The design team is feeling quite ‘political’ this week. Which is rare thing these days. Designers political beliefs are more often repressed through fear of upsetting the happy status quo of the design studio. This is a far cry from the 60’s. Just keep it all in, don’t cause a stir.
But then Greg Hands MP said a few things publicly in the Times and that was it! See post below for some of the more polite things that were said. “Where is the Design Union? Do we have one?” asked a few designers. No we don’t. Maybe there will be soon as some one has already dispatched an email to the TUC. On the flip side of the spectrum “Did you know Oswald Mosley ran amok with the fascists in the 30’s on the street outside?”. Politics is all around us, deeply engrained in to our lives, whether we like it or not. Then there was ‘Photoshop Friday’ albeit on Thursday, inspired by the Leader of the Opposition whos haters are gathering online momentum with this and this.
This may have all just been a matter of timing, as many of us are busy researching some of the historic routes of graphic design. Constructivism making way for Bauhaus. A depth of thinking behind graphic design that aims to improve peoples lives.
There is no single agenda in the studio. The political spectrum here is broad, left to right. But suddenly the political calm of the studio became a dynamic movement. Conversation outside of the norms of form and function. Its was a joy to watch. I’ve no doubt some of the current things we are working on will only benefit from this somewhat reactionary political moment within Digit. I look forward to seeing the next batch of Digits work.
