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The Design Activist's Handbook: How to Change the World (Or at Least Your Part of It) with Socially Conscious Design
We Want You!
Will you join the ranks of design activists?
Doing good is too important to think of as work better left to those fictitious "other" designers. People more famous. More talented. More connected. Richer. Younger. Braver. (Insert your own mental roadblock here.) In truth, anyone can be a design activist.
It just starts with a commitment to yourself and your values. A commitment to making conscious choices and realizing how all the decisions you make as a graphic designer affect other people and the planet. It's about being awake instead of sliding by with the way things always have been done.
This book is for every graphic designer who's ever sat at a computer, Is this it? Isn't there more? It's a tool to help you figure out how to start making a difference and making a living at the same time--no matter where you live and work right now.
Just open this book and we'll help you start walking in the right direction. It doesn't have to be perfect. Little actions from a lot of people add up to big change. This isn't a contest about who's the greenest or the most radical. It's a movement, and we're inviting you to join right now.
Will you join the ranks of design activists?
Doing good is too important to think of as work better left to those fictitious "other" designers. People more famous. More talented. More connected. Richer. Younger. Braver. (Insert your own mental roadblock here.) In truth, anyone can be a design activist.
It just starts with a commitment to yourself and your values. A commitment to making conscious choices and realizing how all the decisions you make as a graphic designer affect other people and the planet. It's about being awake instead of sliding by with the way things always have been done.
This book is for every graphic designer who's ever sat at a computer, Is this it? Isn't there more? It's a tool to help you figure out how to start making a difference and making a living at the same time--no matter where you live and work right now.
Just open this book and we'll help you start walking in the right direction. It doesn't have to be perfect. Little actions from a lot of people add up to big change. This isn't a contest about who's the greenest or the most radical. It's a movement, and we're inviting you to join right now.
184 pages, Paperback
First published September 7, 2012
11 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
Noah Scalin
9 books88 followersNoah Scalin is an artist and author based in Richmond, Virginia. Noah is the creator of the Webby Award winning art project Skull-A-Day . His fine art has been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally, including the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago, and Krause Gallery in NYC. He also co-runs the art & innovation consulting firm he founded Another Limited Rebellion and is a sought after public speaker on creativity. He is the author of six books including most recently Creative Sprint: Six 30-Day Challenges to Jumpstart Your Creativity which he co-wrote with his sister Mica Scalin. He's also the creator of the collaborative science fiction universe League of Space Pirates.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 9, 2019
Almost ten years old, I still found this book useful and encouraging. If one is going through a desire, because of the urgency of getting society to deal urgently with the #climateemergency, to ecologize one's self quicky, this book might be a nice guide for your trip. Even if you don't think of yourself as a designer (but don't you actually do that to your life each and every day?
You'll think and act differently after you finish it. You might even feel you've found a new community for yourself, among design activists.
Nice, provocative posters used for examples. Quick read.
You'll think and act differently after you finish it. You might even feel you've found a new community for yourself, among design activists.
Nice, provocative posters used for examples. Quick read.
November 12, 2017
Interactive reading; seamlessly flows of ideas, practical approaches and real examples with many reference points.
March 19, 2024
not helpful :(
January 13, 2021
This is a book that does exactly what it means to, even 8 years after its initial release. If you are a designer who wishes to start making a difference, the resources and case studies in *The Design Activist's Handbook* will be incredibly valuable. It serves as a guide on how to turn that intention into practice, and it feels like a breath of fresh air in an industry that is desperately gasping for it.
Wherever you may find yourself, you can make a difference with your voice, your story, your vision.
Wherever you may find yourself, you can make a difference with your voice, your story, your vision.
June 13, 2016
A good broad overview of how to begin using your design powers for good. Scalin and Taute give advice, examples, and practical tips for moving from the frustration of being an eye candy pusher to the steady practice of utilizing your position as a designer to bring about positive change. Not a radical all-or-nothing tirade, the authors advocate dipping your toes in the proverbial water and explore ways to swim deeper within various design spheres—from in-house to freelancers to startups.
December 12, 2020
As a graphic designer and queer activist this helps the to rethink a lot of my manner as a designer. It got to me as a friends gift and it has helped me to shape my activism, really great as an academic support for exercises
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews