Critical Daily    Critical practice in graphic design

Futuress is an online magazine and community space for design research and writing. This queer intersectional feminist platform is a ‘home’ in which to build a common history. The Futuress team focuses on people and on the different perspectives that have been — and often still remain — underrepresented, marginalised, oppressed, repressed and ignored. The authors of this platform are co-directors Nina Paim and Maya Ober, along with Mio Kojima, Sacha Fortuné, Cherry-Ann Davis and Morgan Brown. Each member of the team, together with the community, creates a specific platform that has a strong voice in design practice.

Its main vision for the future is to radically democratise access to design education and discourse. And another important aspect: to empower and amplify the voices of womxn, BIPoC, LGBTQIA+, as well as people with disabilities, migrants, refugees, and others from marginalised backgrounds. The Futuress approach adopts an educational format and adheres to a guiding philosophy of making design research public. “Futuress is not just a platform but an ecosystem: our growing hive of learning consists of a community that is alive, buzzing with the power of our voices and our stories.”

Provided are workshops, lectures and discussions on design practice, creative writing and storytelling about critical thinking. The results are published as articles, essays, and various stories on the website. All fonts used are designed by womxn and those who identify as womxn. To become part of the Futuress community, simply subscribe to the newsletter or participate in an online workshop.

Futuress has chosen the asterisk as the symbol for its identity. The meaning of this specific shape points to an established configuration of desire and identity. The symbolism of its position at the end of a word implies that “there is more to it”. An asterisk is a nonstandard typographic symbol used to make this highly binary language more inclusive.

The original idea was not to create such a specific platform. Originally the project was conceived as a series of exhibitions that involved collecting design books that had yet to be written. In November 2020, the Futuress platform was officially launched as a hybrid between an online magazine and a community space. Today, the platform serves as a learning community and a publishing house, bringing new ways to design practice.