What is the role of design in society? Building on more than a decade of research, Broached Commissions’ has devised a simple but polemical answer to this complex question: design gives form to power.
Developed in collaboration with typographic legend John Warwicker, the Broached Commissions’ booth at Melbourne Design Fair intended to spark conversation on the role of design in society. As a company, Broached believes that the powerful achieve or maintain their position because they are excellent at persuading people to consume, vote, pray and behave in a manner that suits their interests. The problem for the powerful is that they are not trained to deliver the graphic or sculptural form that conveys this vision; this is where design gets involved. The role of the designer is to add the veil of desirability to the rapaciousness of power.
There are exceptions to this rule. Some designers are change agents, some work to alleviate the plight of those excluded by mainstream society. But these design practitioners operate at the edges of the industry, and do not represent the majority, which frequently perpetuate the very systems design claims it can correct.
Located at the fair entry, this conceptual booth was a prompt for all visitors to engage with the role of the fair, and develop their own viewpoint on the role of design in a global context. It is the first exercise by Broached to articulate learnings collected over eleven years of practice and research in the form of exhibition design and published matter.
John Warwicker
John Warwicker (RDI) is a co-founder of the multi-disciplinary design and creative studio Tomato, a worldwide group of directors, designers, artists, writers, producers, composers whose work spans graphic design, typography, film and video direction, architectural design, art installations, interactive media, fashion and product design. He has published numerous books including The Floating World (2005), The Typographic Mind (2010) and One Thousand Fathoms Deep (2016).
In 2016, Warwicker curated and designed a major exhibition in Tokyo and publication, O Tomato Parco, celebrating 25 years of Tomato. He has won the Tokyo Type Directors special prize twice, for The Floating World and for the typography, graphics and publications for O Tomato Parco. In 2022, John Warwicker was awarded the prestigious title of RDI (Royal Designer for Industry) by the Royal Society of Arts, London.