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Design & People Co-founder Sethu Das (Left) joins Sugár János, Keiko Sei, Prof Yvonne P Doderer and Eross Nikolett for a Political Design workshop at Trafo House of Contemporary Arts, Budapest, Hungary on February 27, 2012. (Photo: Trafo)

February 27-29, 2012, Budapest, Hungary
Trafo Political Design Workshop
Trafo House of Contemporary Arts, Hungary organised a Political Design workshop which according to the House was all about "the possibilities, resources and methods for the communication of political thinking, held by international designers and theoreticians." The four-day long lectures and workshop held at both Trafo and Labour in Budapest was aimed to gain the theoretical and practical knowledge which helps to form opinions supporting human rights and franchise, and, that promotes social responsibility and solidarity. The Political Design workshop in Hungary was held from February 27-29, 2012 and was supported by ERSTE Stiftung, the EU Culture Programme and the National Cultural Fund of Hungary. The lecturers include Prof Yvonne P Doderer (Architect, Urban Researcher, Professor for Cultural Studies at the University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf and Office of Trans-disciplinary Research and Cultural Production, Stuttgart, Germany); Eross Nikolett (Curator) & Sugár János (Contemporary Artist and Curator); Keiko Sei (Media Theorist and Curator) and Sethu Das (Co-founder of Design & People).

Report by 'Budapest Times'

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Design & People Poster (April 2012)
One World, One Dream — A World Without Dow
In the 1950s the Dow company managed Rocky Flats Plant, a nuclear weapons production facility that produced Plutonium. In the 60s, Dow Chemical actively manufactured Agent Orange, a dioxin chemical defoliant for US military to be used in the Vietnam War. And in the 80s, in Bhopal, India, the Dow Chemicals leaked tonnes of deadly poisonous gas killing up to 25,000 people and injuring millions. In 2012, the very same US multinational company responsible for the deaths of millions of people worldwide is sponsoring another human tragedy with the London Olympics 2012, by becoming one of the worldwide partners of the Games along with other corporate criminals such as Coca-Cola, MacDonalds, P&G, Cadbury's etc. We believe that by accepting the dirty corporate sponsorship money from Dow by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), the sanctity of the Olympics, an global event meant to celebrate the spirit of the mankind is now ruined forever.

Design & People poster in solidarity with the victims of the worldwide cruelties of Dow Chemicals. One World, One Dream — A World Without Dow. DOWnload

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Study, Distribute, Display, Share, Transform & Develop
Design & People Posters
Design & People has created hundreds of posters on various issues and topics — from Free Tibet Movement to Free Software Movement. These posters are used by our patrons and supporters for their campaigns and movements across the globe. The Design & People artworks are used by individuals and institutions to study, distribute, display, share, transform and also to develop them further. This section presents some of the most popular Design & People posters for social improvement and political change.

Enter

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Design & People on "I'm Anna"
Why I'm Anna, Not A Parliamentarian
Design & People believes that if Anna Hazare has managed to unite the entire nation in less than thirty days during his last agitation for a meaningful Lokpal Bill, it is simply because he spoke the language of the ordinary Indians, not the language of the elite and the affluent class of this country. English was replaced with Hindi; babus with activists; hypocrisy with simplicity; cowardice with courage and finally — words with action. We believe that victory or failure is not very important in struggles for the goodness of a nation. Read a writeup by Aadarsh Prakash, a student from the Delhi University on "Why I Am Anna" which will make us understand why one should be with Anna, not the so-called Parliamentarians.

I'm Anna because he brought thousands of people out of the serenity of their houses into scorching heat of public places, which were noisy and full of mud and rain water, to fight for their rights — their right to tell the government that they want a strong system to prevent and fight corruption, to castigate those who are guilty of stealing our money. I'm Anna because he didn't use any means of violence as his weapon. Indeed, he used the mahatma's non-violence — a weapon that doesn't destroy life but changes society. I'm Anna because he did not denigrate democracy. He never asked the Prime Minister to step down; neither did he ask the ruling party to quit power. He only reminded the government that the people are the masters of the land.

I'm Anna because he does not belong to any political party; his acts are not in favour of any party. He did not discriminate people on the basis of religion, caste, creed or sex. I don't remember any name or religion of the person around me while shouting "mai bhi anna tu bhi anna ab to sara desh hai anna" in Ramlila Maidan. I knew only one thing — they were my friends, Indians and countrymen. I'm Anna because he is one of those people who gave up food so that the poor can have food, without caring about his health or age or even his life.

