Design is Human Atlanta Design Festival

Elayne DeLeo speaks with Terence Lester about homelessness, Love Beyond Walls & The Dignity Museum in Atlanta.

Terence stands as a beacon of compassion and advocacy in the realm of social justice. With an unyielding commitment to uplifting underserved populations, he founded Love Beyond Walls, a non-profit organization that ambitiously seeks to humanize the stories of the homeless and dismantle systemic poverty. Their initiatives span from mobile makeovers for the homeless to providing resources for education and empowerment.

One of the most groundbreaking initiatives by Love Beyond Walls is the Dignity Museum. Unlike any conventional museum, it immersively showcases the stories, challenges, and aspirations of those facing homelessness, bridging the divide of understanding between society and its marginalized members. By placing a spotlight on the inherent worth of every individual, regardless of their socio-economic status, the Dignity Museum reshapes narratives, fostering empathy and reminding visitors of the shared human experience that binds us all.

Lester’s work is a poignant reminder that in the pursuit of justice and equality, love can indeed move beyond walls, transcending barriers and uniting communities.

Elayne DeLeo speaks with designer John Ferguson on how taking an elective class in desktop publishing at his Atlanta public school sparked his path to becoming a digital design professional, the importance of mentorship for young students who may not see design as a career path, why Atlanta is the cultural capital of the US (and how it may be failing in design), and creating the Black Bauhaus movement to celebrate the work of black designers.

John Ferguson is Design Director at Work & Co, based in the agency's Atlanta office. During his tenure at Work & Co, he’s shaped breakthrough products for clients such as The Home Depot, Traeger, and Vistaprint. An art director and graphic designer by training, John has worked at agencies including SapientNitro, Ogilvy, Razorfish, Huge, and Goods & Services.

He is also the founder of the Black Bauhaus Mvmt, inspired by the artistic sensibilities and ethos of the Bauhaus style and the social and cultural influences of the Black Panther Party, and creative director of production/creative company Bold Honey, founded by his daughter Priah Ferguson.

www.BlackBauhaus.com
https://work.co/

Affordable or free design schools and resources mentioned in podcast:

https://www.usefulschool.com/
https://www.scopeofwork.co/
https://oneschoolus.com/

Speakers:
Ruth Stevens, Chairman, The Potters House CBO/APT Kenya
Cath Barton, Pediatric Physiotherapist

APT Kenya is a project run by The Potter’s House CBO since February 2022 addressing this need by using Appropriate Paper Technology (APT) as a low cost and sustainable solution to make seating and standing devices for disabled children in Kenya.APT devices help the child to maintain a comfortable and functional position in either sitting or standing. This good positioning is proven to help prevent contractures and spinal deformities, and can improve digestion, bowel function, and maintain skin integrity. The equipment also enables the child to play and communicate with those around them, increasing both the amount and the quality of their participation in home activities, as well as increasing independence, communication and quality of life.

Elayne DeLeo talks to designer and author of Superhuman by Design, Donald Burlock, Jr on his path from dreaming of designing airplanes to experience and brand designer, how to make organizations understand and activate around the value of design process, and why empathy is not the primary motivator for good design.

Donald Burlock, Jr. is an in-demand design leader with more than ten years of experience creating strategies and game-changing results in the marketplace. Donald has launched highly-awarded global campaigns and helped top organizations like Coca-Cola, IDEO, Dolby Labs, and Capital One deliver innovative design solutions to diverse audiences. He has contributed to multiple design outlets and regularly speaks on creativity and design thinking. Currently, he works as a Sr. UX Designer at Lab126 and has recently published a book on his creative journey called Superhuman by Design: Keys to Unlocking Your Creativity for Game-Changing Results.

He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering University and a Master of Industrial Design degree from Georgia Institute of Technology.

The Good, the Bad, and Ugly of Artificial Intelligence

Elisa Celis is an assistant professor in the Statistics & Data Science department at Yale University. She studies the manifestation of social and economic biases in our online lives via the algorithms that encode and perpetuate them. Her research leverages both experimental and theoretical approaches, and her work spans multiple disciplines including data science, machine learning, fairness in socio-technical systems and algorithm design. At Yale she co-founded the Computation and Society Initiative.

Elayne DeLeo talks with Elisa Celis, an artificial intelligence (AI) researcher and professor on the inherent biases encoded in AI and how social platforms like Facebook are lulling users into a false sense of security around their personal data. She discusses how data such as facial recognition is being used and misused, how Facebook and other platforms leverage user patterns to feed a larger percentage of emotional content to users, why ethical AI practitioners need to play a major role on digital platforms, and how these platforms know more than you think they know including how you might be thinking about getting a divorce.

Elayne DeLeo speaks with Jason James, VP of Design for Instacart about his path to a career in design and the reality of "imposter syndrome" when success comes early. He also shares his insights on how businesses need to leverage design to build culture and foster collaboration, what he does to spark creativity in his team and for himself, and the design thinking and principles underlying Instacart’s approach to COVID and how they continue to guide their design into the future.

Bio:

Jason James (he/him) is VP of Design at Instacart, a grocery delivery and pick-up service. He leads the evolution of products and brand, along with research.

Previously, he served as VP of Design at Thumbtack, a marketplace for connecting homeowners and local professionals to get projects done. He developed brand and product design across their marketplace. He also was an early design leader at Earnest, Intercom, Kin, and DoneDone.

Jason is currently a mentor at Made in the Future, a program for emerging under-represented designers. There he helps mentees build their careers and get to the next level. He studied Design & Visual Communications at Northern Illinois University and studied Graphic Design abroad at Akademia Sztuk Pięknych in Poland.

Jason shares time between Oakland and Chicago with his wife and two cats – Whiskey and Ringo.

See his articles on Medium: A Framework for Deciding Your Next Job and 5 Myths About Design Management