In the past, the role of representation was often decided by white males, such as ISOTYPE designers Neurath and Arntz.
We adopt a critical stance towards the centralized agency inherent in this role. Instead, we advocate for designing a participatory process that incorporates diverse forms of knowledge and encourages the collaborative creation of visual systems.
“Today, I could talk about how I experience the design industry as a gender-non-conforming designer, or more specifically, how I make my living by taking the niche token of a queer Asian designer in my relationships with cultural institutions. However, unfortunately, the neoliberal capitalist, racist, patriarchal, and cis-heteronormative society denounces experiences from a marginalized body as trivial complaints. If we're fighting the modern myth of a singular-heroic-genius-designer who is usually a white man, we should be able to come up with a more strategic unit than the individualized self that is very likely to be objectified, fetishized, and commodified. How can we articulate the experience of oppression without being confined to the boundary of a singular practitioner-user-consumer, and discover common ground where we can unionize?"*
💧Diagramming Together
💧Interview with Jaap
💧ISOTYPE
* noam_yr, "The on-stage zine making performance at @collectiblefair ...,'" Instagram post, March 13, 2023, https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpuc3mAIprR/.