Advocacy in Design: Engagement, Commitment, and Action

Returning to basic principles, the presenter identifies three contextual analogies for generating a study about imagination, social systems, and graphic symbols. By examining these three fundamental subjects analogically, the author discusses the possibilities for sequencing creativity, community, and symbology for designing events as the catalyst for building social capital in communities.
CAMPFIRES: 
Consider the concept of campfires as a scenario for generating both visual and spoken language. The fire itself does not contain a specific message but enables our vision and subconscious imagination that fuels creativity. Such wonderment can be a catalyst for greater social understanding by generating novel ideas and community connectedness that contributes to social capital development.

TOTEMS:
Totems are visual systems symbolizing a society’s unwritten order with overall responsibility to the clan. Totem cultures have appeared independently of each other throughout the globe, with their presence signaling an intrinsic human need for order, respect, and connectedness to the world around them.

BATTLE FLAGS:
Battle flags are symbols that lead the charge and foster our allegiance. They provide visual direction during times of chaos and uncertainty – and if lost, they can signal defeat. Visual branding is an equivalent of the battle flag in that employees and customers alike seek out confidence and trust through their visible presence and experiences around them.  


By examining these three fundamental subjects analogically, the author discusses conceptual possibilities for combining creativity, community, and symbology for designing events as a catalyst for building social capital in communities.
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