Dundee Arts Cafe

Twisted by Design: Who do we think we're designing for?: Dr Jon Rogers

Join us for the first of our 2010/2011 Dundee Arts Cafe events! This talk will be presented by Dr Jon Rogers from the University of Dundee, and will be held on Tuesday the 7th of September at The McManus Cafe.

Jon Rogers writes of his talk 'The story of poverty in the UK is well known. We have a rich set of language tools describe people as living in 'sink estates', 'regeneration areas' that have 'wicked problems' inhabited by the 'underclass', the 'unemployed' as people portrayed as living outside the Big Society.

A red plastic 5 metre high CCTV camera that communities can use to record local events and send directly to the local newspaper. The camera is pictured on the Callon and Fishwick estate in Preston.

So how can design work in areas where poverty, crime and poor health dominate people's lives? It isn't simple. It isn't easy. And to be honest, I don't know. But in this talk, I'll discuss with you some of the things a team of designers, technologists and journalists are doing to re-think how we can strengthen communities in the age of the digital economy.

I'll show you how we talk to each other and what designs we are testing in their community - from Digital Buskers that you can TXT to play tracks made by Grime Rappers in the community - to a 5M CCTV camera that can upload community activity to youtube at the press of a rather large big red button. In the course of 45 minutes or so, I would like to show you how you can be Twisted By Design.