This summer, we’re thinking about how we practice collective and collaborative working for a more equitable creative world.

We invited RESOLVE Collective to speak to us about their recent exhibition and the questions at the foundations of their work.

RESOLVE’s recent exhibition You Get A Car [Everybody Gets A Car] at Tate Liverpool was a multi-pronged, year-long project, centring community-focused creative practices through an experimental, process-driven approach to redistribute materials and imagine more sustainable ways of supporting the rich ecology of grassroots creativity in Liverpool, and beyond, including the innovative Material Store in London.

Read their edit here, and sign up for future newsletters at the bottom of our page.

The Head of Programmes at London Festival of Architecture, Eliza Grosvenor, joins Design Can to guest edit our newsletter.

She reflects on how the festival aims to have a long-term impact on the city, and outlines a series of recommendations for things to see and do in June 2024. After the festival ends, there are a huge amount of projects to follow, places to visit and conversations to have.

"Opening up conversations around architecture is just one element of LFA. While each June LFA engages a host of brilliant events across the city, it's what comes after June where we see the Festival's real impact – in the connections, experiments and tools that individuals, boroughs and professionals can take forward after the month has drawn to a close."

Read the newsletter and reccomendations here.

In 2024, Design Can choose the word ‘access’ to guide our fight to shift the power balance within the creative industries. While there are many challenges to overcome, and multifaceted issues to confront, this single word captures our desire to see barriers broken down and new voices not only a seat at the table, but access to the table.

Check out our resources page for relevant and thought provoking resources, our socials for posts about timely conversations about the sector, and our jobs board for selected roles with pay transparency, always.

A report of this kind would typically open with a series of optimistic declarations and accounts of success. All of this is true of Design Can – I’m tremendously proud of what we’ve achieved together. But as we approach our fifth anniversary in 2024, this is also a moment to think back to where we started from and to think about how much further we have to go.

Design Can is on a much more stable footing than it's ever been. Throughout 2023, the campaign has been fully sustained by the income we’ve generated through our work, such as our consultancy projects, our Jobs Board and donations from supporters. Previous to that, Zetteler funded Design Can in its entirety. We’ve also reached far more people than ever before. This has been achieved through the sheer will and determination of our team members and our allies across the industry. To everyone who has stepped up to help, we will be forever grateful.

Part of our growth has been about expanding and evolving how we drive change in the industry. We still launch ambitious campaigns – like our city-wide poster campaign for London Design Festival. We still foster a positive, open and welcoming ecosystem within design through events, and share resources to enable others to take action. But now we work more closely with businesses and institutions to make a tangible impact within their organisational structure through consultancy.

Read full report here.

We're very excited about this new partnership with The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) – the first of its kind for Design Can (it's a paid partnership, for full transparency).

Understanding materials and manufacturing is a fascinating and important aspect to the design process. AHEC's podcast 'Words on Wood' explores forests and their relationship with the timber industry, advocating for responsible governance and for the importance of sustainable supply chains.

Developed in conjunction with the editorial team at Disegno, the podcast offers a deep dive into wood, drawing on the work of scientists, conservationists, forestry professionals, academics, designers and architects. Crossing science, material design and climate, it's worth every word.

While collaborations like this are vital to supporting our work, we are selective about the partnerships we accept.

Check out our resources page to tune into the very special podcasts.

The second iteration of Design Can’s collaboration with Ardagh Young Creatives, this special Speed Mentoring session helped young people better understand the creative industries.

Connecting young people to people working in design and creativity ensures they have a true insight into what roles exist, as well as the realities of the roles. This paves way for informed choice from those who represent them.

When speaking to a young person, a mentor said “you define the job that you do, it doesn’t define you”.

For a young person, new realities emerged “Taking my time with my career is important. Things will fall into place naturally, as long as I stay consistent and curious”

Mentors included creative professionals from a broad range of fields, including product design, graphic design, art direction, journalism, photography, architectures, digital design and much more. Find out more here

(Image: Justine Trickett)

At a time when creative businesses are gathering in the city, we are sending a bold message to the UK’s creative sector across hundreds of street posters during this year’s London Design Festival.

