Wicked Problems, Wicked Solutions: The Singapore National Design Centre
Rachel Zuckerman | Digital Design Student at University of Colorado Denver May 29, 2019Today we saw the Sigapore National Design Centre (it is spelled like that). This museum showcased significant design contributions to Singapore over the years, as well as impactful design campaigns all over the world. I enjoyed seeing how designs shaped Singapore over the decades, but my favorite part was the exhibit called, "wicked Problems, Wicked Solution," which covered powerful campaigns that approach difficult social issues. These highlight how good design call help fight for the greater good. One of these campaigns really hit home for me, and that was the one called "Price for our lives"
This campaign followed the how designers are using their work to push against the issue of gun violence in America. This campaign made use of price tags, allowing users to look up how much money the NRA gives each state, divided by the population, to get the price tag of how much a single person is "worth." This powerful message was used to fight back against gun violence, and how states may turn a blind eye from the issue, because of the money involved. Using the price tag is a direct and powerful way for people to show that their lives are worth more than the money the government is being paid.
It was extremely powerful to see how Design has and can still impact important social issues today. Design can be a powerful driver for change, and I think as designers it is extremely important that our designs constantly push to help change the world for the better.
Read more about Rachel's time in Singapore, here.