I'm Anna because once again he made us realise that we are a nation, we are united. John Lawrence rightly remarked on the first War of Independence "Had a single leader of ability arisen among them (the rebels) we (British) must have been lost beyond redemption." We had an able leader with us this time and that is why we won the battle. But the war remains to be tackled.

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"Social and Political Change Through Design" session at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. Resource Faculty: Sethu Das, Co-founder of Design & People.

January 16-28, 2012, NID, Ahmedabad
"Social and Political Change Through Design"
Can design make a contribution to the ongoing efforts of improving the lives of those disadvantaged by war, disability, and political and environmental conditions? Can graphic images be powerful messages for social improvement and political change? The objective of "Social and Political Change Through Design" International Open Elective 2012 course at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad by the Resource Faculty Sethu Das, Co-founder of Design & People was an attempt to redefine the function and purpose of Design. The Open Electives are offered to students in the Graduate Diploma Programme in Design and the Post Graduate Diploma Programme of NID.

In Conversation with Dr Ela Bhatt | Photos

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"Nine Ways to Understand Design & People" — Read

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Sept 22, 2011, Basis Frankfurt, Germany
"Design as a Socio-Political Form of Expression"
On September 22, 2011 Katharina Jourdan of Design & People spoke at Basis Frankfurt, Germany as a part of its "Fall Programme" series of lectures, presentations, workshops and a two-day exhibition that focus thematically on various applied disciplines. The first of the lecture series titled "Design as a Socio-Political Form of Expression", Katherine Jourdan spoke about the Design & People network, which promotes independent, social, political and environmental projects and also the way in which they themselves get involved with core issues. She also spoke briefly about Open Design Philosophy of Design & People and projects such as Periyar Riverkeeper, Friends of Tibet Wellbeing, Buddha Smiles Education etc. Katherine Jourdan also introduced the re-launched, redesigned website of Periyar Riverkeeper — www.periyarriverkeeper.org, a project she was able to work and complete based on her own first-hand experiences during her recent one-month visit to India.

Report by 'Slanted' Magazine | Website of Katharina Jourdan

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Prof Kirti Trivedi on
"Sustainable Rich Life For All"

Prof Kirti Trivedi of IIT Mumbai speaks on "Sustainable Rich Life For All" in a face-to-face organised by Design & People on June 19, 2011 at Kochi. (Photo: Shibu Prabhakaran)

"Objects Rooted in Soil: Objects of Value" — It is a simple sounding but profound statement. We are surrounded by objects of desire which necessarily may not be rooted in soil and we are bombarded by advertisements driving us to chase and own them. According to Prof Trivedi, this is sharply in contradiction to the sustainability in its real meaning. The way of life as we have now is not sustainable, even for the rich. The simple statistics that against a population increase by 50% over the past 50 years, the corresponding resource utilisation has increased by 1000% means that we are eating up all that is there at such speed that there won't be much left for the coming generations.

There is a notion that the material goods consumption is a driver of economy. So it is necessary to encourage the consumption. The growth and development of a country is gauged by its goods consumption. The terms GDP, PPP (Purchase Power Parity), etc used to assess how developed a nation is, are not realistic ones. A major portion of the consumption of goods is by a miniscule section of society because wealth is concentrated in this small section and thus arriving at a per capita figure with this kind of data would be totally misleading, especially in a country like India where the per capita earning is said to be hardly Rs 20 per day. As Gandhiji taught and as Dr APJ Abdul Kalam commented, so long as the benefits of the so-called development do not reach the ordinary citizen living in the remotest villages, such development has no real worth.

Full Report

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Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany
Re-Designing the East: Political Design in Asia and Europe
'Re-designing the East: Political Design in Asia and Europe' symposium/exhibition made a grand beginning at the Württembergischer Kunstverein of Stuttgart, Germany. Chris Hans and Iris Dressler, Directors of the institute formally opened the event by presenting the artists, designers and curators to a colourful gathering on September 25, 2010. The symposium/exhibition that explores the work of Polish designer Jerzy Janiszewski who created the historic Solidarity logo; Czech designer Joska Skalník, who was actively involved in the so-called 'Velvet Revolution' and now faced with the accusation of being an informant to Czechoslovakia's secret intelligence; Thai designer Pracha Suveeranont who developed the 2007 boycott campaign and the work; activist projects by the design group Activism of Graphic Imagination (AGI) and by the artist Noh Suntag, South Korea; Laboratory of Imitation of Hungary; and the work and philosophy of Design & People, concluded on January 9, 2011 attracting more than 6,000 people.