The campaign is about encouraging everyone to play a role in tackling inequality.

Whether it’s decision makers at the top, junior staffers carrying out tasks, or those yet to get their foot in the door, we can all make an impact – even if it’s solely helping to spread the message and influence those around us.

You too can have an impact today. Join the campaign and share it.

Street posters by UNCLE with graphic design by TEMPLO

Straddling the realms of design, architecture and art, Issi Nanabeyin is a genre-defying creative on a mission that is as pedagogical as it is practical – working inside the university and beyond it, carving space for broader perspectives, underrepresented voices and diasporic identities.

A newsletter you should not miss!

Meet Issi and discover his recommendations here.

Our You Cans keep reaching further and wider.

NLA is London's built environment community; an independent, purpose-led organisation for everyone with an interest in London’s built environment. We hope our You Cans and practical recommendations are useful to their community.

You can read the feature here.

Chris Laing, founder of the Deaf Architecture Font and Signstrokes, is one of the leading voices in the fight for the inclusion of the Deaf community in architecture.

He shares with us a fabulous range of resources to grow more empathetic to Deaf people's experiences and be part of that change he advocates for.

Meet Chris and discover his recommendations here.

Our third column for ICON is out now.

One we take special pride in as we consider it an important review of all the wonderful and yet-to-be-improved aspects of the Venice Biennale of Architecture. From racism and having a sense of belonging; to disability and all the barriers behind the event.

You can read it here.

Our June newsletter was guest edited by Equalities Designer, Natasha Trotman.

From residencies at Somerset House Studios, research projects at Wellcome Collection and working with the likes of Design Council and NASA, her approach is informed by a social model of disability which acknowledges that disability is not an inherent characteristic of an individual but the result of social, economic and political barriers.

Meet Natasha and discover her recommendations here.

On June 10 we partnered with the Design Museum’s Ardagh Young Creatives programme. We brought together 15 creatives for this our third mentoring and networking event and the best and most successful to date.

Young people aged 14-21 from underrepresented backgrounds had the chance to talk to all mentors. Out of the 30 attendees, 15 will be matched with a mentor for the second part of the programme that starts in August.

The Deaf Architecture Front launched at RIBA on 6 June to a warm and welcoming audience. Its founder, Chris Laing, has launched DAF to bring visibility, support and community to deaf architects and to create a network that shares tips and experiences.

We're proud that our founder, Sabine Zetteler, who is also Deaf, was there to launch the event with Chris and has been supporting the project and via her communications agency Zetteler. Do support DAFs work in any way you can.

We are absolutely thrilled that Hem has chosen us as their partner charity for PROPS — their latest special collection from Hem X, curated by Modern Design Review.

All profits from the PROPS collection will be donated to Design Can, which will be transformational for a small organisation like us striving to find the funds to continue our mission.

Our second column for ICON is part of their Spring issue which can now be read online here.

We reflected upon the concept of 'meritrocracy' and all the barriers hidden behind our current notion of merit.

Rooted in her dual Arab and British identities, Samar Maakaroun's expertise has seen her work on numerous landmark branding projects for the likes of Pentagram, M&C Saatchi and Apple.

Her suggestions give us an insight into how Samar - also Design Can Steering Committee Member as of earlier this year - sees, experiences and draws inspiration from the world.

Meet Samar and discover her five recommendations here.

On March 29 we co-hosted our second Roundtable in partnership with London Design Festival.

The event followed on from our inaugural roundtable in 2022, which outlined the barriers that remain to inclusivity.

Working with the Greater London Authority, we invited industry leaders to join us for an interactive session to discuss positive actionable change together.

The event, which was hosted at Sketch, included an update from the Design Council on the latest data on London's design industry, and strategic advice from Loraine Martins OBE on how to build diversity and inclusion into your company's strategy.

Through our 'What's Changed?' report in 2021-2022, we learnt that fear is one of the main hurdles on the way of change.

