In 2023, the year of International Council of Design's 60th Anniversary, we celebrate International Design Day with a theme that nods to the Council’s legacy as an organisation.
**The theme for this year is ‘Peace. Love. Design!’. **
Inspired by the activism of the sixties, we explore issues of environmentalism, social equity, collective movements and radical change.
The International Council of Design was founded on 27 April 1963.
The sixties were historically a period where there were a lot of social upheavals. The youth movement of the time challenged not only war and nuclear armament but called into question the existing social order.
**These movements questioned and fought against race inequality, totalitarianism, and social and economic injustice. They championed feminism, universal human rights, freedom and love for their fellow human. The so-called ‘hippies’ evolved the phrase “Peace and Love”, denoting a wish for humankind that was caring and kind to each other. **
We will explore the following topics:
Environmentalism
In what new ways does design need to be responsible in its engagement with the material world and climate change?
Social equity
How can designers foster values of peace and love to address issues of social equity today?
Collective movements
In what ways can designers bring people closer together to form new spaces of access and care?
Radical change
What can design do to reshape systems and structures to support justice, so all people live well and flourish?
In 1958, the peace sign had been designed by Gerald Holtom, a British graphic artist, as a logo for the _Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament _(CND). By the mid-sixties, this symbol was being used more widely in protests against war. All over the planet students and young people were rallying behind this idea.
The so-called ‘hippies’ evolved the phrase “Peace and Love”, denoting a wish for a humankind that was caring and kind to each other.
today we are facing many of the same issues: war and the threat of nuclear proliferation, environmental degradation and climate change, increasing economic disparity, political polarisation and the rise of nationalist movements, the challenges of sharing a planet among 8 billion inhabitants.
What role does design play in solving many of these issues?
The creator of this year’s IDD 2023: Peace. Love. Design! visuals is Martina Giustolisi, a graphic designer based in Sicily (Italy) and a graduate of the Visual Communication Design programme at the Academy of Fine Arts Catania. Giustolisi’s work deals with visual identity and the role of the professional designer in relation to social and cultural contexts.
LINKS
ICoD IDD Facebook Group
ICoD IDD Instagram
ICoD Twitter
Check out 7 symbols of peace for inspiration.
