A Proposal to Connect all Design for the Common Good

Systems Thinking is “the way”

Illustration was commissioned for this article. It was created by Veronica Pham.

Design does not exist or function in a vacuum. It also does not exist without Mother Earth. Gaia gifts everything we need for us to live and thrive. What we have unfortunately done with her philanthropy created the divides, crises, and opportunities we still have. Nature provides for all of us and, equally as important, is a model for inspiration and creation for the “common good”. Nature works as a cycle where waste is food and excess is eliminated. Nature works in a series of countless connected systems that rely on one another to achieve a sustainable balance.

But what is exactly the “common good”?

The generally accepted definition is defined as “the benefits or interests of all.” Scholars in design have opined on the definition of designing for the common good. Designer and educator Jorge Frascara recognizes “… four kinds of design: design to support life, design to facilitate life, design to improve life. And then, there is inconsequential design…. Inconsequential design, in terms of the grand scheme of things, is the exclusive commercial design; that is, design-oriented at supporting corporation A against corporation B.” (Frascara, 2001).

Outside of design, English philosopher John Stuart Mill believed happiness was integral for the common good of all, but most importantly it couldn’t be achieved if decisions made to improve your overall happiness impeded others from doing the same. He said, “(i)n any situation where there is a moral choice, the right thing to do is that which is likely to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people and not harm others or promote values contrary to your own” (Mill, 1879). He called this philosophy Utilitarianism. It is another workable definition for creating for the common good, and the one I’d like to use as a working definition for this article.

Systems Thinking is “the way”

The current model of teaching and practicing design is rooted in Colonial Imperialism which rejects the cyclical process of nature for one that is linear and unsustainable which consistently excludes non-white cultural voices, creates toxic waste and messaging, increases greenhouse gas emissions that warm our climate, and supports misogyny all in…