blocks in my application process. Without her, it would not have been possible for me to even apply, despite qualifying for healthcare.

Considering the pie shop tactic, I think the creative solution is simply broadcasting the existence of social workers that are available to help in the application process. Not only that, but doing the most to make them accessible to everyone in need. (just finding this social worker was a process in and of itself.)

My idea is to design a mobile service that will travel to different locations and assist people in applying for healthcare on site. I plan to design a prototype of this mobile office that could maybe one day exist. This would not only spread the word about Medicaid reach, but make it possible for everyone who needs to to successfully apply and get informed. 

Cathleen Craig’s passion in getting involved is certainly inspiring. I commend her for maintaining her sanity in such a ruthless and emotionally charged field.

If I were to get involved in assisting those in need of Medicaid, I’d probably start by contacting her. It would be a team effort and would definitely require ThinkWrong strategy to come up with a creative and sustainable approach. As a future Interior Architect, I hope I can discover ways to help as best as I can with design that can make things easier for people in my own community. Maybe there are more opportunities than I know to apply my education to this.

[thinkbothways]

Entry 03

There were many points made by Nadia that I appreciated. I felt that her honesty and perceptiveness demonstrated how we can approach inclusiveness effectively.

At 28:45 min into the video, Nadia made a point that stood out to me, as I’ve thought about it quite a bit but never brought it up;

As I understood it, she expressed that she felt frustrated, hurt and insulted when suddenly racial equity became popularized among the white majority. Suddenly it mattered because they cared. (Glaring evidence that their voice mattered more than hers, regarding an issue that wasn’t even there’s to claim.)

That part resonated with me because I’ve felt something similar over a different issue...

________

Around 2010 when I just started college it was suddenly cool and socially acceptable to be gay. I was coveted as a potential “gay best friend...”

But before college I was bullied intensely for being gay, and not a single person ever stood up for me. Being gay isn’t something you choose, so you’re forced to just figure it out as a child/young adult with no real guidance. It’s scary and isolating. The entire experience was a steady build up of trauma that I had to learn to deal with all on my own. Going through that can create a powerful sense of self, strength and empathy, which I earned.

In 2010, as gay rights and anti-hate was all the rage I couldn’t help but feel a bit of resentment. Where were these “woke” activists when I was thrown against lockers and spat on in school? Would they have stood aside and ignored it like everyone else? Deep down I knew the answer was yes. For these people to pat themselves on the back because they attended a pride parade, or posted something on their facebook, felt like bullshit. It was a very strange position to be in, because their support was ultimately helpful. But I saw through it and what it was was mostly veiled populism; following a trend.

It felt worse when they started to position themselves as victims. They’d look for ways to start a fight with some random ignorant person over homophobia. I felt like the gay-rights movement gave them a superficial sense of purpose... and my real life experience was being hijacked. It’s a very strange feeling.

_______

What Nadia explained felt similar. It helped me realize why I’ve felt unsure about my place in the BLM movement. I support it, but I know it isn’t about me. It’s a morally awkward position to be in. Actually it’s a major reason why I’m taking this class.

Right now my strategy is this; Do good, see something-say something, and VOTE.

In my career I’m sure I’ll have a coworker or client from a totally different culture than my own. I just plan to just treat everyone the same. Discrimination is discrimination and I know myself well enough to trust that I will say something if I ever see it take place. For now that’s what I can live by.

[thinkbothways]

Entry 02

2020 was without a doubt the most chaotic and dazing year of my adult life. To “unpack” my take I’ll have to organize this entry as well as possible, as it’s so easy to lose track of, or even establish a point.

Toilet-Paper-Gate

The toilet paper frenzy baffled me. This topic forces me to admit my most cynical understanding of humanity as a social entity. (For the sake of keeping this interesting I’ll be as honest as possible, but I must first say that this is not a reflection of my typical feeling towards us humans.)

It was early covid days and we were all learning about the impending threat of this virus. Slowly I saw more masks at the grocery store, the news reported it coming closer and closer to being a full global outbreak, and then I saw the toilet paper aisle at Kroger. What do I think happened? In a nutshell, people are greedy and will put themselves first when they feel threatened in any way. Hoarding TP was one way for people to create some sense of control in a situation where there really wasn’t any. I saw videos online of people literally fighting each other for the last TP roll at the store. The situation resembled a panic induced TP stock market crash. This was the first reaction to covid and it was bleak. 

Covid is a situation that requires people to consider the impact their actions have on others and what happened? Totally selfish behavior. A problem was created for no reason but to bring a small sense of comfort and victory to a few.

I have fought to embrace my role as a member of society and to make compassion my default feeling towards others. Toilet-paper-gate challenged that. The pandemic had barely started and true colors were already being shown.

BLM protests, the news, the protests & privilege

This is a tough one to reflect on; it is so complex because it takes a specific experience to fully understand. An experience I can only observe. What I can do here is be as honest as possible about my personal experience; one I have never actually articulated. Here it goes:

For most of my life, I have been “asleep” in regards to the underlying racial tension that plagues our country. I was raised in a mostly white town/county in Massachusetts. The area I grew up was mostly upper-middle class and laughably peaceful. I road bikes with neighborhood kids, walked to school, and used my small allowance to buy soda at the old town market. 

When I was probably around 7 or 8 years old my parents showed my sister and I the 1977 historical miniseries, “Roots.” 