Design & People Co-founder Sethu Das presents the Indian section of the 'Re-Designing the East: Political Design in Asia and Europe' symposium/exhibition at the Württembergischer Kunstverein at Stuttgart, Germany on September 25, 2010. The section titled 'Swaraj in Design: Opportunities for Conscious Learning and Sharing' focuses on the work and philosophy of Design & People, an organisation he co-founded in 2003. (Photo: Sung Hyun Sohn / Activism of Graphic Imagination, South Korea)

Conceptualised by Keiko Sei, the symposium will have Maks Bochenek (Poland), Hans D Christ and Iris Dressler (Germany), Sethu Das (India), Nikolett Eross (Hungary), Tomas Pospiszyl (Czechoslovakia), Keiko Sei (Japan/Thailand) and Nathalie Boseul Shin (South Korea) as curators. Württembergischer Kunstverein is highlighting critical and resistive design practices in Europe and Asia from the 80s to the present with particular focus on the role of both design and designers in the context of sweeping social, political, economic, and cultural upheaval. The event is organised by WKS in co-operation with Trafó Gallery, Budapest; Wyspa Institute of Art, Gdansk and Total Museum, Seoul with financial support from European Commission.

'Re-Designing the East' Introduction | Photos

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Design & People
'Open Design & Information'
Inspired by the energies of Swaraj, creativity and non-cooperative political activity, the open space created by Design & People function as an informed platform to make life better for the vulnerable communities all over the world. Encouraging the participation of professionals and the civil society to freely share knowledge and skills to creatively transform lives of the underprivileged has become the day's political action promoted by Design & People.

Today, all oppressed people in the world has the total right for the free information provided in this professional space to empower themselves in resolving their issues and ensuring sustainability in their solutions. 'Open Design & Information' is the process of free gathering of information from all corners of the world to bring people together and endorse solidarity for conscious eradication of all types of repression and guarantee the responsibility in making the future better for everyone.

The 'Open Design & Information' policy of Design & People grants users the freedom to copy, share, study, distribute, display, transform or even make derivative works based on Design & People artworks — both visual and written — for any non-commercial or academic purpose. We advise the user who creates a subsequent work based on the original artwork make no attempt to remove it from the Public Domain. By choosing to contribute to the evolution of the work of art, the user agrees to give others the very same rights.

. 'Swaraj in Design' Read
. Why 'Open Design & Information'? Read
. 'Open Design' from Design & People Enter
. 'Open Information' from Design & People Enter

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Know Us Better
Media on Design & People
For many, Design & People spells an unconventional concept. Today we are more than a group of volunteer designers working for social and humanitarian projects. To know us better you may read news items on Design & People and its activities appeared in various national and international publications.

. 'Design for the Other 90%' (Contruction Week Online | May 2010)
. 'Designers With A Cause' (Architect & Interiors India | September 2009)
. 'Designs for a Better World' (items | May 2006)
. 'The Visual Metaphor Of Dissent' (PDF) (Outlook | January 2005)
. 'Design Is Not Enough' (January 2005)
. 'Save Periyar Mural Campaign' (December 2004)
. 'Introducing Cobworks with Elke Cole' (December 2004)
. 'Story of Two Liberations' (November 2004)
. 'International Protest Day' (March 2004)
. 'Save Periyar Rally' (September 2003)
. 'Portriat of a Corporate Crime' (August 2003)
. 'Design & People: A Journey Begins' (August 2003)

Items on Design & People (May 2006)
'Designs For A Better World'
Dutch design magazine 'items' on Design & People and the people behind the unusual network of designers and architects in its story — 'Designs For A Better World'.
Read (Dutch)

Outlook on Design & People (Jan 2005)
'The Visual Metaphor Of Dissent'
Popular Indian Weekly 'Outlook' features Design & People in 'Making a Difference', a profile of people who work under wraps, beyond the laudatory limelight.
Read (English)

Architect & Interiors on Design & People (Sept 2009)
'Designers With A Cause'
Maria Louis, Editor of 'Architect & Interiors' magazine interviews Sethu Das and Suku Dass — Co-founders of Design & People.
Read

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"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to 'Swaraj' for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melting away."
(One of the last notes left behind by Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, expressing his deepest social thought)

Design & People F: +91.11.47615142 E: support@designandpeople.org W: www.designandpeople.org