Bernard replied to me very quickly with a lot of helpful interviews he had preciously done that he thought would answer my questions. He sent back a lot of information which has been really helpful. I am definitely going to include at least one quote from Bernard in my design context book. I have included the full interviews below for reference.
Jimmy
Here are a couple of interviews that I have done for various magazines in the past few months. I feel much of the information that you are looking for is contained in these two interviews. Please let me know if you need any other specific information, and thank you again for your interest in PIECE Studio. I look forward to seeing your final project and hope to see or may be work with you someday in the future.
Regards,
Bern
INTERVIEW WITH BETH LACEY FOR AIGA-Will be published next month
Piece Studio is a design studio with a true social mission. What inspired you to start it? Have you always been a community-minded individual?
I developed, with the assistance of Doctor's Earl Fox and Tom O'Toole an electivestudio class called the MICA/JHU Design Coalition when I was graphic design co chair at MICA. The class was a team-based and multidisciplinary approach to translational research projects from the Bloomberg School for Public Health at Hopkins. The idea was to connect students with real projects and real communities and to use design for the common good. I have always been very interested in developing educational experiences that takes students out of the academie and into community.
Colleges are the same as any other institution in that they create institutional bubbles. After six years I and two other friends decided to launch PIECE Studio, because we saw the need and relevance of developing a studio who would respond to the needs of the disenfranchised as well as connecting designers and non designers to improve the quality of life one project at a time.
I was personally concerned by information that I read in the UN's Millennium report that basically stated that if world socioeconomic trends continue then the poverty class will get much larger and poorer; the middle class will get much smaller, and finally disappear, and the rich/consumer class will get smaller and far wealthier. If design operates mostly in the middle class margins then design education and design as a profession could be in serious trouble.
So I suppose the elective class and PIECE Studio are an attempt to address the UN's Report results. By operating in the periphery and creating new markets and a new way of doing and seeing and responding and it is hoped that the poverty class statistics will be readdressed by creating new markets and new products
- Most designers need paid work to keep their studios afloat. How are you able to stick it out pro bono?
PIECE Studio is not a pro bono model. It's not like the First Things First Manifesto model. Sometimes we work on pro bono projects if communities or community organizations cannot afford design services, but more often than not we charge for our services. PIECE Studio is also a different animal in that we write research grants or partner with others in co writing research grants and we also become involved as consultants-a big picture approach to design, where we are not actually producing ephemera.
- Your studio name, Piece, is a homophone of Peace, yes? What made you choose it over something like “Canniffe, Weikert & Munday Design?”
This was Munday's baby for sure. PIECE relates to that we are a part of something bigger. The idea that we all need to work together on big complicated issues. The name relates to the fact that many problems need a 360ยบ approach and design is a small component of that. I feel sometimes we think that design is really important and that we will save the world through posters-we will not.
Canniffe, Weikert & Munday Design sounds like a law office
- Do community organizations and activists come to you, or do you more typically reach out to folks with suggestions?
Initially we would approach organizations and spend a great deal of time talking to them about how we think and how we see the world. Now, we are fortunate, that organizations and communities come to us or we are recommended by people we have collaborated with in the past.
- Which project at Piece Studio has been your favorite? Why?
There are so many-it is inspirational to work with communities and become a real partner. The most recent favorite was the Sappi Ideas That Matter award that PIECE Studio received. We traveled down to Hale County Alabama to work with Pam Dorr who is the director of HERO in Greensboro. Mike and I took a team of designers, a writer and design students from MICA down to Greensboro on an a cultural emersion. The writer, Elizabeth Everts Dickerson writes for Metropolis, and we also were fortunate to collaborate with John Bielenberg on a 24 hour design blitz. It was perfect PIECE Studio project because we involved students and a multidisciplinary team to assist a fantastic group of people.
- What is the studio working on now? Is there anything you’re particularly excited about?
PIECE Studio recently completed two projects. The first was a call to action poster that will be distributed to colleges and design studios. The poster is perforated into a series of cards where people will deconstruct the poster as they pledge to use their skills to make their community a better place to live. The second is a promotional campaign we created for John Bielenberg's presentation to the Minneapolis design community about Project M.
This is another perfect PIECE Studio project because the promotional tee shirts, poster, postcards etc. are only a small part of the equation. The long-term gains for the Minneapolis communities are going to be seismic-mark my words.
- How can other socially minded designers make a difference too? Does it take a big leap to get involved?
You have to have the heart to want to be involved and to make a difference. I have seen a few designers who get involved in this type of design because they feel it is advantageous, and it is so artificial to see them and the community is aware that it is not truthful. It's quite painful to watch and disrespectful to the community. Scott Stowell of Open once said to me that there is only design for the common good-there is nothing else. This is how I feel. I can only do this type of work-it's in my DNA-there is no other way to design.
- Thinking about a recent tragedy like the devastating earthquakes in Haiti: How can design play a role in their recovery?
It cannot play a role in designing silly posters. Designers need to use their skills to assist the community by leveraging funding opportunities and to get involved with the poor communities in Haiti and work with them to develop ideas for new products and new ways to partner with these communities to address the serious gap between the haves and have nots. The earthquake was a terrible tragedy, but in the end, the socioeconomic and political situation will remain. I know that people will comment that my ideas are so pollyanna-but design must take the lead and think big.
- What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
John Bielenberg–only pack one pair of trousers when you travel
- What are your thoughts on design in the city of Baltimore?
I was fortunate to work with some very gifted designers in Baltimore. I was proud of my time in Baltimore–I love Baltimore. That said, I feel that Baltimore has so many issues that need to be addressed. The level of poverty, lack of education for the inner city, political corruption and acceptance for the status quo, the vacant housing and the resultant crime and poverty that follows. Everyone should get involved and Design with a big 'D' should take the lead. It's the worst of times and the best of times for design and design education. What could happen in Baltimore could be applied to other cites who are facing similar problems and then to other countries. Baltimore could become a catalyst for change. The problem is that everyone is looking over their shoulders for someone else to do the work.
- Why is it important to be a part of AIGA?
AIGA can be the link to make things happen. It is the nexus for change. Professionals, educators and students can be introduced for innovation and collaboration.
- What do you think will be the next big thing in design?
Design for the common good or "Big Picture Design Thinking." It's already happening and people need to get on the bus.
- What’s your favorite typeface?
I don't have one
- If AIGA Baltimore were to have a mascot, what would it be?
A club with nails on it
INTERVIEW CONDUCTED WITH CONCEPT DESIGN MAGAZINE (Malaysia)
Interview by PIECE Studio Founders Bernard J Canniffe and Oliver Munday
1. Piece Studio is a socially based collaborative design studio in search of creating positive change. What positive change you are talking about?
We believe that PIECE Studio gives a voice to people who cannot speak for themselves. We want to assist the marginalized, the disenfranchised and those who are outside of what society sees, wants to see or wants to help. We work with individuals, communities, community organizations, government organizations and academic institutions.
PIECE Studio achieves positive change by addressing social, educational, economical and racial inequality. We feel that both local and national governments have failed to address the injustice between poverty and equality or they have shamelessly turned their backs on the poor and to only service the needs of the rich and powerful. We feel design has the responsibility and power to bring positive change-it is up to design to make a difference and to bring environmental justice. PIECE Studio projects are involved at the micro and macro levels. We produce projects that are a direct response from working with a partner and sometimes we produce ‘design interventions’ that are a direct response from what we feel needs to be highlighted.
An example of a partnership project was a project that we are working on at the current time called Jubilee Arts. We are developing an identity, environmental signage and a way finding system for an inner-city art center called Jubilee Arts. Jubilee Arts is a part of Newborn Holistic Ministries and they are located in West Baltimore, Maryland USA. PIECE Studio had produced a project for Martha’s Place, which is also part of Newborn Holistic Ministries, called a ‘Place for Change’ several years ago and we have been friends with them ever since. Martha’s Place provides respite and counseling for women who are dealing with chemical and alcohol addiction. Jubilee Arts will provide programming and education for children and adults and raise awareness and self esteem through art.
West Baltimore is a violent and neglected place, but there are so many fantastic people there who are trying to make a positive impact on their community. These are the real heroes and PIECE STUDIO is proud to assist them in any way we can.
