The role of Self Ref1ection in Design
The Summer of 2020 was an unusual time. The world paused, and the pandemic life was taking a toll. In the midst of this, it became important to understand and reflect on the value and the strength that communities have in building together. Creators, artists and researchers across India came together to share and better value and understand the impact of creativity. Here, Aditi Kapre and I co-facilitated a workshop for young designers to understand their roles and the value of Self-Reflection in the process of design. As participant paid workshop, the funds raised were donated to charities across India and covered material relief for COVID-19, Flood relief in Eastern India and the Rohingya Refugee Crisis.
(A Collaboration Project done with DAM Design, India)
Participation and Impact
Over the course of 2 weeks, we designed a virtual space for this conversation. With over 15 participants from different parts of the world, we dissected the definition of Social Impact, the importance of self-reflection and most importantly recognised our roles as designers in creating “with” than “for”. We designed the conversation to be a safe space for reflections and introduced basic tools for the participants to use in their practices.
Getting the Word out there!
We used Instagram as one of our primary agents to market and spread the word. We were a part of a series of workshops to be conducted over 3 weeks and amongst talented designers who focused on different design realm aspects.
Breaking the Ice and Agreements
We aimed to make sure that the conversation was open, allowed sharing and ensured co-creation. We designed simple prompts that led to personal reflections and questions regarding our practices in design. Our community agreements helped us create a safe space for all and led us to build a conversation foundation.
Workshopping and Creating
The activities we designed were a combination of personal and group time. These aimed to create self-reflection practices, especially as designers and creators. The prompts also helped nudged towards creating mechanisms for shifting these reflections into actions. We shared out our process and learned from each other too!
