Jean Jullien
During the Paris attack in 2015, people from all over the world were explicitly using the #PrayForParis. Amongst all the fear and wisps of sadness in the air, an artist, Jean Julien sensed the importance of spreading the call for peace. He designed a ‘Peace for Paris’ symbol to communicate one simple and strong piece of communication – Peace. The illustration of the Eiffel tower, rendered in bold with black strokes against a white background was very powerful in its simplicity.
Candy Chang
If tomorrow was your last day on earth, what would be your biggest regret? Well, I am certain most folks haven’t even made a list of things we always wanted to do, spare about pursuing them.
After the death of a loved one, Taiwanian- American artist Candy Chang realised the reality that most of us aren’t living a fulfilled life. That’s when she chalked a wall in her neighbourhood ‘Before I die I want to …..’ which was filled by people’s dreams and aspirations in 24 hours.
In the age of increasing distractions, this wall got their neighbourhood close. Not just there, over 5000 ‘Before I die’ walls were created around 75 countries around the world. This wall has become a tribute to living an examined life.
Brian Singer
Brian Singer, an acclaimed artist of The 1000 journal project and the current manager of the Facebook design team, ran a campaign raising awareness for the homeless people. This singer is known for his street art with a message.
He made signs using cardboard found from streets with ‘home street home’ written in the hand-stitched form. This was a gratitude reminder for people who can call a place their home. That space was eventually going to be used as an art space and for low-income housing.
Sam Barclay
One simple yet constructive formula to make this world a better place – practice empathy. With a mix of empathy and good design, you can enlighten millions out there about a problem you could never have understood or imagined.
What’s it like to be Dyslexic? Nobody can imagine. But, Sam Barclay showed that side of the world with his unique design. He designed a book for dyslexic children which not only works for their aid but also demonstrates the others of what kind of difficulty these special ones have to face.
A beautiful, design-led experience of what it is like to struggle with reading. Bravo Sam!
Emily Pilloton And Matthew Miller
Mathew Miller and Emily Pilloton, designer-activists of a non-profit design and architecture agency decided to go on a long trip across the country in a vintage airstream trailer (mini-caravan) that they custom built for over 3 months.
Well, it was not to enjoy the countryside but was a remarkable journey to teach students of 25 different schools about design and social change. The duo designers drove across the country for the next 75 days over 6300 miles which also showcased over 40 humanitarian products as well as workshop series.
Through all of this, their only motive was to bring a design that makes a difference to the doorsteps of average citizens and students.
From all of this, we can understand that Design influences people. Anything that influences people, can make an impact on our society, right? So, why not have designers use their work to put a face on a particular cause that creates social change. Clever right?
