Design + Diversity and the Advertising Industry | Amera Lulu
The three-day conference itself was hosted at Columbia College Chicago, and its speakers were from companies like Adobe, Google, Microsoft among others. The main focus of the conference was exploring proactive ways to make the design industry more diverse. However, not in the typical way you maybe think of such as diversity of race, gender, and place of origin. However, diversity in our industry in terms of making sure our industry and work is diverse and represents diverse people. Also accessible to all, including people of disability, and the elderly. So we were not leaving one segment of consumers out of our work in favor of another.
The conference has been four years and was founded by Tim Hykes and Antionette Carroll with the mission to inspire and celebrate diversity within the design and communications community.
Each year the D+D conference provides speakers across the full range of design; from visual to interaction to architecture, urban planning, and advertising. With the goal to delve into topics such as Social and racial justice, ageism, ableism, technology and big data, organizational culture, DEI, and Equity-centered community design to list a few of the topics at the conference this year.
In the past, I been part of many Diversity and Inclusion programs such as MAIP (Multicultural intern Program) and was hired as part of a diversity initiative at Ogilvy. But the conversation I keep hearing over and over again was the importance of hiring more diverse talents to diversify the workplace; and how a diverse office can strengthen the work. Which are all valid points and essential conversations we must have with each other. But what I enjoyed most from the converse is the conversation regarding diversity beyond race, ethnicity, religion, and gender.
A speaker from Google said in one of the panels; "It is essential to make sure you work for a place values diversity and diversity and is one of its core values." If the company doesn't act on the core value, don't be afraid to go to leadership and talk about it. Changes in the works place regarding diversity aren't made overnight, but its the baby steps that make our work environments more inclusive over time.
Speaker Tatiana Mac talked about privilege in the workplace; she says, "Privilege gains our powers, but privilege also determines where we start and what obstacles are present when we begin our career.
As an Arab Latino American Muslim who wears a headscarf, I had many obstacles starting my career in advertising as a young creative. Hearing advice such as "we can change the powers we are given, and it is our responsibility as a whole to ignore hidden bias in the workplace, in our work and be aware of the choices we make. And to look beyond the norm for everything we do and designing systems that acknowledges and showcases minorities. This is something I try to practice often as a Junior Art Director At Ogilvy New York with my clients.
Sadie Red Wing, A Native American Designer, and Activist talked about the need for more Native Americans in the field of design, communication, and advertising. Native American history is essential to American history, yet it something barely talked about in our current schooling systems as well as the visual language that is dying that is essential to their identity to preserve for future generations.
She highlights the more minority students who enter the field, the more diverse work will be made to highlight these hidden communities. And I can relate with that as a being the product of a Palestinian immigrant; I always try to preserve when possible the dying Palestinian art and design that is important to me and share with others regardless if it is a small element in my logo or a design exploration at work.
Perspective in Design is a powerful tool, but one thing before this conference I had never thought of was the term "Equity Designer." A Designer that puts people first, who are embedded in communities they serve and who are open to suggestions and collaborations. Because not every situation does diversity equal inclusions but the importance of equity in our industry.
My greatest takeaway from the conference is the importance of diversity in our industry. And not just diversity as race, ethnicity, and background. But having an authentic, diverse perspective ingrained into everything we create.
