Shadrick Addy Kuteh sits down with host Adam Fromme in this episode of the Thinking through Design podcast. 

“I think it’s very important that designers start to be intentional and mindful of their own values.” Shadrick Addy Kuteh

In this episode, Shadrick discusses design for social impact and the ways designers can contribute to complex social and cultural challenges. He shares a recent project with Save the Children and Equality Labs that uses virtual reality to help policymakers understand how civil unrest can affect children’s access to education, and reflects on the importance of lived experience, cultural context and community knowledge when designing for social impact. The conversation also explores the challenges of measuring impact over time, and how Shadrick brings questions of ethics and personal values into his teaching through a student design manifesto. He discusses his emerging research into cultural transmission and the role design might play in cultural policy. As a through line to our conversation, we consider how designers can recognize opportunities to improve people’s lives and environments, and whether designers have limited themselves by the kinds of problems they believe design can address.

Shadrick Addy Kuteh is an Assistant Professor in the Ohio State Department of Design. His work explores how design, extended reality and storytelling can preserve cultural heritage, encourage empathy and facilitate meaningful social interaction. He holds a B.S. in Graphic Design from Elizabeth City State University, a Master of Graphic Design from North Carolina State University, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Art Education from The Ohio State University.

You can also listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.