COLLECTIVE DESIGN AS OPPOSED TO DESIGN STARS:
WHAT GOOD IS A COLLECTIVE MODEL FOR?

The rapid globalisation that the practice of design contributes to might be the precondition of new genres of social, cultural and political disorders that we are not prepared to combat with. It is hard to navigate through the established power structures as individual designers that aim to intervene on the process of preconditioning the undesirable consequences of the “flatness of the globe.”
 
Discussing social intervention by design within the framework of globalisation demands a critical analysis of the social and political nature of collectivity. It is important to recognize the lack of collective movements and formations in the design world in order to question “alternative grounds of possibility” that would help designers cultivate several bases of power. Taking initiative for the kind of design intervention that will have significant social impact in our saturated and global world requires sacrifices of designer egos and commercial successes. Formation of designer collectives-new bases of power-is crucial to contribute to the social, economic and cultural well being of the society. Collectivity is not only an important form of awareness and a conscious commitment for the implementation of new perspectives of design, but also is an organism of collective intelligence that is ready to take bigger actions when needed as a part of a network.

The aim of the proposed paper is to investigate the discourse of collectivity in design as a form of social and political resistance by questioning “the grounds of possibilities” to take initiative for action. By problematizing the existing collective models from other disciplines that have already developed several movements, schools of thinking, collectives and foundations to intervene on social, cultural and political issues, this paper will deconstruct and reconstruct the elements of collectivity to propose over-arching contexts of collaboration and alternative models for design collectives. The paper also questions the possible contributions of alternative models of design collectives to the realization of the social responsibilities of design practice.