Accountability

environment to benefit their communities. Design is a powerful means of expressing a
vision for what change might look like. Taking it public makes it possible for others to
see, respond, and even participate.
Sadly, it’s all too easy for communities lacking financial resources to become politically
marginalized. But by engaging friends, family, and neighbors, designers and artists
become community workers facilitating connections, dreams, and, ultimately, the
political power to realize those dreams. For teenagers, winning a favorable response to
their designs and public recognition of their ideas is a positive
reinforcement for personal growth.
As the students of Edcouch-Elsa High
School note in their documentary video, “This
project is more than
just about renovating a
public park, it’s about creating hope.”
By taking design
to the streets, the
students got a
lesson in civic
activism
and learned
that they have the
power to direct
public
policy, to
inspire
their
communities,
and to shape the
public space we share. They
learned that engaging and creative
design applies to issues
that matter not only to
boardroom elites, but to everyday people – and can
make the world a little bit better. Maybe there’s a lesson there for professional
designers as well.
________
To the Streets
Social Design Notes 18 May 2004
I wrote the essay below for the Design Issues column in the May/June 2004 issue
of Communication Arts. I profile a couple of folks using graphic design for advocacy. I
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