Graphic Designers: Advocates for social change

Four of our third-year BA (Hons) Graphic Design students are working on the project, two students have chosen to work collaboratively and two independently. In our initial briefing we presented a series of challenges around how the othering of individuals can be represented and how obesity should be looked at as a chronic condition – not a self-inflicted habit. This first stage of research was essential, as our students were quick to recognise how entrenched in the language of bias obesity is and how contrary this is to the science. Not only was this an important moment in establishing priorities for the project but also for our students as Graphic Designers. Whilst recognising this as a societal issue our students also had to question their own in-built biases, in affect acknowledging their own internal complicity before focusing more widely on society, education and misinformation. We have been impressed by our student’s willingness to go on this journey and how a project such as this can challenge the positioning of Graphic Design as a mere service provider and reframes the designer as an advocate for social change.

Our students have methodically worked through stages of research and development to locate and prioritise key challenges within the brief. This has been both an expansive and reductive process, which has required the students to explore widely but also to succinctly identify viable creative routes. These processes have informed a more in-depth understanding of the brief which has been reframed as the development of an educational tool, with the potential to shift preconceived ideas of obesity. This has now set the creative parameters for the project, the outcome of which will be a series of short animations – forming an awareness campaign across social media channels. Alongside the challenge of not othering people and aiming to remove personal bias from any creative solution, the students now have to think about human form, race and gender and the complexities of how do you create a visual response to obesity that is both inclusive and avoids bias?

This is an, ongoing project which will end in May. It is evident from the work produced thus far that our students are connecting with the topic on a creative and empathetic level, offering a balanced and well understood perspective on the subject matter. It has been a challenging but enjoyable process for our students which has offered them the invaluable opportunity to reflect upon their own position within society, whilst using design as a tool to open up this important conversation to a wider audience.

The synergy between the work of the Obesity Institute and the aims of the Graphic Design course to engage in work that is socially-conscious is, we hope, an indicator of the strength and longevity of this partnership. Looking forward, we would like to continue to explore how we can communicate the message of inclusivity and remove bias from our natural mindset. We are excited by the far-reaching potential this has for emerging technologies and other design solutions beyond the confines of our current approach.

Students working on the project:

• George Thomas
• Huw Wynne
• Taro Gent
• Jacob Church

Project Academic leads: Jonathan Briggs and Jo Hamill

Course Title: BA (Hons) Graphic Design