An example of a Piece Studio intervention is the ‘Unsung Heroes’ poster and the ‘Once There Was a Boy’ illustrative poem. An intervention happens when we see that is not an issue being addressed by anyone. The Unsung Heroes poster was a direct response for PIECE Studio to pay homage to the many community leaders from East Baltimore whose work is never credited. We collaborated with Globe Printers who are located in the same area of Baltimore and who have an international reputation for producing music posters. They have a fantastic visual aesthetic that we felt that it represented the community leaders. We selected a few community leaders who we had worked with in the past and placed their names and photographs on the poster. The typography, image style and word choices were reminiscent of the old Blues, Motown and Gospel posters that Globe produced. The posters were placed in East Baltimore for the community to celebrate their leaders. We wanted everyone to know that we recognized and lauded him or her as the true heroes. We placed the posters up late at night throughout the community and the posters greeted everyone the next morning. Our work is always about raising awareness and self esteem. It’s also about celebrating community pride.
The Once There Was a Boy illustrated poem was about expressing the divide between Muslim and Non–Muslims. We had worked on a project in Dubai and wanted to reach out to children and try and express that we understood that people feel helpless when they are caught up in conflict. PIECE Studio wanted to create a dialogue of mutual respect. The book is in both English (reading left to right) and Arabic (reading right to left) when you turn the book over. The book has been circulated in throughout many countries and the hope is that this will promote conversation and tolerance.
2. As graphic designers, what could we do due to transform the society?
Designers and artists have an obligation to engage society. The UN Millennium Report stated that if current world socioeconomic trends continue then their will be an smaller and much richer world super consumer class, a vastly smaller and almost nonexistent world middle class and a vastly increased and poorer world poverty class. It makes sense to us that if design does not play a part in changing this worldview then there will be no jobs for designers. This is because the design needs people with money to purchase the things we produce. If the world middleclass disappears and the world super rich gets smaller and richer then there will be fewer people for us to connect with. Design is educating and promoting its way into extinction.
Designers have to intervene, create new markets, help the underserved to create a voice for them to create products and market themselves. We must address this inequality-we are morally bound to do so, and it just makes good business sense as well. We feel the Jubilee Art project is a good example of how design can create new markets for the disenfranchised. We produced the Place of Change photo novella that told the story about Martha’s Place, the history of West Baltimore and then asked people to financially support Martha’s Place. One could argue that this publication assisted in the funding to create Jubilee Arts. Jubilee will create more jobs in the community to run the organization, and, in time, local artists, musicians and designers will create new markets and products. The fabric of West Baltimore will change for the better. There are a million stories to be told that are similar to Martha’s Place and a million opportunities to crate new markets-it only takes one designer to walk into a community, start a conversation and make a difference.
3. How important is it for a designer, especially a graphic designer to care about social conscience?
We do not think that it’s only the designer who should care about social involvement– it’s everyone’s responsibility. It’s a moral imperative and we each have a choice.
We can deny the injustice or walk away from the prejudice or turn our back on the suffering. But sooner or later, in one form or another, we will be confronted by it, and it will be quick and it will be nasty, and then it will be too late.
4. How do you stick to what you believe in as socially based designers when other designers might say that you are not adding to the economy?
It’s an easy choice for us to make because we feel that there IS ONLY social design. PIECE Studio works with large corporations and academic institutions and other partners who pay for the work that we do. Then we funnel some of the funding into the projects that there isn’t a funding stream for. PIECE Studio is not a normal design studio. We do not act as a service provider, which means that we are not interested in working with clients who ask us to develop a letterhead, business card, website etc. We are interested in clients who come to us and ask, “Help us understand who we are and what we do.” PIECE Studio is also different in that we organize teams around projects. We are an organic organization. For example we recently traveled to Hale County, Alabama to work with Pam Dorr of HERO (Hale Empowerment and Resource Organization), and we took a group comprising of graphic and web designers, a writer from Metropolis Magazine, and a photographer. For the Jubilee and Sight Projects we teamed with two individual designers.
We feel many designers are still thinking in terms of design for non-profits as the only way to produce social design. It’s as if they are thinking only in terms of the “First Things First Manifesto.’ There is a new way to concentrate fully on social design and make a living from it. It’s about connecting with medical researchers, public health practitioners, community organizations and academic institutions. It’s working with grant writers and creating new markets. This is where PIECE Studio is making its mark.
