Chicago is a creative city. We are reminded of its DNA daily through our digital feeds. We see familiar names and celebrate the best work as suggested by competitions and awards. Our taste is curated for us — we are told what is beautiful according to algorithms and likes — and our taste is informed by popularity, craft, and personality.
Conversations about design in Chicago are facilitated through independent studios and organizations like us, the Chicago Graphic Design Club. We discuss work — ways of working, and we prescribe meaning into what we do through dialogue that reflects the impact of the solutions we exhale out into the world. However, I do think we are missing something — we are missing a critical lens that analyzes and challenges the status quo. We are missing the aftermath that examines what exists. When we observe, what do we observe? Giving our eyes a voice is the only choice to become familiar with what is and what isn’t.
I invite you, reader, to also be a writer for the Chicago Graphic Design Club. We need more voices examining, questioning, and interpreting the work around us. Democratizing design isn’t just about technology and tools—it also extends to language and the words we use to question, challenge, and evolve our practices and disciplines.
To write for the Chicago Graphic Design Club, email hi@chicagographicdesign.club expressing your interest and provide writing samples.