“Based on Alex Haley's family history. Kunta Kinte is sold into the slave trade after being abducted from his African village, and is taken to the United States. Kinte and his family observe notable events in American history, such as the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, slave uprisings and emancipation.” -wikipedia summary

I remember feeling utterly shocked by this series. Roots was my introduction to that part of our countries history. The horrifying imagery from the film is still seared into my memory. But as far as I knew, what the film depicted was only history. It was scary and evil, but nothing more than a thing of the past. For a young innocent mind like my own, it was inconceivable for that kind of evil to exist in modern times. In my world of nickelodeon, nintendo, and Harry Potter; racism just didn’t exist.

Up until I moved to Boston for college in 2010, at the age of 18, I really thought that racism was old news. I had never met a “racist” and I had never heard anyone say or do something racist. It was my understanding that everyone saw racism as despicable and it was pretty much abolished. In fact I still grapple with cognitive dissonance from that comfortable belief and coming to terms with the reality of our society.

In college I made friends of all different backgrounds. I studied fine art and saw films, paintings, performances, and every kind of subversive form of expression imaginable. I learned about important topics like “institutionalized racism” and the prison industrial complex. As I matured I noticed the racist undertones in our media. But I had not connected with the topic on an empathetic level. It seemed totally separate from my small world. At an art school you really don’t meet people that are prejudice. At least I didn’t. So to me it was a real, serious issue but it didn’t hit close enough to home to have a deep impact on my life.

Since then I’ve lived a tumultuous  and exciting life that basically centered around me. I did my best to be kind and learn all I could about our world and my reality was ultimately defined by me.

The summer of 2020 was an awakening. Covid had flipped everything upside down. I was confined to my tiny downtown Columbus apartment for months. 

George Floyd was killed.

When the news broke I found the whole thing sad and disturbing. But I was still asleep. The protests began and the movement was spreading throughout the country. Suddenly the movement erupted literally outside of my window. I heard the sounds and watched as a crowd of people gathered on Broad St, rapidly growing in size and getting increasingly louder. Police in riot gear lined up in front of them, marching towards them in attempt to intimidate. Pretty soon I had half of my body hanging out of the window to get a close look. The crowd chanted and pushed back on the police. They went back and forth, seeming to challenge each other to make a move. The police made the first move. Streams of powerful mace sprayed the crowd in a brown mist. Suddenly I was coughing and choking. I had never experienced mace before, nor any real violence. I think that is the moment a part of me woke up.

I think that, like in the toilet paper frenzy, people are more self centered than they know or would ever admit. For a movement to really work, it has to also have a direct effect on uninvolved individuals. The BLM protests did that. I had inadvertently gotten involved just by poking my head out of my window. That moment induced in me a new empathy. I was exposed to the smallest amount of mace and was choking and my eyes were burning. I literally cannot imagine how it would feel to be maced in the face by a police officer, but I can now understand how truly fucked up it must have been.

I think that it is in our nature to empathize with things we see ourselves in. Things that validate us and our existence. I think that an individual’s reception of art is an example of this experience. We like art that we see ourselves in. Whether it is a painting that shows a certain form of pain, or a song that describes a form of love we’ve experienced. 

I think that, as the majority, white people don’t automatically see themselves in other white people. But I can surmise that minorities have that innate empathy towards each other.

From my apartment window I saw that. I imagine that, for black Americans, seeing George Floyd murdered symbolized their own murder.

I try to understand, but I can only do so within the limitations of my own experience and empathy.

I’ll never know what it’s like to be black in America. The closest I’ve gotten to that experience was breathing in a small amount of mace from across the street. Mace that wasn’t even intended for my lungs. That is my privilege. It’s something that is extremely difficult to wrap my head around. 

What do I do?

With the pandemic still dominating basically everything, it’s difficult to come up with ideas. I feel more detached from society than ever before. To be honest, I don’t really know what I can do. I think we’re all kind of stuck watching the world through our TV and window. Our political climate is more volatile than ever and it’s got our attention by the balls.

Imagining a post-covid world feels like fiction. For now my plan is to listen to learn. I have a feeling that this class will be enlightening.

[thinkbothways]

Entry 01 - Reflection

"We stand judged against the orthodoxy of what’s acceptable.” ThinkWrong pg28

ThinkWrong was not the book I expected. Based off the title I thought it would be a book that tells me what to think, rather than how. So far it is neither; it is a book that empowers me to think and do so fearlessly. 

“We stand judged against the orthodoxy of what’s acceptable.” I was quick to jot this line down. For most of my life I have kept quiet about some of my most honest ideas to avoid judgement and social rejection. To this day I keep most of these ideas to myself, only occasionally sharing them when it feels safe or worth the risk. I hope that this book will share strategies to introduce alternate views to others in a way that is inoffensive and approachable.

At some points in the reading I interpreted “ThinkWrong” as, “think controversially.” Or rather, embrace controversy in ones own mind. I can do that, but I’m not so sure I can easily do it from a design perspective. In the design world WrongThink is usually embraced. Now I wonder, how can I design something so WRONG that its validity is put into question?

In 2014 I earned a BFA in painting. While studying fine art I was taught to give as little fucks as possible and always strive to be honest with my work. For me painting is the practice of WrongThink. But now as a designer I am afraid of breaking rules. Through this class I look forward to figuring out how to approach interior design wrongly.

__________________

“Solutions to wicked problems can be only good or bad, not true or false. There is no idealized end state to arrive at, and so approaches to wicked problems should be tractable ways to improve a situation rather than solve it.” Wicked Problems

I agree with this line from Wicked Problems. I think that when people look to totally solve a wicked problem they end up creating more problems. The most effective way to improve a society is to expect struggle and alleviate it as much as possible. I think progress requires honesty and the ability to accept difficult truths about humanity and ourselves.