5. In your opinion, how could we achieve sustainability design in terms of graphic design?
Sustainability is such a vague and overused word, and it can be difficult to address. Sustainability can relate to idea of designers using less paper or more recycled substrates and focus on web and interaction as the delivery vehicles. Using the web interface, as the primary delivery vehicle for many of PIECE Studio’s projects can be problematic, as many of the communities that we work in do not have computers-they simply cannot afford them.
Sustainability can relate to design as a discipline and we see this as the biggest hurdle that design and design education have to come to grips with. I feel that many academic institutions focus on an antiquated delivery system comprising of a series of classes that focus on delivering specific skill sets. For example classes that are called Typography One followed by Typography Two and a series of consecutive classes named Graphic Design One, Two, Three etc. Design education needs to be delivered in terms of realistic projects that create new products and new markets. Classes need to have students from different majors develop multidisciplinary teams around these projects. Students will take skills when they need them and as they apply to the project. Students will teach students skills from their own majors and students will learn faster and will learn more. These students will understand the importance of the team dynamic. See the world and projects in terms of ‘theirs’ rather than ‘mine’ and will be further ahead than students who have gone through a regular design program. The new student would have interfaced with and had experience of business models, public health ideas, government policy procedures, product design, funding and grant writing. The new student should be a big picture problem solver and less of a small picture service provider. The world’s market forces are changing at a rapid pace and situations can occur almost overnight. Designers have to be able to respond to a shifting workplace and be at ease working in London, Beijing, Paris and New Delhi. We believe PIECE Studio’s model represents this approach to big picture thinking because we are involved in design projects for clients such as GOOD Magazine and The Good Sheet: Starbucks, but we are also working with medical researchers to sustain public health problems, architects to address urban planning issues, and schools to develop educational models.
And sustainability can also mean the interrelationship between designer and community, and country to country. We need each other and we have to help each other. We have traveled throughout Asia and we feel something very interesting and exciting is happening there. The West has driven design and now we could be witnessing a shift to Asia leading the way. We feel that the West might be too set in its ways and too top heavy. One could argue that the West might also be too arrogant and resistant to change. Innovation is going to come from the emerging economy, it will happen in the margins and it will be exciting, and new. Designers and Design Educators and students have get involved and make the world a better place for everyone. It begins with design education and it’s about taking the academie out to the community.
6. How do you come up with your ideas and is the process different from other studios?
The creative process for PIECE Studio is reflective of an organic structure. We feel that everybody has a voice at the table and all ideas are great ideas. This means that we involve the client, the community, community leaders and every member of the PIECE team. The communities that we are servicing inform many of the PIECE Studio creative solutions. It becomes all about obtaining community ownership of our designs and our role is to listen and then reflect. PIECE Studio embraces a lateral management and creative structure. Student interns have as much creative input as everyone-it’s quite liberating at refreshing. The one thing that makes PIECE Studio an exciting place to work is because of the projects we select and listening to the needs and wishes of the community. We are open to all ideas and so the design process becomes exhilarating because we are all focusing on helping the community and less about stroking our own egos.
7. What is the concept for the Jubilee Arts project?
The Jubilee Arts identifier represents the shape of the building and it also represents the community of West Baltimore. The West Baltimore houses are made of red bricks and are joined together. The buildings are tall and narrow and the streets run parallel to each other. There is a great deal of community strength and spirit and everyone is interconnected. The focus was to create a strong and vibrant identifier that responded to the needs of the community and reflected what we saw in the community. We created a segmented “J” that can be filled with solid colors and images. The “J” is constructed from two shapes–a square and an arched triangle. Ben had the idea to create a complete alphabet for the client-something they would own and speak about community pride. So Jubilee Arts has their own font where each letterform is constructed from these two shapes. These shapes decorate the floors and walls of the building. There are three floors to Jubilee Arts. The first floor will give dance lessons, hold art exhibitions and hold community events. The shapes on this floor playfully dance around the floors and walls. The second floor contains the art classes. Here the shapes playfully create shapes on the walls and floors. The third floor contains the counselors and therapists for Martha’s Place. The shapes on this floor are much more subdued, nurturing and contained. We are having a large ‘J’ constructed from tubular lights that will be placed on the exterior of the building. We want the light to shine on the community and for the community to see that Jubilee Arts as at the heart of the community. We feel that we have come up with a very versatile symbol and system and the initial idea came from the community explaining their building shapes and streets.
