January 2022, Design Justice Newsletter
Dear DJN Members, Signatories, and Friends,
We’ve welcomed in the new year, and are feeling energized and connected to you all. We hope that moments of rest and joy were experienced by all of you during the pause and any holiday or time off you may have had.
The shape and size of our newsletters may be shortened over the next few months while we are building more capacity for them - but we hope you still enjoy reading the various upcoming events, opportunities and member stories. If you’d like to support these newsletters, or join the communications working group, we’d love to work with you - please take a look at the opportunities section below! Be sure to read the “What we’re sharing” section this month - as DJN members have shared some amazing content and resources!As always, thank you for continuing the work of design justice and have a lovely weekend.
- Taylor Simone and Victoria Barnett, DJN International Network Coordinators, and the DJN Communications team!
Email: designjusticenetwork@gmail.com
Instagram: @designjusticenetwork
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/designjusticenetwork
Twitter: @design__justice (double underscore)
Web: designjustice.org
This month we are featuring an interview with Emily Horgan from Creative Mornings on her work in design and with design justice. This story/video was originally published on Creative Mornings: creativemornings.com/cities/edi Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram - watch the video below!
Emily Horgan (she/her) is an Irish user researcher and creative based in Edinburgh. After earning a degree in Computer Science, she turned her focus towards human centred and inclusive design practices in user interface and experience design. Currently, she works as a user research consultant with a particular focus on behavioural design, and is a member of the Design Justice Network since 2020.
Emily has written about a number of social issues including gender, health and ethical technology. Her writing and artwork have been featured in The Irish Times, Image Magazine, and Crimson. She is the co editor and curator of So Hormonal, an anthology of personal essays on the topic of hormones which was published in 2020 by Monstrous Regiment publishing house. You can find her on Twitter @emileee_rose
“Design should give power to people and free them from systems that exploit or harm them.”
Design is an invisible force that shapes all of our experiences, whether it’s the size of a catalog on your coffee table or the voice of the AI assistant on your smart device. As designer and user researcher Emily Horgan got deeper into her career, she realized that these invisible but powerful choices reflect the values of the dominant culture. For anyone who has experienced something wasn’t designed for them, the impact can range from frustrating to fatal. In her talk for CreativeMornings/Edinburgh, Horgan champions the work of the Design Justice Network and centering the people who are harmed by but have been excluded from the design process. Watch Emily Horgan’s eye-opening talk and learn to challenge who we think design is for.
DJN Connects! #DJNconnects
We want to take a moment to highlight DJN members meeting up: whether traveling to meet each other, in-person meetings, or chance happenings! We encourage all DJN members and signatories to share their stories and images around connecting. If you’d like to submit some images and a brief writeup or story about your meeting or visit in real life, please email them to us at desgnjusticenetwork@gmail.com - or post on your social media platform - tag us and use the hashtag #DJNconnects
Events
Find events happening this month or go to designjustice.org/events for more. If you have ideas on how our events can be more accessible, please send us an email.
Translate to your timezone using thetimezoneconverter.com or timeanddate.com.
Getting started with DJN
If you’re new to the Design Justice Network, welcome! Here are some resources to help get you started. As we continue to build these resources we welcome your questions and feedback.
Read an overview on how to get involved
Watch one of our Welcome to the Design Justice Network meeting recordings (Nov. 30, 2021 session is now uploaded)
Check out our YouTube channel
Read about our membership benefits
Receive care in our Design Justice Network Care Circle (a benefit for DJN Members)
Review our finances
Check out some DJN activities (NEW - these resources are being built).
DJN Facilitators Connect + Nodes & Working Group Updates
DJN Communications Working Group: If you’re interested in supporting the DJN newsletters, please get in touch! Please read more info on joining DJN Comms!
The Design Justice Network (DJN) Principles at Work (PAW) Zine subgroup is creating a series of mini-zines around applying the principles in professionalized workplaces. We are looking for visual and written submissions for the second mini-zine in the series, "Design Justice Principles at Work: Neurodiversity".
The topic of Neurodiversity in the workplace is of vital importance to helping Neurodivergent individuals find comfort and function in their daily work life as well as educating Neurotypicals (majority of population without neurodivergent conditions) in how to more effectively communicate and work with NDs.
The submission form can be found here.
The Design Justice Principles at Work working group can be reached at designjustice.atwork@gmail.com to get involved and learn more. They host two regular meetings a month, with various sub-groups, so please get in touch if you’re interested.
All of our current nodes and working groups are listed on our website. If you’re thinking of starting your own, learn more about how to organize a local node and read our local nodes zine that was created to support and give guidance to local nodes. (much of it applies also to Working Groups)
Volunteer opportunities
Would you be willing to share your experiences with the Design Justice Network? There are no prerequisites (including a traditional design background), and past stories have featured members working in a variety of fields such as social work, community organizing, and handicrafts. We make the process easy for you (no writing involved!) and will only share what/how you consent for us to. We are particularly interested in hearing from members outside of Europe and the North American East Coast. If you have questions or interests, please contact Lydia at designjusticenetwork@gmail.com.
Other opportunities
Submit an expression of interest to the Just Tech Fellowship: A full-time paid research fellowship practitioners to identify and challenge injustices emerging from new technologies and identify solutions that advance social, political, and economic rights. Deadline is 2 January 2022.
Donate to riseup: Riseup provides worldwide services to activists, journalists, human rights defenders, and… us! We use riseup to send this newsletter to you!
What we’re sharing
Here are some inspiration and resources we are sharing in and around the network.
Poetic Operations: Trans of Color Art in Digital Media: a consideration of contemporary digital media, artwork, and poetry in order to articulate trans of color strategies for safety and survival.
Watch Queer data launch: Data as a tool for social justice: Facilitated by Leah Lockhart co-convener of the Design Justice Network node for Scotland
Book Launch: The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression & Reflection
Article: Every Design Studio Should Be a Worker-Owned Studio, feat: Design Action Collective and Partner & Partners
The Corporate Playbooks Used to Combat Organizational Trauma (And Why They're Not Enough) - alba n. villamil, karen eisenhauer, vivianne castillo | visuals thumy phan
https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/104296/do-no-harm-guide.pdf- Do No Harm Guide, Applying Equity Awareness in Data Vizualisation
Cooper Hewitt is organising a two day workshop called Desiging Ecologies of Care, starting Feb 1
How from digital libraries to fully immersive schools, Indigenous leaders are reclaiming and spreading cultural knowledge to ensure it doesn't get lost