Toppling Tropes and Decolonizing Design

Graphic designer and educator Ramon Tejada is sick and tired of the graphic design history narrative that has been traditionally taught design schools. He has taken on this challenge by creating an online open collaborative project, "The Decolonizing Design Reader." Here you will find articles and resources that challenge the traditional canons of design and a place where you can help create a new narrative.Tejada's work has been featured in the Walker Center magazine article, "How will we queer design education without compromise?" The article calls for a different approach to design education and asks educators to embrace a multiplicity of perspectives—to look at text as living things rather than just content.Changing the narrative is not a new topic of discussion in graphic design. Eye on Design recently wrote an article titled, "Why Role Models Matter: Celebrating Women of Color in Design." The article features advice from female graphic designers of color about how they approach design education and seek to empower and inspire students.Last June, Emily Gosling featured the thesis project, Led by Example, of Pratt Institute students Farah Kafei and Valentina Vergara, a campaign that tackles the gender imbalance in the design industry in an article title "How Can We Bring a More Inclusive History to Design Education?" The campaign featured events highlighting gender imbalance in the exhibit "Missing Pages," an installation highlighting women underrepresented in textbooks and "Against All Odds," a panel discussion led by women discussing the disparity in graphic design education.A few years ago designers Amelie Lamont and Timothy Goodman started the website People of Craft to showcase creatives of color and their designs, illustrations, lettering and more.In an industry that has long been underrepresented by diversity, we must actively seek ways to change the narrative. Projects like these and Tejada's Decolonizing Design Reader are a good place to start.