9. Tell us about the process-what happens in between ideation, to final solutions, and what technology, methods, tools, and materials do you apply?
The initial creative phase consists of paper, pencils, markers and pens. We sometimes use dry erase boards and LCD Projectors or computer screens to show photographs and video. We take a great deal of photographs at the start of the project. We take photographs of buildings, structures, peoples-we shoot EVERYTHING. We interview people and take their photograph again. The initial phase is very playful and we bounce ideas around and off each other. We then switch to the computer and use the same design programs as everyone else. Although on some projects we have used cut stencils and spray paint as the final delivery vehicle.
Once we have selected some idea directions that we feel are reflective of the community and client needs we present these to the client and community in the at a community focus group. If we are showing a playful pictographic symbol then we initially educate everyone what a playful pictographic symbol looks like. We show examples of effective symbols and we use words that describe the emotive content of what the audience is looking at. Once we feel confident that the audience understands what we are talking about we show them what we have designed. It’s easier having a visually literate audience and we have a great deal of fun with our presentations.
This second phase can be very loud with a great deal of energy. We take a great deal of notes, take even more photographs and record what people are saying. Then we go back to the studio and have another creative session and reflect what people said. Then there is another focus group and we ask everyone what do you think and then, if we have done our job right and listened then we have a sexy final product that the community and client love.
10. Tell us about your struggles to complete these projects?
The struggle for us is always knowing when to leave a project go-to say it is ready-it is finished. We deal with communities who have been neglected for the longest time and we do not want to let them down. We are working on a lot of projects for PIECE Studio as well as our own personal projects and there is a great deal of long nights. We select designers, writers, filmmakers, and illustrators etc. that have the same ideas as we do and are fun to be around. We are certainly interested in people who can roll their sleeves up and work with a team. We also work with people who put community needs above their own.
11. What are the values of and benefits of this project?
Bottom line-the community and client owns the process and final project. Jubilee Arts will provide employment for people in the community and act as a creative safe haven for children, teenagers and adults. Community jobs will be created and community artists will come forward who will sell their creations. The fabric of the community will improve and we, at PIECE Studio, will be the better for it and sleep contently at night.
I still have one more question for you-hope you don't mind to answering it.
12. What do you think of the First Things First Manifesto-could you please explain?
I believe the "First Things First Manifesto" was an interesting attempt for designers to legitimize what they did for a living. I believe that it allowed designers to have an easy option and say, "Hey, we can do good work for good causes and help poor people." Then they could spend the rest of their time making things that people do not really need. Whether it is the initial UK manifesto or the second US/UK revisit it's the same myopic view that it supports. I feel there is a new and better alternative to the manifesto. Designers can concentrate on social design and make a living from it and make the world a better place to be. It's about giving and not taking and it's about engaging communities and working with diverse multidisciplinary teams. I want to live in a world where designers are sitting at the table and helping to solve the major issues that confront the world today. We can change behavior and we can make a difference-it's only a matter of if we choose to do so.
Biography
Bernard J. Canniffe has had work featured in the Graphis Design Annual, How magazine, STEP Design Magazine, GOOD Magazine, PRINT Design magazine, and CCPH Perspectives and is he recipient of the Graphic Designers for the New Millennium, 2000 Award. He co-founded the collaborative social design PIECE STUDIO IN 2008 and is an advisor to the international social collaborative Project M.
Three of his posters were included in This is for Real: War and the Contemporary Audience exhibition at Stoney Brook University, and he was one of a few world artists invited to exhibit at the Museum at the Newton Center for British-American Studies. .
Bernard J. Canniffe is originally from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, has lived in the United States since1991 and is the Chair of the Design Programs at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He holds a BA (Hons) in graphic design from the Newport College of Art & Design, University of Wales, and an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Professional Activity and Honors
He has made presentations on Blue Collar Design Theory, PIECE Studio and social design at Cumulus Design Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, National Institute of Design Conference in Ahmedabad, India, at Willem de Kooning Academie in Rotterdam, Lees McRae College in North Carolina, Zayed University, Dubai, Osaka, Japan, Seoul, South Korea and at the P&D Design Conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has made presentations on the design coalition at medical, design, and academic conferences throughout the world.
Paper Cut/Die Cut/Laser Cut
Hapa Zome
Laser Cut
Hapa Zome
Laser Cut
