Designing for a Represented World
Written by: Russell Abrahams, Illustrator and Designer
UNHCR’s Innovation Service partnered with Russell Abrahams to work on a set of creative animated videos to make innovation more accessible to the humanitarian sector. These animated videos educate or illustrate a specific topic through a fresh, yet comprehensive, approach to understanding innovation. The series of animations will include insights into the emotions we experience while innovating, the greatest fears we may experience, the importance of collaboration, among other diverse interpretations of the innovation process.
Designing for and with diversity in mind is somewhat a tricky task. While it should be the norm, however, it is a lot easier for people to create with what one knows. As designers, I feel we’re really complacent creating in the comfort of our own experiences. But this is a dangerous mindset as we should always strive to incorporate ideologies of diversity and inclusivity throughout all that we do. When I was approached by the team at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and given an overview of the creative work, it was an exciting challenge which I grabbed with both hands. The interlink between the goals of this animation project vs. the beliefs of UNHCR met at a point where diversity was one of the main priorities. With the kind of work that is being carried out by the Innovation team and their efforts to provide aid for a wide audience who might be displaced and in need of security, it only felt right to not make any group of people feel excluded in any way or form, with regards to the animation project.
As it stands, the design industry is facing a major problem regarding issues of diversity and inclusivity. The sad truth is that it’s not only the design industry battling with this agenda but many industries across the board. The idea of companies trying to dismantle these structures in place is open for discussion. However, these structures and systems are oppressive tools which to this day, keep marginalized folk at bay. At its root, this type of oppression is institutionalized and we definitely have a difficult task ahead of us if we are willing to fight for those who deserve better. From better representation to receiving equal pay as well as opportunities for/as minorities. Together, we should aim to solve this problem with relentless ambition. The only way we will find a solution is by working together through collaboration, by truly understanding why these structures are in place as well as listening to those affected.
This is why the innovation video collaboration I worked on with UNHCR is so important. Firstly, it’s important to myself as a person of colour living and working in Cape Town, South Africa. I work in an industry dominated by white straight males. The idea of any industry or practice being dominated/saturated by one specific group of people is problematic in itself and I would presume even more so in the creative industry. The truth is that to work and live as a designer in South Africa is a privilege. It’s a career path that not many people of colour are able to pursue due to the fact that most people of colour live in underprivileged areas. To elaborate on this idea and to put it bluntly, many parents of colour are not willing to fund the studies of a student who wants to further their education in design as it is seen as a “fun/passion job”. This has a devastating and direct impact on the design industry as it means there are fewer people of colour entering the industry. The next reason is that based on structures of privilege, many parents of colour are unable to afford the correct equipment necessary to create work that is of standard, leading to students producing weaker work than that of their more privileged peers.
Secondly, it’s a big step in the right direction for animation work. The status quo for animation work is usually a few generic characters performing quite a few generic tasks. To illustrate this, the generic characters are usually depicted as straight white men in an office space conversing with themselves to solve a problem. The dilemma with scenarios of this sort is that they lack diversity as well as inclusivity but even more frightening is the fact that they hint towards how office spaces are coordinated in reality. As a person of colour, I was very intrigued when asked by the UNHCR to help bring this project to life. What took me by surprise was the urge to create a video that spoke to a larger audience. The goal was to create a body of work that would help explain innovation in a fun yet thoughtful and accessible manner. The most challenging part of this project was to create characters that represent a wide variety of people; a group of characters that felt approachable and relatable. Through collaborative efforts, we were able to create a positive bunch of characters that made us smile as a team.
The image above is a perfect example of a collaborative effort. We needed to explain the fear aspect of creating innovative ideas. The team over at UNHCR created a sketch of the main character shooting an arrow at an apple. What may seem not the most perfect sketch, the idea and thinking behind the image was the most fitting way to illustrate the message. When working on a project I am a firm believer in collaboration. I guess it is the idea that many minds are better than one — a principle also greatly valued in the innovation space. This was an ongoing effort for the duration of the project. The conceptualization and illustration phase was a seamless effort between both parties. It’s imperative to work together in this manner as the chances of creating a cohesive body of work which ticks all the right boxes are higher. It also creates a sense of teamwork throughout the project.