For this our very first column for ICON, one of the world’s leading architecture and design magazines, we dive into that fear and some of moments of learning we experienced in 2022.

You can read our column here.

2022 was a whirlwind of success, as Design Can Founder and Director, Sabine Zetteler described it.

New graphic identity, new website, new clients, new events, Patrons... we advocate for change and change we experienced as an organisation.

You can dive into everything that went down at Design Can on our 2022 Annual Report here.

Kaye Symington, a crowdfunding expert and consultant with Kickstarter, has spent her career talking about money and access in the creative sector.

It’s tough to find the resources to make things happen – even if that’s only to find the time and space to be creative in the first place.

Few companies have represented the seismic change that the internet has brought than Kickstarter. And recent initiatives, such as a $500k fund to support impactful projects by Asian, Black, Indigenous, and Latinx creators, show how the company wants to use its platform for good.
They are also one of Design Can’s Business Patrons.

What caught Symington’s attention was how ‘outspoken’ Design Can was in ‘addressing the real problems of a lack of accessibility and diversity within the design industry.’

Design Can is ‘paving the way for true change’ she added.

Having an opportunity or being given awareness isn’t enough. An inclusive design industry means meaningful support for everyone – regardless of their background.

“We all have dreams, the difference is that the people with the resources,” Everette Taylor, Kickstarter’s CEO, has recently explained in a talk, “are generally the ones that see those dreams come to fruition.”

Having the backing of a major company, one synonymous with creativity around the world, is an example of the reach and impact Design Can is having within the industry.

A ‘shared mission’ brings the two together, says Symington, a mission of ‘making creativity more accessible, helping more people bring their creative ideas into the world, and avoiding jumping through traditional funding hoops to support their work.’

‘We want to level a playing field at Kickstarter,’ she adds. ‘Design Can will help us make this happen.’

If you’re interested in being an inclusive business, a great first step is backing Design Can on Patreon, using the Jobs Board to boost your recruitment and learning more through the Resources Page.

As his latest furniture piece launches with the debut Atelier100 collection – a ‘hyperlocal’ series of objects designed and produced within 100km of London –, Andu Masebo guest edited our November newsletter.

Over the past decade, his multifaceted experience includes creative production, ceramics, carpentry and metalwork. A journey during which community has been everything to Andu.

Meet Andu and discover his five recommendations here.

Every year, the title ‘Royal Designer for Industry’ (RDI) is awarded by the Royal Society of Arts to designers of all disciplines who have achieved ‘sustained design excellence, work of aesthetic value and significant benefit to society.

The prestigious award recognises ‘sustained design excellence, work of aesthetic value and significant benefit to society’, and carries significant weight within the design sector. Previous recipients include the likes of Barnes Wallis, Lucienne Day, Jonathan Ive, Richard Rogers and Vivienne Westwood.

With such a significant reach amongst influential industry figures, the RDI is making an important statement about the value of inclusivity and equity by backing Design Can as a Patron.

They were originally impressed by Design Can’s commitment to social justice, a ‘key pillar of the RDI Faculty’s activities’, and knew a partnership could work.

RDI says: ‘Our relationship with Design Can is at the heart of our inclusion and equity process. Like all sectors, we need to look at ourselves and work proactively to ensure that we represent and reflect the society that we inhabit.’

On the photo - the new RDIs awarded in November 2022.

If you’re interested in being an inclusive business, a great first step is becoming a Design Can Patron, using the Jobs Board to boost your recruitment and learning more through the Resources Page.

Inclusion is important for everyone – both big and small businesses

If you ask a small business owner about diversity and inclusion in the design industry, they might point to a big corporation. Someone with a HR team or a large enough workforce to include multiple departments.

But independent studio HØLTE is one of Design Can’s Patrons because they initially found it so useful for their own work.

Whether it was hiring people through the Jobs Board or learning more about inclusion on the Resources Page, Design Can’s services provide both practical guidance and positive support. HØLTE founder Fiona Ginnett says, “Design Can is an incredibly powerful voice and valuable resource for the whole industry, no matter the size of your business.”

