We are pleased to announce the inaugural issue of Plot(s), a peer reviewed, student edited and produced journal exploring the plurality of design studies.
In an attempt to map the network of discourses within design studies, each work in Plot(s) lends a critical eye to a facet of design practice — understanding design as both a catalyst for change and as culpable for the state of our present world. As students at The New School, we do not attempt to provide an exhaustive understanding of design studies, but a glimpse into the burgeoning field.
From the Editors:
The contents of the first issue presents a selection of works demonstrating the diversity of our approaches to design. As evident from the breadth of subjects considered on the following pages, design is increasingly a term of nebulous definition. As practitioners of design studies, we are thus required to invoke flexible modes of inquiry and a willingness to step over the boundaries between disciplines. Our task as the first class in Parsons’ MA Design Studies program has been to sketch and navigate a map of this transdisciplinary landscape. In doing so, we have had no choice but to push past the traditional methods, expectations, and borders of academic work. The results continue to be an array of creative scholarship that cannot be fit neatly into any one box. So, in lieu of a box, we offer you Plot(s).
The first issue of Plot(s) is available to view in its entirety online.
We thank our fellow students, Dora Sapunar, Chen Yu Lo, Finn Ferris, Sarah Lillenberg, Divia Padayachee, Tia Remington-Bell, Vivian Cai, William Perkins, James Laslavic, Ruo Ma, Katherine Mayer, and Veronica Uribe whose collective input gave shape and color to our mission.
Lindsay Reichart, editorial director
Rachel Meade Smith, managing editor
Jhen Yi (Maggie) Lin, production manager
Gigi Polo, designer
Juan Pablo Pemberty, designer
Yoko Wand, photo editor
Natalie Nielson, copy editor
Hayley Aresenault, copy editor
Kamala Murali, peer reviewer
Komal Sharma, peer reviewer
Laura Wing, peer reviewer & PR manager
Salem Tsegaye, contributor