Cards For A Better Future

‘We The People’ is an educational workshop and a call to action for individuals to actively engage with the concept of a ‘Social Contract’ and its implications for a fairer society. By combining participatory approaches, typographic design and political design themes, the workshop offers a unique and engaging way to inform and educate participants about the idea of mutual obligations within society. A question-led language model and simplified core messaging serve as a foundation layer of critical reflection and knowledge, allowing for deeper reflection and discussion. This approach is designed to spark debate and conversation, encouraging participants to collectively build a Social Contract and consider the stakeholders and mutual counterparts involved. By exploring these concepts, the workshop seeks to inspire individuals to take action towards creating a more just and equitable society for all.

What is a Social Contract?

A social contract is a way of understanding the relationship between people and their government. It suggests that people agree to give up some of their individual freedoms and follow certain rules and laws in exchange for the government’s protection and benefits. This agreement is not written down but is an implicit understanding between citizens and their government. The social contract theory helps to explain why we have governments and why people have certain rights and responsibilities in society. There are several reasons for the growing demand for a new social contract:

Changing Times

The world has transformed significantly in the last few decades with the rise of new technologies, globalisation, and environmental challenges. Some people argue that current social contract that was established in the mid twentieth century, may no longer be adequate to address the problems of our modern world.

Rising Inequality

The rapidly expanding gap between the rich and poor in many countries, has led to social and economic unrest in countries across the globe. Some believe that a new social contract is needed to ensure that everyone in a society has access to the most basic rights and opportunities.

Political & Societal Polarisation

With an increasing polarisation in many nations and people becoming more divided along political, social, and cultural lines, some argue that a new social contract could help to bring citizens together and promote unity and cooperation amongst individuals.

Changing Expectations

People’s expectations of their governments and civil society have changed significantly over time, with many people now demanding more transparency, accountability, and agency in decision-making. Building a new social contract could help addressing these shifting expectations and create a more inclusive and responsive society.

Overall, the idea of a new social contract reflects the need to re-evaluate our social, economic, and political institutions and create new structures that can better address the challenges and needs of our time.

Political as a Theme

Inspired by political campaigns logos, I wanted to further take reference in social design language under the hypothesis that activism and political campaigning share a fundamentally similar starting point. As it was important to me from the beginning to situate this project and its outcome in reality (meaning that it picks up on real-life examples), I got inspired by the first line of the United States Constitution when coming up with a project title. ‘We The People’ - the first three words of the constitution’s preamble, not only build a strong narrative but further express unity and in a powerful way take ownership of society by taking the broadly defined ‘peoples’ under the reference of ‘us’, suggesting a common will and a sense of coming together.

Exploring U.S. Political Campaign Posters, as they are representative of polarising visual language in politics and culturally significant in our western perception of politics, I have decided to set a visual theme of 'Politics'. Through this, I intend for students will feel removed from the usual visual language they encounter in the classroom and the communicate a feeling of 'adulthood', seriousness and responsibility.

The visual identity of 'We The People' relies on the language and imagery borrowed from U.S. political and election campaigns. With the American political landscape serving as a prime example of polarising politics, I have employed the visual elements that have become ubiquitous in pop culture and social media to create a 'Political Mood.' By setting this tone, the workshop participants are immersed in a dynamic environment that brings the political context to life, instilling a sense of responsibility and urgency in them. The use of such impactful visual tools offers an engaging and thought-provoking experience that aims to leave a lasting impression on the students, inspiring reflection, debate and action.

Workshop

In trials as well as guided through the finalised design, the workshop created a learning environment for students to better understand each other and their common understanding of mutual obligations. 'We The People' proved to be a functioning and impactful project, to create and incubate change for a better future.

Workshop Cards

To ensure an effective learning experience, I adopted the 'Transformative Learning Theory' as a key element of my method- ological approach. This theory suggests that new opinions and understandings can be obtained based on new information. Informed by this, I developed a set of 29 cards that guide students through three exercises, each centred around a language model of reflective questions. Exercise 1 utilises the present tense and encourages reflection on the current state of affairs. In contrast, Exercise 2 prompts critical reflection and ideation by asking about future expectations and desires. This approach fosters a more nuanced understanding of societal obligations and encourages students to think beyond the present and imagine a better future.

Research

Visual Identity

The psychological effects of serif vs. sans-serif fonts can have a subtle but real impact on how a message is received by the audience.

The choice of font can influence a reader’s perception of a message, with serif fonts being associated with seriousness and formality, and sans-serif fonts with approachability and informality.