Graphic representation: A reflection of the mission?
Although the collaborative activities of this project in themselves have been of service to the people involved, the ultimate goal of this work is to produce a variety of documents that facilitate education and change. When Susana Almanza, the co-director of PODER, suggested this project to Dr. Bjorn Sletto, it was with the explicit intention to generate data that would illustrate the need for the City of Austin to redress the legacy of environmental injustice in East Austin. She also hoped the project would generate interest in the community and lead to increased engagement in the struggle for environmental justice. Presented with these intentions, and considering the collaborative, educational, community-based nature of the project, we were confronted with a variety of challenges regarding both the format and content of our graphic representations.

Given that a graphic design simultaneously reflects the internal values of the designers and shapes the external perception of the audience, one complex question that arose out of the ensuing dialogue is whether a singular graphic representation is sufficient to reflect all collaborators and effectively address all audiences. If so, who designs it?

One early example of this challenge emerged out of the need for a one-page poster to publicize a community children’s activity for the project. One of the University of Texas students designed what he thought was an accessible, concise poster and presented it to PODER for review and input. PODER responded with an alternative with a much different graphic tone.

Finally, how does the design express the deeper conceptual issues of the project itself: urban environmental justice, children’s rights, the legacy of segregation? In the poster designed for the Conference of the Association of American Geographers, we developed a color and design approach to reflect the tensions between local and scientific knowledge. We also wanted the poster to reflect the importance we placed on relationship-building and representational concerns as we worked on the project. Of course, no single effort can completely address or embody all the issues raised; yet our collective challenge is to deliberately appraise our design decisions and measure their reflection of the project’s mission.

For further reading:
Graphic Representation: A Reflection of Our Mission?, by Sunshine Mathon

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