“Their campaign is vitally important to the future of the design industry,” adds Sean Reilly, operations manager. “And we're proud to be right behind them.”

The design industry’s tunnel vision

An inclusive approach is more than a positive social value, says HØLTE.

“Without the due focus on equity and inclusion, we operate with tunnel vision, limiting the pool of talent and ideas that is so vital to creative practice,” Fiona explains.

The lack of diversity within the design industry is a problem. As new talent and perspectives try to enter the industry, they can find a lack of acceptance if they don’t fit the mould of what is expected. How can the design industry claim to serve society, if it doesn’t adequately reflect it?

“By confronting bias and constantly challenging ourselves to do more,” Fiona continues, “we can build a truly diverse team of employees, consultants and subcontractors. Not only does this enrich our studio culture and its output, but also the wider community in which we operate.”

If you’re interested in being an inclusive business, a great first step is becoming a Design Can Patron, using the Jobs Board to boost your recruitment and learning more through the Resources Page.

Design Can goes international!

For Japanese fashion and lifestyle magazine SPUR December issue Design Can was included on their article 'What is ethical future trend research?'.

Written by a fashion futurist Geraldine Wharry, we were featured as a resource platform and community that believes the design industry should be representative of the world it serves. We sure do!

You can have a look here.

Design Can founder and director Sabine Zetteler was interviewed by Matt Alagiah, editor-in-chief at It's Nice That for their Extra Nice Newsletter.

She talked about why Design Can was born, our journey and future plans. If you want to know more about our story and why we do what we do, you can read it here.

We are thrilled to see a four-page feature on Design Can and our survey 'What's Changed?' on London Design Festival 2022 Red Book!

The 2022 Red Book features 40+ exclusive interviews including the London Design Medal Winners like Sir Don Mccullin and Joycelyn Longdon, LDF Project designers from Sony Design, Sabine Marcelis, Stanton Williams, and Sam Jacob Studio.

Designed by Pentagram, the Red Book explores many narratives around London and design.

You can learn more about the book and purchase it here.

We recently were featured on Creative Boom's article on How to become a creative changemaker and help push the industry forward.

It is a huge honour to be listed as one of the resources to 'Keep on learning'. This has been our mission since day one: to encourage people to keep learning, keep questioning, keep challenging the status quo in the design industry and beyond. Thus, we are thrilled to be among their recommendations along with s Fuse MCR, Intern and What is your working class? podcast.

You can read the full article here.

Ahead of London Design Festival 2022, we invited Sujata Burman to guest edit our September newsletter.

As the editor of the London Design Festival, she’s continuing her mission to engage wider audiences about the crucial role design can, and should, play in society. We are honour to have Sujata in our community. We are working on some very exciting partnerships with her and the LDF team!

Meet Sujata and discover her five recommendations here.

Today, we announce a major new addition to the role Design Can plays in championing inclusivity in the creative industry: our Jobs Board.

Having launched three years ago, it’s as clear to us now as then that recruitment remains one of the main challenges companies and organisations face in being truly inclusive. We are launching our Jobs Board to connect the Design Can community with employers who take inclusivity seriously.

We want our talented community to find jobs, and believe the exclusionary culture of hiring in the creative industry needs to be opened up, broken apart and built anew. Employers will pay for access which will make this a sustainable platform.

If you’d like to help, the best thing to do right now is to spread the word. Let’s spread the word, and change the conversation around hiring and inclusivity together.

Visit our Jobs Board.

There’s a lot of conversations about changing the industry. But how much has actually changed?

When we announced our Survey Campaign, this wasis the question we posed to a broad range of creatives – from junior designers to business owners and institutional leaders, across age ranges, gender identities, racial background and disability. The goal was to get a comprehensive picture of their perspective on action around inclusivity, and to use this to identify a clear plan of action.

Our report, developed with the support of a data scientist, demonstrates how perceptions of inclusivity and action have a huge impact on how creatives engage with institutions and business, and influences the decisions they make. The headline findings are stark, and point towards a serious crisis of leadership within the industry – but there’s also positive signs which should galvanise further action.

