Design Activism: Three Areas of Impact

Image © Gensler

Not-For-Profits are intrinsically motivated; they are driven by passion for what they do and an extreme sense of purpose. Collaborating with them not only calls for a different breed of design intervention, it calls for a different type of designer as well—one who sees a calling far beyond empathy and can truly live and breathe their client’s mission. To address pressing global issues, designers will partner with other disciplines to address issues and solve problems. “Design can no longer afford to be used as an afterthought in any organization, and I would encourage all designers to take more proactive steps to redefine their roles beyond design to that of conscious and ethical decision makers,” Asta Roseway, fusionist at Microsoft, told Fast Company.

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Radical Collaboration: 48 in 48

Image © Gensler

Not-for-profits spend most of their time doing good, not looking good. One organization, 48in48, aims to change that—with an audacious goal: building 48 websites for 48 not-for-profits in 48 hours. Their first inaugural event in Atlanta in 2015 delivered $1,200,000 of value to not-for-profits over a 48 hour period. Since then, they have expanded to six cities—with a plan to reach 48 cities by 2025. The impact of delivering 2,304 websites to not-for-profits in one weekend has incredible potential for positive impact and provides significant value to the communities and missions they serve. But how could 48in48 extend this impact even further—to elevate their mission by taking their event to a global scale?

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A Place for a Mission: The San Francisco AIDS Foundation Center on Castro Street

Image © Gensler/Jasper Sanidad

This post is part of a blog series related to Dialogue 30, "The Livability Issue.”

The importance of place is often discussed in terms of one’s place in a family or society, and even of one’s place in the universe. How we relate to geography and find our way in either the natural or the built world all deals with our sense of a place and where we belong in it. Place informs us on the nuanced details of how we might find rest, support, supplies and shelter. For humans as well as for other animals, place is incredibly important to our sense of belonging, safety and well-being. It is the importance of place in human lives that led to Strut, the newest site for San Francisco AIDS Foundation, on Castro Street in San Francisco.

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The Positive Impact of Creative, Playable Spaces

826 Valencia Tenderloin Center. Image © Matthew Millman.

As designers we understand the powerful effect of creativity on ourselves and others. We challenge ourselves to create designs that inspire and connect people. We challenge ourselves to continuously seek new sources of inspiration, to create the new and unexpected. We do it because we love it, because it’s fun, because we form connections—with clients, partners and community members—and hope that our work is making even a little bit of a difference. But there is always the lingering question: does it matter? What is the actual impact of creative space?

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