Agency in Design: A Design Reader
Issues in Visual Communication Practice | 2022
This assignment was an invitation to critically evaluate class readings related to the discourse of design and develop a design reader as a response. A series of 4 texts were to be curated to form the reader, accompanied by a preface and afterword to provide some context.
In his book “Social Matter, Social Design”, the conversation about how ‘all design is social’ between Jan Boelen and Michael Kaethler explores the notion of social design, and design’s role in society. When asked about his interests about social design, Jan Boelen explains his curiosity about the implications of design, and questions “the extent to which we feel we have agency over our lives”. This illustrates the power and possibilities that design possesses, and shows how design, or designed products, can be major agents in our daily lives. The statement was also what inspired the concept and creation of this design reader.
This reader, Agency in Design, briefly peeks into the discourse surrounding design and agency, urging us to critically reflect upon our roles as designers to understand the importance of practicing agency.
In no particular order, the readings that populate this reader are as follows:
* Reassessing Design through Agency (Potvin, 2020)
* User Friendly: How the hidden rules of design are changing the way we live, work and play (Fabricant and Kuang, 2019
* How the Design of YouTube Influences User Sense of Agency (Choi, Fan, Hiniker, lyngs, Liao, Lukoff, Munson and Zade, 2021)
* Designers’ Agency: Human-centred Design in Communication Design Practice (Akama, 2007)
