Across all texts, there is shared understanding that design is never neutral: it shapes our systems and ideologies. Disrupt calls for designers to be unpredictable and courageous in a corporate world. Navigate underscores the tensions of working within these commercial systems. Reveal exposes how design dictates our social norms and behavior. Together, they are in conversation about our role as designers, and design more broadly, in everyday life.
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We're meant to be Bad
Tibor Kalman and Karrie Jacobs
This article asks designers to disrupt the norms and embrace creative risks. In order to stand out, it probes designers to push boundaries.
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Ten Footnotes to a Manifesto
Michael Bierut
The article challenges the split between cultural and commercial design, reminding us that our responsibility is always to the public and that we must navigate this divide thoughtfully.
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All That is Solid
Michael Rock
This article argues that design shapes our world in ways we barely notice and encourages us to look closer to reveal the messages built into it.
Colophon
Designed and developed by Kimaya Sarin in Fall 2025 at The New School. This responsive site is built with HTML and CSS. Headings and body text are set in Poppins for its legibility and clarity. The visual language relies on basic geometric shapes and a bold color palette to demonstrate the fundamental nature of the pieces which examine designers and design at its core. This digital binding brings together three texts about design's power to disrupt, navigate, and reveal, exploring how designers shape systems and ideologies.