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Abstract: Designing from the positionality of a user instead of the designer’s is a must for designing against oppression. By acknowledging oneself as both a user and a worker, this approach dismantles patriarchal, capitalist, and colonialists paradigms that separates managers from workers, and designers from users. Born out of self-management, this approach thrives on collaboration, […] - Jan 27, 2025 -
Systemic oppression in service design
Van Amstel, Frederick M. C., Serpa, Bibibiana, Secomandi, Fernando. (2025). Systemic oppression in service design. In: Suoheimo, M., Jones, P., Lee, S., Sevaldson, B (Eds). Systemic service design. Routledge. - Jan 22, 2025 -
Abstract: Imagine a design studio where aspiring designers break free from traditional hierarchies and redefine what it means to be a designer. In the self-managed studio developed at UTFPR, design students learned that design can serve not just industries but social movements and the public. Inspired by critical pedagogy and radical practices like Theater of the Oppressed, […] - Jan 18, 2025 -
Design + Identity in Everyday Life
Quest 1 course (open to all majors), School of Art + Art History, University of Florida, 45 hours, Spring 2025 This course asks: How does design work as a tool for shaping, understanding, and communicating identity—“the fact of being who or what a person is”—in everyday life? Designed environments, objects, and interfaces allow us to shape the […] - Jan 6, 2025
Frederick van Amstel
Design researcher & educator