DESIGN STRATEGIES STUDIO
Speculative design and social justice course at Pratt Institute
2017
Master of Industrial Design (MID) course at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn
Spring 2017
15 weeks
Course Description
This is a theoretical and practical design course transecting mental health services, social justice, and design. Students will push the limits of product design and gain the methods and thinking necessary for speculatively re-imagining and building what could be rather than strictly what is.
The course is in partnership with local public health organizers and individuals who provide and receive the services. We will sensitively and collaboratively unpack the implications and alternatives for the stories, touchpoints, tools, and objects people engage with as they access public health services. This course requires thoughtful inquiry, and responsible making. While the coursework includes theoretical reading and discussion, students will design and build objects that speculatively challenge our current notions around mental health and social justice.
Featured above are images of collaborative student work developed through this course and the public final exhibition.