When creating characters, I think it’s of the utmost importance to keep people in mind. To understand that we are communicating with real people who all face real circumstances. To note that whatever we create can either have a positive or a negative effect on quite a wide audience. This was reason enough for us to strive to always have diversity at the centre of all that we created throughout this project. As a group, we scrutinized our lead character vigorously. After many reverts, we were able to create a being that we felt was quite relatable and positive; a non-binary individual who is abstract enough to fit into many different groupings. Creating a hero character who represents a wide audience is a tricky task. Themes of gender/race/ableism and body positivity all came into play. The idea of ticking all these boxes off seems impossible but it’s a necessary step.
The illustration below captures the evolution of our character and its development. From a generic male figure to what is now more of an abstraction/blend of different types of people. An interesting point to note is how the character’s body is based on a wide skeleton. It’s aesthetically pleasing to see this development, while at the same time I feel it also shows the thought process of keeping the diversity of people in mind. As a male, I corrected my views countless times as I created this character. I caught myself constantly creating a male figure as the default and was constantly corrected in my errors by my team. The subconscious mind is a strange place and I’ve learnt how I have been impacted by toxic masculinity over the years. More alarming was the manner in which I drew the generic male figure. I almost immediately drew a very straight white male figure. This is strange as it does not represent me as an individual, however, I somehow thought it was the most relatable way to represent a larger audience. This is problematic and I definitely feel it has a lot to do with how certain men are depicted through advertising, film and media in general.
As someone who strives to always be sympathetic, it was definitely an eye-opener having caught myself create something that I’m vocally against. To further our discussion on character work, our main character is accompanied by a group of characters who are more specific on who they represent but yet abstract enough to be mindful of others. I do think the style of these characters allowed us to accomplish our goal as they were less human-like while holding onto familiar features which could be relatable to the audience. The use of colour theory was a way to avoid pinpointing a specific race to these characters and it allowed us to enter them into a weird and fantastical world.
These characters have then been put into a world where abstraction and fantasy are the norms. The goal here was to be able to illustrate complicated scenarios in a fun and light-hearted manner. Not to say we are taking these serious issues lightly but rather, it is a means for us to capture the audience and allow them to engage with something that feels quite new to them while addressing topics that they are very familiar with. I truly feel that it’s a big jump in the right direction. This world, along with its diverse group of characters should set a standard for what is seen within the design industry as well as how designers consider people in general. Design which transcends aesthetics or style and speaks to human values is honestly what this is all about. Designing for change definitely has its different levels. From the creation of artificial intelligence engines to help understand the movement of forced displacement, to creating animations that has minority-focused figures, design can and should always strive to help solve a problem. A great example of this would be how large comic book companies have created black superheroes. It is mind-boggling to see how enraged a certain sector of comic-book readers become as it’s not the status quo. Personally, seeing young children of colour see themselves in superheroes that look like them is a magnificent moment and I am certain that the illustrators and designers behind the scenes are smiling from ear-to-ear.
I do think we are entering an era where it’s possible for design to be a lot more sympathetic to an audience. We definitely can change the world through design, as cheesy as it might sound. For those in the design industry, I think we need to continue seeing design as a tool for communication. By understanding that we are able to solve real problems for real people we are in turn executing the very core values of design.
It’s an interesting scenario whereby the designer needs to remove themselves from the equation to really understand the work, the mission and their audience. By removing oneself’s personal beliefs and needs from the design process it’s a method in which the work and its audience dictates the solution. It is then an open call to hearing the opinions and thoughts from a wider audience to establish creative executions that may not have arisen from working independently. It opens up the conversation to understand the problem we face and how we can arrive at a solution that benefits all. I feel the basis for good design work should be people focused and less so on the trend of focusing on the designer themselves. This is the premise of all good work which helps to create good. Moving forward, I think we all have a little bit of soul searching to carry out. With a little introspection, we can help find problems and, sooner rather than later, solve them in our communities as well as in our workspaces. By questioning the status-quo and scrutinizing ideologies that we believe to be right we can figure out a means to help others who are perhaps marginalized by systems and structures that tend to silence their voices and overlook their value. An innovative approach to design can enable communities to tackle the problems they face, and reap the rewards.
