Design Thinking is Becoming a Driver of Innovation
Besides spatial orientation, creating a sense of place and knowing what is there, what other problems or needs might the experiential graphic design community solve for users?
Read Time: 3 minutes
I’m 3’6”. Life at this altitude has given me a unique perspective on the built world and inspired me as both a designer and an advocate for disability rights. For those of us in the design world, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a familiar standard; the civil rights law prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation and guarantees access to public and private places that are open to the general public. On July 26, 2022, the ADA celebrated its 32nd anniversary. This year, I turned 33. It’s humbling to know that I am the last generation born before this groundbreaking act was signed into law.
Read time: 4 minutes
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 34.8 million children in the United States have experienced some form of trauma – an adverse event that has long-lasting effects on their well-being, self-esteem, and ability to learn. Trauma-Informed Design (TID), a series of patterns which address the needs of the Whole Child, is quickly gaining traction as a series of design patterns that best help our children build resilience and become ready to learn. Bassetti Architects based in Seattle and Portland, has created a downloadable open-source Trauma-Informed Design Workbook, and Experiential Graphic Design (EGD) plays an important role in the design of these spaces.
Read Time: 3 minutes
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the United States, and in honor and recognition, SEGD presents this essay by contributor Shayla Hufana, Senior Art Director at Cognizant (Seattle, WA), a member of SEGD’s Racial Justice Commission and Co-Chair of SEGD’s Seattle Chapter. In her piece, Shayla writes about a work of public art she created in Seattle and how she hopes to empower AAPI youth “to reach beyond what any stereotype says of their background, identity or culture" and to be whoever they want to be.
Environmental graphics pioneer and SEGD Fellow Ann Dudrow passed away April 2, 2022, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease and cancer. Ann was an early practitioner of graphic design for architecture and had a forty-plus year career bringing colorful, placemaking graphics to retail environments around the world. Ann was a passionate ambassador for integrating artistic graphics, color and style into shopping environments and gathering places.
Read Time: 5 minutes
“People do not travel, nor experience life, in a rigid way that can be wholly preordained,” contends SEGD guest contributor Lisa Bambach. In this essay, inspired by International Wayfinding Month, Lisa examines how experiential designers can create wayfinding systems that go beyond “pointing in the right direction,” and instead encourage exploration, allowing individuals to make their own way, no matter where they might find themselves along their journey.
Read Time: 2 minutes
Dear SEGD Community, I’m honored to serve as SEGD President. I want to start by thanking Anna Crider for serving as President for the past two years. Anna’s leadership helped SEGD navigate a CEO search, the onset of the pandemic, and rethinking our education and community building through virtual and hybrid platforms. For those of you that I haven’t met, I’m a Principal at Mayer/Reed, a Pacific Northwest firm practicing experiential graphic design, landscape architecture and urban design. I co-founded the SEGD Portland Chapter and then joined the SEGD Board of Directors in 2016. To prepare for this role, I have served on the executive committee as Anna’s Vice President for the past two years.
Read Time: 6 minutes
In her designs for a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) in Cincinnati’s Westwood neighborhood, SEGD member and contributing writer Lisa K. Bambach faced a big challenge: how to define an outdoor public drinking area without erecting barriers to separate the “legal” space from the “illegal.” To do this, Lisa designed a series of information touchpoints—digital, physical and even disposable—to alert imbibers about the DORA’s rules and boundaries. Read Lisa’s account to learn how she did this.
Read Time: 5 minutes
"It's through mistakes that you actually can grow. You have to get bad in order to get good." Paula Scher, SEGD Fellow
I have always been an advocate for experimentation and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable in order to be truly creative. I think that Paula Scher’s quote is a good reminder particularly in these times for doing just that. We are all yearning for a crystal ball to understand what our workplaces will be like and how our businesses will need to adapt in the future. I’m guessing that over the last 18 months many of you have tried something new with your clients and peers. Most likely some things failed and others resulted in new ways of thinking and doing.
