Thinking About Design Activism

I was very interested to read about the use of design as a form of activism in the Accessible Icon Project. While I was aware of the pivotal use of initiatives like this to further social justice efforts, especially during the AIDS epidemic, it was really impactful to learn more about how the same guerilla art tactics are being used to galvanize wider conversations about accessibility and disability justice. In this case, not only does this way of using design disrupt the traditional imagery of public spaces and spark widespread questioning of inclusion, but it also catalyzes the creation of networks of activists working towards similar justice-centered goals. The process and development of this project, from street art to a “social design project,” utilizing professional standards and bringing it into community organizing and connection making, is just one example of how impactful design can be at drawing attention and bringing people together. The proliferation of the project reminds me of our conversations about disability culture as an ongoing process of questioning and reworking. Street art campaigns like this bring attention and awareness to disabled experiences and value outside their traditional bounds, and encourage people to add to the conversation and activism. Instead of cut-and-dry “solutions” to exclusion, they offer opportunities to continue and expand conversations in an ongoing process of access. They seem like they can be a part of the process of creating and building up ever-changing spaces of disability culture. 

Specifically in terms of the visual impact of the Accessible Icon Project, the adaptation of the traditional Symbol of Access to include motion through space seems relatively simple, but does such important metaphoric work, bringing in ideas of disabled capability and autonomy vital to disability justice and creating spaces that see and value disability. Especially when placed alongside the originally professionalized design, it disrupts traditional visual narratives of belonging and prompts important questioning into the reality of access in public spaces, beyond surface-level denotations of access that might not truly map onto lived experience. I thought it was really interesting to consider some of the upsides and downsides to this Symbol of Access generally, as discussed in the contextualizing section “Notes on Design Activism." While the visualization of a wheelchair user, like in the traditional symbol, inevitably leaves out many identities, it is a uniting symbol that is visible and identifiable to all, and there is solidarity and universality in that. Ultimately, there can be no “perfect” symbol, as access has an infinite number of meanings and is constantly changing, but nevertheless, this renewed symbol and project do important work that is advancing collective societal efforts towards access, and is responsive to changing conceptions of access and their importance in the current social moment.