From Viktor Papanek to Matthew Wizinsky, many design theorists and practitioners have argued that design is often part of the problem rather than the solution. Following in the footsteps of Hal Foster, Adrian Forty, Ezio Manzini, Deyan Sudjic, Stuart Walker, Tony Fry, and Jonathan Chapman, we too are setting out to rethink the role of design and the designer. Our conference will present individual and collective design strategies that work within the cracks of capitalism to enrich human relationships and experiences rather than exploit them.  

We are looking for initiatives, models, products, interfaces, services, and studios that foster social collaboration, cultivation of relationships, care, or prosocial thinking – whether by going against the logic of consumer society or operating independently of it. We seek to collect good practices and case studies from the present and the past that can inspire the next generation of designers to move towards change.