PDA Turns One!

Happy New Year from Sarah Sandman and Jill Peterson!

It’s been an exciting first year for Public Displays of Affection, the design studio in downtown Brooklyn that ignites social causes through experiential design. Whether we’re making brosters about community energy initiatives, or mini-golf courses for Airbnb, we’re always thinking about how a design brief becomes an experience, and how that experience becomes a participatory, share-worthy moment.

This year PDA had the pleasure of working with many amazing clients and causes, such as Planned Parenthood, Airbnb, Acadia Center, TED Fellows, The Establishment and Radiate, helping them to spark change and build communities. Read on and get involved...

Supporting Planned Parenthood

We were proud to help design the identity for I Vote Planned Parenthood Action - an initiative by Planned Parenthood Action Fund to get out the vote for women’s health. During a year when supporting women’s access to health care was as important an issue as it has ever been, it is an honor to call Planned Parenthood a client.

Taking IDEAs on the road

This year PDA brought the IDEA cards on the road to Arizona State University as part of our presentation on Participatory Design Strategies for Phoenix Design Week. We brought Community Jenga to the TED Fellows retreat, and were visiting critics at the Rhode Island School of Design.
 

Getting WILDER

Get ready for WILDER Labs - a combination of PDA's WILDER and Design Lab - coming this Spring! PDA will bring a select group of young women embarking on a career in design to travel upstate to The Wassaic Project. There, we will explore new questions and build self-reliance skills with sustainable design objectives. WILDER Labs aims to both inspire up-and-coming female designers as well as bring their creativity to the challenges presented by climate change. 

Making it Public

We had a blast this holiday season bestowing public displays of affection on New York City, including sharing kisses with train conductors and leaving loot for letter carriers. See our top ten public displays of the #santakwanzaakkah spirit at @pdastudio on Instagram, and join us in #makingitpublic!

Calling all collaborators! Are you...

++ Excited about design activations that connect people and causes?

++ Involved in corporate social responsibility initiatives?

++ Fascinated by geodesic domes?

++ Looking for participatory design consultants for your next project?

WHAP! The Women's Health Action Project

WHAP! is a collective of nine women students from the Community Health and Media Design programs at Hostos Community College in the South Bronx. During the spring semester Professor Karen Winkler of Community Health and Professor Sarah Sandman of Media Design, spent the semester leading the WHAP! collective in conducting Participatory Action Research (PAR) to investigate health issues of women at Hostos. PAR involves participant-researchers in critical reflection on every aspect of the research process. Essentially, students were conducting research on their own lives rather than an outsider coming in to research them. 

The result of the semester's research culminated in an exhibition presenting what they learned through focus groups, interviews, journals, and photographs they took of themselves and their communities. The desired outcome is that exhibit helps create change by stimulating conversation about women’s health needs at Hostos (and maybe even be the impetus for creating a much needed Hostos Women’s Health Center!)

The Women’s Health Action Project was funded by the City University of New York Research Foundation to enable educators to learn creative ways to teach Hostos students to do research that can inform community action. The WHAP! team demonstrated the utmost bravery in sharing their intimate stories and photographs that fill this exhibit. 

The exhibit is up until May 28th.
Hostos Community College
500 Grand Concourse
Bronx, NY 
11238