On-Going Beginnings
Solidifying My Never-Ending Quest for Identity
It’s quite a challenge starting a new venture in these trying times. Especially as a designer / creative (a POC at that) having to create aesthetically and conceptually pleasing what-have-you’s while abiding to stringy capitalistic rules, working in a slightly abrasive society, rejecting apathetic-tendencies, combatting ideologies, and considering of adjacent cultures that is seemingly evolving at hyper-speed while others disintegrate in their own clouded bubbles. It’s disheartening to see important voices retreat in their own wilderness (except for self-care and development), but we need those voices to carry us onward and upward. This premise is not a sly set-up to say that, I am one of those voices, because I’m not. But I can be some form of a walking cane. A guide-dog. A robotic exoskeleton, if you will.
I think this is where design, creativity, and all of its humanistic tools like empathy and vision come into play. 45’s attempts to cut off the NEA, which is an institutional symbol for creative liberation, is akin to cutting off the water hose that nurtures the garden that we so need right now. It is not idealist or to be a hopeless romantic saying that art and design will save us.
This writing attempt of mine is not an end-all, but rather a supplementary cause to be curious in the face of uncertainty. The neuroscientist and artist Beau Lotto once said:
“Only through uncertainty is there a potential for understanding.“
So my understanding of this, as I soon click ‘publish’ to a long over-due Medium post, is that I’m creating a social contract with the reader. The author creates a vow to their audience that the content should be as truthful as the persona one presents to the world. As we all know, “truth” can be a tricky beast in the greater sense, but also introspectively. Locking in my liquid-like identity is a challenging feat more than one might imagine. It’s taking a leap and committing to the fall, while enjoying the rush of simplicity and it’s madness.
Essentially, this is a promise by me of some sort, that whatever I put out there, I will try to make sure the spirits are aligned. The soul of the content must feel real—but of course, you’re obviously free to be skeptical. The universe knows much of us need to practice skepticism as a tool against info-oppression.
On Design Fiction
It seems ironic to say that truth is a pillar in fiction, but art teaches us time and time again that they always go hand-in-hand. Back in art school, we used design-fiction to prop up theoretical projects that subconsciously threaded our deepest desires for the perfect project, the perfect client, or the perfect problem-solving equation.
For example, I had a project that presented a premise of co-branding two completely different companies to form a sub-brand of my choosing. Back in 2006, I chose to put Motorola, a communications-product heavyweight at the time, coupled with the Nintendo Wii to create an easy-to-use and fun health-monitoring experience. I called it, Mi+ (pronounced “me”).
Funnily enough, the Wii came out with the Wii Fit a year later, but that particular experience was more fun than function. The difference, between my proposal and that offering, was that users were able to connect with real doctors, in real-time providing real medical advice, using supplementary monitoring and therapeutic tools in the innovative design vein of Nintendo, with the practicality and rock-solid performance of Motorola’s.
Nevertheless, discussions of health data collection were on the rise — whether it was in a small classroom nestled in the hills above the Rose Bowl, or in some tech incubation lab led by rogue engineers using design principles NOT just to disrupt the market, but to actually solve real needs.
My Mission
Design fiction creates curiosity just like science-fiction. Except, the premises are grounded on near-future practicality and a slightly romanticized vision, instead of using the supernatural to achieve end-goals.
As I funnel all of my creative job titles into just being called a “designer”, which is really a low-level author (or high-level, depending how optimistic you are), I plan to use meaningful, contemporary story strategies in spaces that communicate or reduce pain, express hope in techno-human means whether it’s commercial, cultural, or just plain far-out, pie-in-the-sky gnarly thought experiments.
As we head into a world of automation, oppressive governments, and battered late-stage capitalism, I want to document or at least transgress those experiences into design stories in this space — sometimes with aspects of being a person of color, and/or as an individual struggling in undisclosed battles. Maybe they’ll be just regular stories exploring curiosity. Maybe I’ll be asking more questions rather than selling expertly crafted case studies. I’m humble enough to be countered, but I at least want dialogue. I am not immune to fallibility. My late lawyerly father would agree and scold me so.
With those conditions in mind, I will try to commit a “steady” stream of essays and posts as much as my daytime occupation will let me. Thank you for being curious. ☯
I’m Carlo Llacar. You can follow me at @carlo_llacar on Twitter and Instagram. I’m a designer of some sorts, and I’ve been a founder of a few ventures outside of design, so I’m here to find myself again, among other things. I run a small design practice in the beautiful city of Long Beach, California, which is about 25 miles south of Los Angeles. Let’s chat, about ideas, about regular things, or if you want to work together on solving real problems.
