ONLINE EXHIBITION
We Design
We Design is a series of programs celebrating women, gender-expansive, and BIPOC designers through exhibitions, conversation cards, and a special Design Museum Magazine double issue.
Welcome to the We Design Online Exhibition
Explore designer profiles to learn more about innovative products and strategies at the forefront of contemporary design. Each profile highlights design leaders who use the transformative power of design for social good.
SUPPORTED BY
Maria Molteni
Artist & activist
New Craft Artists in Action
Lani Asunción
Artist & activist
Saba Ghole
Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer
NuVu Studio
Rica Elysee Ndiaye
Founder & CEO
BeautyLynk
Alex Dang
Senior Advanced Exterior Designer
Mercedes-Benz
Phil Freelon
Principal & Design Director
Perkins and Will
Shannon Maldonado
Founder
YOWIE
Bless Mazarura
Art Director & Fashion Designer
Bless By Bless & The Army of Luv
Pascale Sablan
Senior Associate
Adjaye Associates
Clint Ramos
Founder
Clint Ramos Design
Angela Medlin
Founder
Functional Apparel & Accessories Studio (FAAS)
Fan Bi
Founder
Blank Label
Liz Ogbu
Founder & Principal
Studio O
MegZany
Street Artist & Curator
Fady Saad
Founder
Cybernetix Ventures & MassRobotics
Marli Washington
Founder
gc2b
Gabrielle Bullock
Noèl Puèllo
Artist & Fashion Designer
Read more about the exhibition
We Design is the result of four years of planning, research, relationship building, and design. To develop this exhibition, in 2016, our team formed a committee of advisors made up of experts in design, art, education, career development, equity, human resources, and more. This group of advisors helped us build partnerships and invite individuals and organizations to get involved and share their stories. This work culminated in a physical exhibition that launched in September 2019 and was traveling to venues across Boston, MA, and Portland, OR through mid-March 2020. (See photos from the exhibition here.) With the onset of COVID-19, we had to close our physical exhibitions, but we immediately pivoted to transitioning We Design into an online resource.
Special thanks to our advisory committee, Journee Harris, Mallorie Hsu, Diana Navarrete-Rackauckas, Rachel Boesenberg, Sam Aquillano, Amanda Hawkins, and Sara Magalio, for all of their work on this project.
Designer profiles are organized by impact areas. Learn how design inspires social change in the areas of Arts & Apparel, Community, Graphics, Media & Technology, Objects, Spatial, Systems & Strategy by clicking on the icons and images of each designer.
Arts & Apparel
Focuses on aesthetic expression and anticipating and reflecting cultural and social trends.
Angela Medlin
Founder
Functional Apparel & Accessories Studio (FAAS)
jeffstaple
Founder
Staple Design
Bless Mazarura
Art Director + Fashion Designer
Bless By Bless & The Army of Luv
Community
Focuses on the power of collective creativity by increasing opportunity for participants to be shared visionaries in their communities.
Liz Ogbu
Founder & Principal
Studio O
Silvia López Chavez
Artist & Designer
Gabrielle Bullock
Director of Global Diversity
Perkins and Will
Graphics
Creates and combines symbols, images, and text to visually represent ideas. Graphic design involves product marketing, improving communication, changing the aesthetics of places, and more.
Oen Hammonds
Design Principal
IBM
Kat Holmes
Senior Vice President of Design and UX
Salesforce
Sabrina Dorsainvil
Director of Civic Design
New Urban Mechanics
Media & Technology
Deals with how people access information and create a connected and informed world.
Dr. Rodrigo Salazar Gamarra
Health & Tech Innovation Consultant
Saba Ghole
Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer
NuVu Studio
Nestor Castaneda
Senior Composites Engineer
Terrafugia
Objects
Create, plan, and style manufactured goods considering form, function, comfort, accessibility, marketing, sustainability, sales, etc.
Debra Latour
Occupational Therapy Educator
Prosthetics Designer & Advocate
Paloma Medina
Founder & Creative Director
11:11
Marisol Centeno
Founder
Estudio Marisol Centeno & Bi Yuu
Spatial
Shape ideas about spaces and how we navigate them, and ensure that each concept reflects the values and experiences of the people using the spaces.
Elyse Ayoung
Designer
Gensler
Phil Freelon
Principal & Design Director
Perkins and Will
Mikyoung Kim
Founder
Mikyoung Kim Design
Systems & Strategy
Works with big picture change, and involves masterminding strategic and organizational plans based on understanding all the pieces of a larger puzzle. This field applies to challenges like business growth, education, game play, health care, city planning, and climate change.
Ruwan Jayaweera
Associate Principal
PAE Engineers
Taniya Nayak
Founder
Taniya Nayak Design
Denise Rush
Dean of the School of Interior Architecture
Boston Architectural College
Do you know of a creative professional that you would like to see featured in We Design? We welcome your nominations.
Want to take the design stories featured in We Design home with you? Our We Design Conversation Cards and the upcoming We Design Issue of Design Museum Magazine are two ways to learn more about exciting designers working in various design fields.
The We Design Issue | Special Issue
The We Design Issue highlights leaders in the design field that refuse the confines of white supremacy and are creating innovative products and strategies at the forefront of contemporary design.
We Design Conversation Cards
The We Design discussion deck can be used individually, in small groups, or with larger discussion forums. Within the deck, you’ll find stories from creatives in a variety of industries, along with statistics and topics of discussion around diversity and equity in design professions.
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