A manifesto for culture-based design

Let’s backtrack a bit. A lot of us understand design as a way to find solutions to problems. In my opinion, design isn't just a practice; it's a philosophy. It assumes that problems can be solved with and through intention. Design is intention made manifest.

What problems do we solve, and who do we solve them for? Ideally, we solve problems for the sake of the common good. To help other people and make the world a better place - as corny as this may seem. But then, you need to understand someone before you solve a problem for them. This is one of the core principles of User Experience (UX).

Whenever my family is stuck in traffic due to twisting roads, we frequently remark “‘Di siguro magaling yung nag-design niyan.” (“Whoever designed this must not have been very good.”) The users - in this case, drivers and pedestrians - were not properly considered when the road was made. In other words, their needs were not met with intent due to a lack of understanding.

Design is powered by values. As I said, design is a philosophy: the basic value being that the problem needs to be solved. If this is the case, I hazard that Philippine design is beyond mangoes, tarsiers, and primary colors; it is about Philippine values.

The Design Center’s awards for this year are built with the theme of Malasakit - a few translations of this would be compassion, heart, or empathy. A Philippine value expressed through a Philippine language.

A design philosophy informed by literature, anthropology, ethics, history, and so much more. To design is to be human; to be human is to strive for mutual understanding. Sure, we have User Experience - and unless we’re designing for aardvarks or albatrosses, we’re designing for humans. Thus, we need to be in touch with our humanity to be good designers.

I want a Philippine design not just based on a shallow understanding of our aesthetics. What we currently have is a good start - the fact that so much of it exists is already a big thing, in my view! But we need to go beyond imagery, beyond being tokenistic and self-exoticizing. I want a Philippine design based on our cultures - with an S, plural, because the Philippines has such rich and diverse narratives. Food, architecture, fashion, tradition, dance, ways of life - all are endless wells to draw inspiration from. A thousand thousand ways to explore and depict Philippine culture in all its abundance. 

Designing a park well would need an understanding of pedestrian behavior, placemaking, and sustainability. As designers, we often position ourselves as the problem-solvers of society. I issue a challenge: to go beyond our discipline, further than “pushing pixels” to pushing values. Pushing for a more humane, just, and equitable future.

This essay is my humble contribution to evolving design as a discipline. Understanding is founded on care - after all, why would we act towards something we’re apathetic about? Care is the first step; then comes understanding, then action.