A powerful category calls for a powerhouse jury. The Design for Social Impact category honors campaigns for nonprofits and other organizations that address social welfare and promote a call to action. Entries can include any campaign element, from advertising to reports, brochures, posters, signs, and art installations. To evaluate the entries in such a meaningful category, PRINT seeks out judges who have demonstrated involvement and expertise in using their design voices for social betterment.
This year’s jury includes extraordinary design leaders whose contributions have supported LGBTQ+ rights and HIV/AIDS care and prevention; they’ve challenged conventional practices in design to make institutions more inclusive and supportive of cultural communities; and they’ve worked in the world’s largest technology companies to create digital products that provide more equitable and effective experiences for users worldwide.
Artist and publisher Ryan Fitzgibbon started his career as a communication designer at IDEO in San Francisco, CA, and in 2012 founded Hello Mr. After moving to Tulsa, OK, Ryan was diagnosed with HIV, inspiring him to create In Our Blood, a platform to “detect, exercise, and replenish your inner activist.” He has dedicated his activism to protecting LGBTQ+ rights and expanding HIV/AIDS care and prevention in Oklahoma, as well as supporting the operations of the Black Wall Street Times. A 2021-23 awardee of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship, Ryan has authored a book scheduled for release in May 2024: A Great Gay Book: Stories of Growth, Belonging, and Other Queer Possibilities.
As the lead executive officer of Dori Tunstall, Inc., Elizabeth “Dori” Tunstall wears many hats. The design anthropologist, author, consultant, and coach has built a career around challenging conventional design paradigms that exclude and harm cultural communities. She authored the book Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice Guidebook and formerly served as Dean of Design at OCAD University (making her the first Black dean of a Faculty of Design at any institution). Dori established her eponymous firm to provide corporate education, coaching, and consulting to help companies and organizations decolonize and diversify their institutional processes.
As Adobe’s director of product and product equity, Timothy Bardlavens calls himself “chaotic good in its purest form.” Through his illustrious career, Timothy has applied his unique perspective as a Gay, Black man from the Carolinas to advocating for equity in technology and design. Working with companies like Microsoft, Meta (formerly Facebook), and Adobe, Timothy has helped introduce digital products that bring users a more effective and equitable experience. As a product executive, cultural strategist, diversity, equity, and justice expert, co-founder, writer, and international speaker and facilitator, Timothy has worked to build teams and dismantle systemic barriers to help reshape the landscape of technology and design.
The 2023 top honor in the Design for Social Impact category went to See Words: Anywhere, See Word Design/Learning by Learning Lab. A superior design achievement, this digital reading proficiency system and learning method and special font (SeeType) were created to support literacy across all ages and skill levels.
Have you done great work for social impact? These judges want to see it!