“Failure is on a spectrum. The lessons are eternal,” read one of Antionette Carroll’s slides during her Designing a Better World presentation in August 31. More than 50 designers and community members came together at UMOCA to hear Antionette talk about her failures and successes in working for social change.
Antionette was living in Ferguson, Missouri, when Michael Brown was shot dead by the police (August, 2014). The day after his death, Ferguson residents took to the streets to demand justice. Antionette decided to leave the comfort of her 9 to 5 job to focus on work to change the social conditions of her community and address racial inequality and police brutality. She became the founder, president, and CEO of Creative Reaction Lab.
At the event, Antionette shared details on some of Creative Reactions Lab’s projects, and the limitations, or failures, that each of those presented. These failures motivated Antionette to find better ways to address social change.
As designers we are told that empathy is important,” Carroll said, “but humility is equally important.
Humility has led Antionette and Creative Reaction Lab to many successes. She said that what makes social change efforts successful is the inclusion of different members of the community beyond designers. Involving businesses, designers, local officials, and those who are directly affected by the problem we are trying to address ensures that we completely understand what the problem is, and find creative ways to address it.
“I left feeling empowered,” said one of the participants on their way out, “I feel I can work in my community to create change.
AIGA SLC, in collaboration with Struck and UMOCA, made this event possible.
