A project by David Michon, made possible by ASK US FOR IDEAS, Where We Stand has asked 15 leading design agencies, designers and design partnerships to help reimagine public spaces to fit the new socially-distanced demands we must place on them, as we grapple with a global pandemic. Choosing an admired public space, each agency eschews the go-to language of caution and restriction, discovering beautiful ways to encourage safe behaviour and reoccupy our parks, streets, market squares and sports fields with a feeling of ease, enjoyment and even festivity.
Open public spaces have always been crucial for cities, contributing to our physical and mental well-being, our sense of community, and as sites of trade. In grappling with COVID-19, the value of these spaces is greater than ever.
What these agencies have produced are but a small number of possible creative strategies to make public space, in the COVID-19 era and after it, safer and more welcoming – strategies that can and should be taken seriously both for the public realm and in private spaces where people gather, such as transportation hubs, shopping centres or cultural venues.
We believe that thoughtful, smart design can and will help to revive the cities we love.
Statement on diversity
In creating this project, a light was shone on a troubling element of our industry: a grave lack of diversity. Primarily drawing from agencies within the UK and the US, those myself and AUFI have had the privilege of working with, we have had to also reflect on some sobering realities from those countries. In the United States, only 3% of designers are Black [AIGA]; in the UK, people from BAME backgrounds (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) occupy only 5.5% of senior positions at creative agencies [IPA]. The statistics around female leadership are hardly better.
The agencies who have contributed to this project are leaders in terms of the quality of their work, and we know each of them is reflecting on the state of the industry in terms of the talent it sees and cultivates, and their role in making change – and some represent this change already. This is a pivotal moment for us all, one that is inexcusably overdue.
Already, new initiatives, such as Where Are The Black Designers?, are being launched that seek to redress this towering issue – and they are a great inspiration. Structural, cultural and individual changes are needed. Where We Stand and AUFI are making donations to the Marcus Graham Project (US) and to AZ Magazine’s “Support Black LGBTQ+ Creatives” fund (UK) to support this process, in addition to a personal pledge from both of us to open our eyes to more diverse talent, uncover and confront bias, and find ways to use any platform we’re afforded to celebrate and elevate diversity.
It is, of course, with deep gratitude that we thank the skilful agencies who were able to participate, who have offered their talent pro bono, for the love of their cities and the health and safety of their residents. Humanity and community are at the core of their ambitions.
Participating agencies, in alphabetical order:
Accept & Proceed
Character
DesignStudio
dn&co.
Foreign Policy
HUSH
Lovers
Manual
Mother
NONYMOUS
Rice
Sthuthi Ramesh x Samar Maakaroun
Wiedemann Lampe
WGI alumni – Es Youn, Kinzie Burke, Na Rojanusorn, Qiang Wang
Wkshps x Studio Pandan
DAVID MICHON
A creative director, editor and producer, David Michon counts among his past and current clients Acne Studios, G.F Smith, The Peabody Group and Switzerland’s Neue Zürcher Zeitung. He is a past managing editor of Monocle magazine – where he produced The Urbanist podcast – and of Winkreative creative agency. David’s collaborations with AUFI include Private View(s), a podcast that gets inside some of the world's most exciting creative studios.
www.davidmichon.com
@david_michon
ASK US FOR IDEAS
Helping the world’s most ambitious brands connect with a curated network of the industry’s most inspiring creative agencies. Clients who have used AUFI's service to find an agency partner include Paul Smith, Spotify, Google, Brewdog, Seed, Nurx and Kohl’s.
www.aufi.com
@askusforideas
Special thank you to:
Accept & Proceed – Creative Direction
Augusto Mendoza, Gusto Studio – website design
A project by David Michon, made possible by ASK US FOR IDEAS, Where We Stand has asked 15 leading design agencies, designers and design partnerships to help reimagine public spaces to fit the new socially-distanced demands we must place on them, as we grapple with a global pandemic. Choosing an admired public space, each agency eschews the go-to language of caution and restriction, discovering beautiful ways to encourage safe behaviour and reoccupy our parks, streets, market squares and sports fields with a feeling of ease, enjoyment and even festivity.
Open public spaces have always been crucial for cities, contributing to our physical and mental well-being, our sense of community, and as sites of trade. In grappling with COVID-19, the value of these spaces is greater than ever.
What these agencies have produced are but a small number of possible creative strategies to make public space, in the COVID-19 era and after it, safer and more welcoming – strategies that can and should be taken seriously both for the public realm and in private spaces where people gather, such as transportation hubs, shopping centres or cultural venues.
We believe that thoughtful, smart design can and will help to revive the cities we love.
Statement on diversity
In creating this project, a light was shone on a troubling element of our industry: a grave lack of diversity. Primarily drawing from agencies within the UK and the US, those myself and AUFI have had the privilege of working with, we have had to also reflect on some sobering realities from those countries. In the United States, only 3% of designers are Black [AIGA]; in the UK, people from BAME backgrounds (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) occupy only 5.5% of senior positions at creative agencies [IPA]. The statistics around female leadership are hardly better.
The agencies who have contributed to this project are leaders in terms of the quality of their work, and we know each of them is reflecting on the state of the industry in terms of the talent it sees and cultivates, and their role in making change – and some represent this change already. This is a pivotal moment for us all, one that is inexcusably overdue.
Already, new initiatives, such as Where Are The Black Designers?, are being launched that seek to redress this towering issue – and they are a great inspiration. Structural, cultural and individual changes are needed. Where We Stand and AUFI are making donations to the Marcus Graham Project (US) and to AZ Magazine’s “Support Black LGBTQ+ Creatives” fund (UK) to support this process, in addition to a personal pledge from both of us to open our eyes to more diverse talent, uncover and confront bias, and find ways to use any platform we’re afforded to celebrate and elevate diversity.
It is, of course, with deep gratitude that we thank the skilful agencies who were able to participate, who have offered their talent pro bono, for the love of their cities and the health and safety of their residents. Humanity and community are at the core of their ambitions.
Participating agencies, in alphabetical order:
Accept & Proceed
Character
DesignStudio
dn&co.
Foreign Policy
HUSH
Lovers
Manual
Mother
NONYMOUS
Rice
Sthuthi Ramesh x Samar Maakaroun
Wiedemann Lampe
WGI alumni – Es Youn, Kinzie Burke, Na Rojanusorn, Qiang Wang
Wkshps x Studio Pandan
DAVID MICHON
A creative director, editor and producer, David Michon counts among his past and current clients Acne Studios, G.F Smith, The Peabody Group and Switzerland’s Neue Zürcher Zeitung. He is a past managing editor of Monocle magazine – where he produced The Urbanist podcast – and of Winkreative creative agency. David’s collaborations with AUFI include Private View(s), a podcast that gets inside some of the world's most exciting creative studios.
www.davidmichon.com
@david_michon
ASK US FOR IDEAS
Helping the world’s most ambitious brands connect with a curated network of the industry’s most inspiring creative agencies. Clients who have used AUFI's service to find an agency partner include Paul Smith, Spotify, Google, Brewdog, Seed, Nurx and Kohl’s.
www.aufi.com
@askusforideas
Special thank you to:
Accept & Proceed – Creative Direction
Augusto Mendoza, Gusto Studio – website design