Social Justice Design Research

 

 Social Justice Topic (Income Inequality)

  • "In the SCF data, households with incomes in the top 1 percent of the income distribution received roughly a fifth of all income in 2022, while households with wealth in the top 1 percent of the wealth distribution held more than one-third of all wealth."

  • "Since 1983, black and latino families have seen their wealth fall considerably from $6,800 and $4,000 to just $1,700 and $2,000 respectively in 2013. Even though white households took a hit during the financial crisis, they still boasted a median wealth of $116,800 in 2013."
 
  • "For the most part, this pessimistic view about the economic future is shared by younger and older adults alike, as well as by people with higher and lower incomes."

  • "The top 10% still controls a decent chunk of these assets but things are more evenly distributed relative to overall net worth and stock market ownership. The bottom 90% owns 56% of the housing market, compared to just 13% of the stock market."

  • "While wage growth appears strong in nominal terms, real earnings are still underwater. The most striking period was between April 2021 and April 2023, when inflation outpaced wage growth for 25 consecutive months, shrinking purchasing power month after month."

  • "Drawing upon recent household survey data, we show that high inflation is disproportionately hurting low-income households, including Black and Hispanic households and renters."


  • "In 2000, the median home price was $119,730. Today, that number is $356,002.46, which means homes cost 197% more in 2025 as they did in 2000. In that same time, the median household income increased, too, but it only rose by 40% from $70,020 to $97,800. With housing prices severely outpacing income, the gap in home affordability grows ever larger."


    Designers

    Giorgia Lupi: For this designer I really like the way that they visually represented the issue of income inequality through a uniquely designed graph. The text also helps to make the message way more clear and showcase the issues with income inequality through the cut out circles. I feel like I might use something like this in a way where I use a graph as a base and change it in some way to exemplify the issue. 
    Luba Lukova: For this designer I also like how they visually represented the issue of income inequality through a literal pie. The use of an actual object representing a graph and utilizing forks to show the issues is really cool. Originally I did not understand what the graphics deeper meaning was but upon research I learned a lot about it and its significance. 
    Neo Nyembe: This designer sticks out to me for the way that they design their spreads. They make it simplistic whilst also giving it a lot of detail. I kind of want to make a page similar to the way they do it and or combine that with one of the other designs I find. 

    Designs

    The data I have can be visualized through images and or graphs or utilizing a specific design to portray the issue. 
    The fonts I plan to use are professional fonts such as Din, Garamond or Times New Roman. Along with that I plan to incorporate a fancy script such as Sweet Fancy Script or Sloop Script.           
    For colors, I am considering ones that would relate to the issue, for example the list of colors I have now is; red, green, blue (for charts), yellow, gold, a light beige or white, silver, and potentially black. 
    The main design motif I would use is a line that is sometimes scattered across the pages, the main inspiration for that is Neo Nyembe's use of lines.
    The grids that I am considering is either a 3x4, a 6x8, or a 4x4. I would have to play around with the way each one looks with the design I made. 


    Roughs








    Sherman, Arloc, et al. “A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends in Income Inequality.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 11 Dec. 2024, https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/a-guide-to-statistics-on-historical-trends-in-income-inequality. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.

    McCarthy, Niall. “Racial Wealth Inequality in the U.S. Is Rampant [Infographic].” Forbes, 14 Sept. 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2017/09/14/racial-wealth-inequality-in-the-u-s-is-rampant-infographic/. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026. 

    Pew Research Center. “Economic Inequality Seen as Major Challenge Around the World.” Pew Research Center, 9 Jan. 2025, https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/01/09/economic-inequality-seen-as-major-challenge-around-the-world/. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.

    Carlson, Ben. “How Bad Is Wealth Inequality in America?” A Wealth of Common Sense, 24 Mar. 2024, https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2024/03/how-bad-is-wealth-inequality-in-america/. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.

    “Charted: U.S. Wages vs. Inflation (2021–2025).” Visual Capitalist, Visual Capitalist Creator Program, https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/us-wages-vs-inflation/. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.

    Jayashankar, Aparna, and Anthony Murphy. “High Inflation Disproportionately Hurts Low-Income Households.” Dallas Fed Economics, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, 10 Jan. 2023, https://www.dallasfed.org/research/economics/2023/0110. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026. 

    Martincevic, Irena. “Housing Affordability Crisis: Buying a Home Now vs. 25 Years Ago.” Fixr.com, reviewed by Laura Madrigal, 4 Apr. 2025, https://www.fixr.com/articles/single-family-home-affordability. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.

    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Communication Design

      Communication Design Communication Design is the creation of visuals that spread messages and meanings in new and relevant ways. It aims to make an impression on the view through the message that the design is trying to convey.  Formats & Channels of Communication Design In communication design there are multiple channels that include; Graphic Design which involves the creation of graphics for marketing materials, advertising campaigns, and websites and choosing symbols, images, words, fonts, and layouts in order to accurately convey a message.  Advertising which involves promoting products or messages through print, digital, or video ads in order to communicate to an audience.  Visual Identity which refers to fine arts and applied arts often containing symbols, logos, shapes, and other visual elements to make it easy to recognize an image. Brand logos are good example of visual identity.  Data Visualization which is communication that is not through w...
    Read more

    Refining My Logo

    Image
      Why The Final Works      Out of all of these designs, I feel like the 5th design which is at the bottom left is my favorite. This is because it is one of the only ones where I feel like the line around the Tor actually connects well and I also like how the color gradient worked and the deep blue to light purple I like a lot. I feel like it works the best as the final because it looks both clean and professional which is what I was going for with the Tor design and the tighter spacing works better with the font and doesn't affect the way you interpret the design. I think it also stands out the most compared to the other designs with my eyes gravitating towards that last design in specific rather than the other designs. I din't spend the most time on the design but it looks like there was a lot of effort made to make the design like that in which did happen when making the design. It also represents the track I was going for the best which I just unintentionally real...
    Read more

    Five Digital Logo Comps Reflection

    Image
     5 Digi Roughs 1 2 3 4 5 Reflection I was pretty happy with the way my digi roughs had come out. I decided to do one design that I liked for each one of the names. I had a couple issues while making these designs though, firstly I couldn't find the right font for Eric so I found a different one but used the same design. Secondly, for Eric Torres I wrote it in my normal hand writing so I had to choose a font that I'd like to represent the design. Thirdly, the line I made on Tor I wasn't really happy about but I am not all that bothered by it since its a rough. I like the designs though as I found a nice font for Eric and both the ET and Torres came out well and the way I liked. I feel like I could still improve on these designs more as I move from roughs to finals. I also had to understand how to use the direct selection tool and create outline in order to make both ET and Torres look more connected and nice rather than it looking like it was sloppily attached the E and T.
    Read more