THIS TOOLKIT EQUIPS GRAPHIC DESIGNERS WITH RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES FOR FACILITATING COMMUNITY-LED DESIGN PROJECTS.
"This document is based on my experiences both leading and assisting participation-driven design workshops that focused on community empowerment. Whether you're a designer who wants to make a difference in the community or a seasoned advocate looking for more ways to cultivate action, this toolkit provides you with tips and principles to help facilitate meaningful engagement. It's designed to be flexible based on your community's needs and circumstances. Please share your stories and feedback in order to improve our collective efforts!"
—Mike Fretto
WHY THIS TOOLKIT?
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
By equipping people with the basic tools of visual communication design, this Toolkit empowers them with their own voice rather than relying on someone else. As result, a sense of ownership and pride emerge. Fostering long-term efforts become more realistic, since they are powered from community members themselves, rather than an outside group.
HOME-GROWN
"Designing for good” sometimes falls short. Misunderstanding needs can, at times, have unintended consequences, and cause detrimental effects on a well-intentioned design project. The methods of this Toolkit aim to avoid these outcomes by allowing design concepts to be produced by those who best understand the problems fully—the community members themselves.
PEOPLE ARE HEARD
Whatever the socio-economic barrier, many people don’t have opportunities to speak up and be heard. Strategies in this Toolkit are built around hearing from them—offering options and resources to voice their concerns.
CUT OUT THE MIDDLE MAN
As an advocate, it can sometimes be challenging to articulate other peoples’ true needs. It’s complicated, but this Toolkit offers help. When equipped with design tools, people can voice issues in a different way. Design requires them to address a specific audience and further enables them to use simplified imagery to communicate a complicated idea. It’s this process that opens up opportunities to hear from people and enable meaningful reflection upon needs and concerns.
