Ms Ashton Moseley, a Lecturer in Industrial Design from the UJ Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (FADA), was recently selected by the World Design Organisation (WDO) as 1 of 17 young designers from around the world to serve as core members of their new pilot programme, the ‘Young Designers Circle’ (YDC). The YDC is a group of designers, educators, researchers, and strategists from South Africa, USA, Mexico, India, Turkey, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea.
The WDO’s Young Designers Circle harnesses the creativity and ambition of designers under-40, across multiple disciplines. This pilot programme is aligned with WDO’s objective to promote the use of design to help meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). This initiative aims to strengthen the role of design leadership today, by planting seeds that will lead to a large impact tomorrow.
“I feel so honoured to have the opportunity to collaborate with this diverse group of talented and motivated young designers and academics from around the world, on what promises to be a challenging but really exciting programme,” said Ms Moseley.
Ms Moseley has always been drawn to the opportunity to be involved in something that has the potential to inform, engage and support young designers and design institutions in successfully and appropriately addressing the SDGS, while at the same time, reimagining and reshaping the relationship between SDGS and Design industries in the long term.
“During my time as a Designer and Lecturer in a male-dominated department/industry, I have become aware of and interested in the issue of gender representation and inequality, particularly in Design industries. On a personal note, I would want to make some impact in this regard, whether it be on a larger scale through the YDC or on a smaller scale just through raising awareness and broadening discussions on the topic with students and colleagues,” she said.
Over the next 18 months, participants in the Young Designers Circle will work voluntarily to co-design actionable recommendations and develop a roadmap for 2021 that will tackle key challenges affected by young designers worldwide; Identify emerging global design best practices that also influence design policies and the achievement of UN SDGs and positively contribute to the expansion of the field of design and its impact on the world.