You can read the report’s findings here.

We love to champion the people behind our projects. For our ‘What’s Changed?’ survey campaign, Design Can’s first major research project, we compiled a huge range of data to develop a comprehensive picture of how people felt about how much the industry had changed in recent years.

Two people were essential in helping us crunch the numbers, and to tell that story visually.

First up there was data scientist Nieves Noha from Futuros Deseables, an experienced foresight analyst and strategic consultant who Forbes has touted her as one of the top 40 futurists in Spain – for the second year in a row. Together, we combed over the answers and insights from over 200 respondents to produce the hard-hitting stats in our report.

Secondly, there was Zara Shasore, the brilliant graphic designer helped us transformed the data into insightful – and impactful – graphics using our new brand identity. Having graduated with a BA in Graphic Design from Leeds university in 2018, Shasore has worked on a broad range of projects since in freelance and full-time roles. Having her on our team was an absolute dream.

Check out her work on Instagram, Behance and The Dots. We’ll definitely be working with her again

Legend Priya Khanchandani guest edited our June newsletter.

Priya is a writer, curator and commentator on design; as well as the head of curatorial at the Design Museum in London and a member of our Steering Committee.

Passionate about pushing for positive changes in our industry, she is a never-ending source of inspiration.

Meet Priya and discover her five recommendations here.

We invited Siraaj Mitha to guest edit our newsletter as a way to congratulate him for his new role as Head of Accelerate at Open City - the charity dedicated to making architecture and neighbourhoods more open, accessible and equitable.

Meet Siraaj and discover his five recommendations here.

Wei Prior, Director of graphic design studio Chat Chaan Teng, was part of the original team who shaped our brand identity, and more recently along with his team at Cha Chaan Teng, he’s returned to shake things up.

We invited them to guest edit our April newsletter to fill the beginnig of the Spring of the joy and energy these bunch irradiate.

Meet the Cha Chaan Teng team and discover Wei's five recommendations here.

In the three years since Design Can launched, working closely with our voluntary steering committee, we have grown in size and scope – and today we announce the next big step in our journey.

As a limited company with a charitable purpose, we’ve achieved a lot on a small budget. Last year, we welcomed the addition of our first paid employee, a part-time project manager who joined in June 2021. When we announced our Patron Scheme to the world, it was in the hope that we would find the resources to continue and expand our activities.

Today, we are beyond delighted to announce our first patrons: Kickstarter, Pearson Lloyd, Zetteler and Royal Designers for Industry.
Our steering committee believed it should be possible for the industry itself to fund inclusion efforts, rather than seek public funding. We are continuing to welcome new patrons – please reach out to us if you are looking for ways to help.

On Friday 12 March 2021, we returned to the V&A Museum for another Speed Mentoring session.

The V&A Social Space was an afternoon of free activities, workshops, food, and music. From a print-making workshop with Sadie St. Hilaire of Rabbits Road Press, to music with Misery Party, it’s a free and open celebration of youth and creativity.

Design Can was in attendance with our second Speed Mentoring event, a relaxed session where we connect leading industry voices with young people interested in a creative career. By bringing them together, we hope to inform and inspire the next generation – especially those who without the ‘connections’ to get their foot in the door.

Our wonderful mentors included:

• Francesca Perry, architect and co-founder of Resolve Collective,
• Reuben Christian, edu-trainer and coach
• Samar Maakaroun, graphic designer
• Sophie Sellu, woodworker
• Pereen d’Avoine, architect
• Raafaye Ali, illustrator
• Ansel Neckles, educator and graphic designer
• Parvinder Marwaha, architecture, design and fashion programme manager at the British Council

Want to hear about future Design Can newsletters? Sign up now.

To keep empowering our community at the beginning of the year, we invited Design Can Steering Committee James Lee to share some tips on funding.

James' extraordinary career has seen him take a number of roles championing equity and inclusion. Thus making him the best go-to person to find out about any and all upcoming funding opportunities.

Meet James and discover his five recommendations here.

