City as Identity

As part of the Making the City exhibition, AIGA/NY has organized a series of panel discussions exploring different ways in which New York City is made—and remade—through design. In these discussions, we will talk about how the role of the designer is also made anew. Because design for civic projects is often shared between organizations and disciplines, the designer cannot operate only as a visual form-giver at the end of a pre-established process. In addition, we are moving away from uni-directional awareness campaigns and towards designing the experience of the city itself.

City as Identity looks at how designers use empathy to tackle communication within a politicized and polarized socio-political context to, in turn, generate bottom-up engagement, spur economic development, and create impact. Using AIGA New York’s project in East New York, Identity Design Action (IDeA), as a case study, this panel will discuss the tools and strategies designers use to engage communities, gain trust, create local impact, measure project success, and provide an alternative to traditional economic development means.

Panelists
Sarah Nelson Jackson and Jonathan Jackson of WSDIA, IDeA design team
Megan Marini and Vanessa Smith of 3×3, IDeA research and storytelling team
Gail Davis of LDCENY, East New York community partner

Moderator
Laetitia Wolff, AIGA/NY program director, civic initiatives

Image
We Mean Business campaign, graphic design by WSDIA for IDeA East New York