This study is about the way social biases dictate the design process when it involves portraying outgroups and what affect does consciousness of the designer’s own biases have in the process and the outcome of the design. The goal of the study is to shed light on the role of biases in the design process.
The outcome of the study will be series of illustrations of African characters exploring the theme of the ‘house girl’ phenomenon in Ghana.
The thesis will be published as a blog as the process evolves. This will hopefully invite further discussion among the public. For purposes of the University’s record keeping a traditional thesis will be also produced. A link to the blog will be provided in the publication.
In addition to the actual thesis I will produce a conference paper. I will offer it to the 2017 conference of Design Educator’s Forum of Southern Africa (DEFSA). The topick of the conference is “Design Educators reflect on the call for the decolonisation of education.”
ILLUSTRATING THE OTHER 