Associations like the Black Artists + Designers Guild (BADG) and Black Interior Designers Network (BIDN) have been tasked with promoting Black creatives and fostering a sense of community when the larger design industry didn’t.
In an effort to promote a better understanding, we asked over 30 Black designers to share their experiences, feelings, and thoughts on the current state of the design world.
If a designer of color has all Black employees, the company is deemed a “Black business” and hence, not diverse.
On the flip side of that, a designer who isn’t of color can have a business with no Black representation and no one says anything.
All of these things bottled up in one are extremely frustrating, but as Black designers, we’ve been taught to continue to smile, be gracious and keep it to yourself if you want to be successful and not end up on a blacklist.