Author ORCID Identifier
Meghan Kelly: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2839-5943
Abstract
This article will interrogate the issues associated with non-Indigenous designers working with Indigenous knowledges in commercial design practice. It will analyze the position of ‘whiteness’ to appreciate the ongoing impact of colonialism on Indigenous representation and identity creation. The article attests there are times when non-Indigenous input into design outcomes is not suitable. However, if non-Indigenous engagement in the design process offers benefit to Indigenous stakeholders, the International Indigenous Design Charter serves as a guiding document on the best practices to follow. There is still a concern that regardless of the extensive consultation, strong industry support and the best intentions informing the development of the Charter document, ‘whiteness’ may still permeate the design outcomes. This article concludes the only way to mitigate or remove ‘whiteness’ in commercial design practices is to preface the design process over the artefact to ensure design outcomes are Indigenous led and Indigenous self-determined.
Keywords
Indigenous design, Charter, process, best practice
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2020.228
Citation
Kelly, M. (2020) Whiteness in design practice: the need to prioritize process over artefact., in Boess, S., Cheung, M. and Cain, R. (eds.), Synergy - DRS International Conference 2020, 11-14 August, Held online. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2020.228
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Whiteness in design practice: the need to prioritize process over artefact.
This article will interrogate the issues associated with non-Indigenous designers working with Indigenous knowledges in commercial design practice. It will analyze the position of ‘whiteness’ to appreciate the ongoing impact of colonialism on Indigenous representation and identity creation. The article attests there are times when non-Indigenous input into design outcomes is not suitable. However, if non-Indigenous engagement in the design process offers benefit to Indigenous stakeholders, the International Indigenous Design Charter serves as a guiding document on the best practices to follow. There is still a concern that regardless of the extensive consultation, strong industry support and the best intentions informing the development of the Charter document, ‘whiteness’ may still permeate the design outcomes. This article concludes the only way to mitigate or remove ‘whiteness’ in commercial design practices is to preface the design process over the artefact to ensure design outcomes are Indigenous led and Indigenous self-determined.