Chalk talk
The intro
It was a start to a whole new year of our Master's program at SVA DSI. A fresh new batch of people from all over the world came together for the first class of Fundamentals for Design Social Innovation on a Friday morning. I was very excited about this class in particular because many of the first year students have said great things about this class. They were saying things like “ All of you will cry..” and “Oh, it’s really life-changing!” Hearing it made me excited for sure, but tears? I was fearing it too.
Visualizing oneself
We started off the class by introducing each other. Our cohort of 25 each got the chance to talk about how our names came to be our names. We did get a chance to get to know each other briefly on the first day of school, but getting to know the behind the scenes of our ever so diverse group of people through the names we were given just brought us more together.
However, we went even deeper. With the help of some colorful chalks, we were to first draw out some of the topics of social change we want to see in this world. Then we were instructed to write some of the keywords that would depict and summarize what these drawings meant to us. For me, as a person who is interested in changing how businesses are run, I first drew images of money. Then I wrote the name of my role model Tibor Kalman. One of the quotes that really changed me on how I saw design was his quote. It goes like this.
“ I offer a modest solution: find the cracks in the wall. There are a very few lunatic entrepreneurs who will understand that culture and design are not about fatter wallets, but about creating a future. They will understand that wealth is a means, not an end. Under other circumstances, they may have turned out to be like you, creative lunatics. Believe me, they’re there and when you find them, treat them well and use their money to change the world.”
Tibor Kalman, 1998
I wanted to introduce to the class who this man was and his view on how design can bring about change. I got here because I saw a random book he wrote about design during my second year in college. I came here because of he redefined what money is to me and how the power of business can be a means to an end no one can ever imagine. I gained confidence in the power I had as a designer who often at times felt alone in designing for good, not money. Even in the midst of the design scene being all about the bottom line, because of Tibor I got through some of the worst challenges I felt as a designer. Writing his name on the walls of my classrooms and remembering how and why I got here felt like a tribute to my role model.
As I looked around I was able to see what some of the other classmates were envisioning on their part of the wall. Seeing with our own eyes on what the members of our cohort dreamed of re-designing was very eye-opening and interesting to see. The diversity in the issues we were all passionate about and the how-to’s we tend to use in designing for a better future were complex. However, the problems each one of us drew were intriguing to me because, through these images, we were telling a story of the future we hoped to create. Everyone had a different say and at times a very contrasting perspective on how we see the world but that difference is what made us who we are. Different and yet the same, we all had the same goal. Whether through education, product design, business, or science, all we wanted to do is make our world a better place to live in.
Through this exercise, in a very short amount of time, I was able to understand my fellow classmates at a profounding level of deepness. Getting a sense of who these people are, where they came from, and how they viewed our current world and our future to come was amazing to see. We got to get a little bit closer to one another through our chalk talks. With the images in mind, we gained a level of deep understanding and respect for each other.
We were all here for a reason. A reason to share and grow as a designer to change the status quo of what design is and how we can use it for the betterment of our world. With a chalk in one hand with many things to talk about we became one.
