The Importance of the Field of Social Design
The importance of an emerging field leveraging design-thinking, artistic storytelling, and sociopolitical analysis to generate community engagement and social impact.
Written by Kylan Stephon Hayes
What is Social Design?
As previously mentioned, social design is a newly emerging field. It sits at the intersection of art, design, and social policymaking. It’s a human-centered approach to problem solving, and leverages the power of storytelling to raise awareness of social issues the 3rd sector is working to solve. It’s an alternative to traditional marketing. Instead of promoting products and services, social designers promote narratives to generate community engagement and contribute to positive social change. We’re telling the stories that matter.
The complex nature of social design calls for a specialized skillset. It requires an interdisciplinary education between art, design, economics, strategy, policymaking, and sociology. It takes artists from their traditional roles in society and allows them to create for a bigger purpose. In speaking truth to power, social design lets the art do the talking.
Social Design is Necessary.
In a society growing with complexity, strategic designers with systems-level thinking are necessary to communicate and express social issues in a way that is understood. More importantly, social design strives to reveal the root issues facing specific social dilemma. It takes the perspective of those most affected by social problems and uses artistic storytelling to communicate this perspective. It reframes social issues from political problems to community tasks.
Social design disarms politics. It empowers communities to come together to create change rather than blame-casting. It is a utopian approach to problem-solving that allows artists, community members, leaders, and designers to ideate solutions relative to the people we serve.
Photo by "My Life Through A Lens" on Unsplash
Social Design is Transformative.
The essence of social design is storytelling. We are telling stories to challenge perspectives, introduce new narratives, reframe problems, and include true perspectives based on the experiences of those affected by social dilemma.
Storytelling as a strategy is within our DNA. It is one of the most effective ways to communicate a problem in a way designed to generate engagement. We are telling stories to not just reveal, but transform perspectives. This is done through a variety of art forms including traditional art, visual design, film, social media campaigns, print design, and more. Social design bridges the gap between art, design, and social policy. The story is the essence, so let’s let the art do the talking.
Social Design is the Future.
In an increasingly diverse society, a need for collaboration, community-engagement, and unconventionality is urgent. 3rd-sector organizations need an alternative to traditional marketing with a similar bottom-line goal: to promote positive social impact. The 3rd-sector is looking for ways to engage with their communities. Social design empowers the 3rd-sector to not just influence, but impact social policy.
The goal is to build bridges within society complexities and encourage social progress through community collaboration. So let’s use art and design to create for a bigger cause. Let’s continue to speak truth to power. Let’s let the art do the talking and introduce the conversations that need to be discussed. Let’s work together to change the world.