Events and talks facilitator, podcast producer and, as he likes to define himself, edutrainer Reuben Christian was our January newsletter's guest editor.

The beginning of the year can be a rather dawnting time: endless lists of goals and dreams we plan to achieve which often don't materialise.

To start the year on the hightest note, Reuben shared some tips and tricks to smash 2022.

Meet Reuben and discover his five recommendations here.

2021 was a busy, strange and rewarding year for Design Can. More so than anyone could have predicted.

But during this challenging time, we’ve witnessed a dramatic shift in how Design Can works. We’re continuing to evolve from being a behind-the-scenes platform that posts information and shares ideas, into what we initially envisaged: a platform and campaign that not only discusses and advises, but also connects and empowers people to come together to effect change.

From sharing the results of our ‘What’s Changed?’ campaign, to hosting a youth-focused event in partnership with the V&A during the London Design Festival, and launching a monthly newsletter guest-edited by 7 industry leaders, none of this would have been possible without taking on our first employed member of staff: Bisila Noha.

You can read our full annual report here.

December 2021 was a very special month for London: after four years in the making, the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre opened its doors on London's bankside.

Led by Design Can team member Bisila Noha, the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre is a safe, sober, intergenerational and intersectional heaven for the queer community.

Meet Bisila and discover her five recommendations here.

To celebrate Sumitra Upham's recent appointment as Head of Public Programmes at Crafts Council, we invited her to guest edit our November newsletter.

A curator who strongly believes that making can empower under-served communities, she previously was senior curator of public programmes at the Design Museum.

Meet Sumitra and discover her five recommendations here.

Architect and writer Shawn Adams guest edited our October newsletter.

Shawn also teaches at CSM or co-founded POoR (Power Out of Restriction), a social enterprise that supports young people to develop communities.

A unique human we were extremely delighted to have curating our newsletter!

Meet Shawn and discover his five recommendations here.

We love bringing people together. It can be easy to shrug off ‘networking’ as all about cynically climbing the career ladder – but as so many jobs and opportunities in the creative industry come through informal webs of friends of friends, college mates and so on, it matters who gets invited into the conversation. That’s why we collaborated with the V&A Youth Collective to hold a mentoring and networking event for young people aged 18-24.

On Sunday 19 September, during the London Design Festival 2021, we wanted to connect inspiring creatives with young people interested in pursuing a creative career at a time when the industry comes together. The event focused on sharing experiences, insights and advice to empower the next generation.

Events like this make a small but tangible step towards the change we want to see. Shout-out to the wonderful mentors who joined us:

• Benni Allan, architect
• Samar Makaaroun, graphic designer
• Mac Collins, furniture designer
• Joseph Henry, architect and civil servant,
• Wei Prior, graphic designer
• Simone Brewster, furniture and jewellery designer
• Shawn Adams, architect, writer and co-founder of POor Collective,
• Priya Khanchandani, head of curatorial at Design Museum
• Akil Scafe-Smith, architect and co-founder of Resolve Collective

Want to hear about future Design Can newsletters? Sign up now.

In September 2021 ahead of London Design Festival and our first mentoring event at the V&A Museum, we invited Meneesha Kellay, curator of festivals at the V&A and Design Can steering committee member, to guest edit our newsletter.

She introduced her work and gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the V&A’s LDF 2021 programme.

Meet Meneesha and disover her five recommendations here.

Our August newsletter was guest edited by the Sound Advice: the platform exploring spatial inequality in architecture through music, co-hosted by Pooja Agrawal and Joseph Henry.

Earlier that month, as part of our second birthday celebrations, the Sound Advice team made a playlist full of bangers. You can listen to it now here.

Meet the Sound Advice team and discover their five recommendations here.

We invited Ella Ritchie, co-founder and director of the South London art and design studio Intoart, to be our newsletter's first guest editor.

Intoart is a collective of artists and designers with learning disabilities working from their studio in Peckham. Moreover, Ella is one of the members of our Steering Committee.

Meet Ella Ritchie and Intoart and discover Ella's five recommendations here.