Brussels / 1 & 2 February 2020

schedule

What are we talking about when we say "open design"?


As designers working with Libre/Open Source software, we have a strong opinion on how tools shape practice. And as designers, in general, we care deeply about our methods, workflows, principles and licenses. For some time now we've been debating the issue of terminology: how we describe our practice to others and how free/libre software terms and ideas can be integrated into design methods.

In this talk, we want to propose an exercise in labeling. Building up from conversations we had with other designers moving in the sphere of Libre Software and Libre Culture, we want to: - present terms and try to define their scope in the hopes of improving the ways in which open design can be explained to others - distinguish between possible stances inside the sphere of open design, such as using libre tools vs. proprietary toolchains, designing for free software vs. designing with free software - explore how we understand other designers/studios/communities' ideas and practices - better understand how we can present our views and work vis-à-vis other design approaches -- especially to "traditional" and proprietary-oriented audiences

This talk is a follow-up to "Open Design, Libre Graphics: Why terminology matters", that we presented at Libre Graphics Meeting 2019. This was the starting point of a discussion we feel the need to bring to the table, along with other designers that share the love for F/LOSS.

As designers working with Libre/Open Source software, we have a strong opinion on how tools shape practice. And as designers, in general, we care deeply about our methods, workflows, principles and licenses. For some time now we've been debating the issue of terminology: how we describe our practice to others and how free/libre software terms and ideas can be integrated into design methods.

In this talk, we want to propose an exercise in labeling. Building up from conversations we had with other designers moving in the sphere of Libre Software and Libre Culture, we want to: - present terms and try to define their scope in the hopes of improving the ways in which open design can be explained to others - distinguish between possible stances inside the sphere of open design, such as using libre tools vs. proprietary toolchains, designing for free software vs. designing with free software - explore how we understand other designers/studios/communities' ideas and practices - better understand how we can present our views and work vis-à-vis other design approaches -- especially to "traditional" and proprietary-oriented audiences

This talk is a follow-up to "Open Design, Libre Graphics: Why terminology matters", that we presented at Libre Graphics Meeting 2019. This was the starting point of a discussion we feel the need to bring to the table, along with other designers that share the love for F/LOSS.

Speakers

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