Who Can Afford To Be Critical?

Instead of solving market-defined problems, ‘critical designers’ produced by institutions like Design Academy choose to address social, political and environmental conditions. Yet, who can afford to continue such a practice after graduation? Why do we ignore the material and socioeconomic constraints that bind us as designers, claiming instead that we are powerful agents of change? Do we really have any political agency through our individual design practices? Could designers’ own working conditions be targeted as one immediate site for collective action? Could designers ever unionize? These are some of the questions raised through a multiformat campaign highlighting the neglected dimensions of affordability, class and labour among designers.