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Project Sogolon – Decolonizing Design

by | Jun 6, 2024 | Design

Recently, I had the opportunity to work with a friend to conceptualise a logo/identity for a Mali based NGO. In this post, I wanted to talk about the design process I incorporated into my work. The first part of this blog talks about the theory behind utilising cultural context in graphic design. The second part goes into using the theory in order to construct the project at hand.

The problem statement was simple; what kind of a logo design would be appropriate for a Malian NGO? Particularly one that focuses on education for oppressed women?

Several key points stood out for consideration, an NGO endemic to the political situation of Mali providing a service that is essential to humanity as a whole. The design motifs that I attempted to find would have to be Malian on one hand and generally humanitarian on the other. Naturally, I began by basing my design based on works that had been done before, particularly centring around the usage of African motifs.

I’ll take a moment to highlight the importance in understanding that Africa is home to an immense diversity of cultures, so my goal was to understand the various aesthetics that the continent had to offer as a whole, then eventually focusing on Malian aesthetics. going with a philosophy of “To know what something is, you also have to know what it is not”. I wanted to explore an Afrocentric design while also understanding the inherent limitation of approaching the subject as someone not from the region. I had to justify my choices with a due diligence based on theory. At this point I found myself exposed to another problem- the eurocentricity of design.

How do you Decolonise Design?

It is imperative to define this question in order to understand the phenomenon. In the context of aesthetic design, it is the prevalence of European norms. In a guest speaker event at The Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations, professor Kaleena Sales spoke about the issue of eurocentricity, “In design, most of what we’re taught about is really from a European perspective”. Sales critiqued the Industry’s favour of the Swiss design school; simple design compositions, flat colours and sans serif typefaces. It makes sense to primarily favour a particular school of aesthetics if mass global appeal is to be achieved- following the principals of Universal Design maximises market reach.

This is where the critique runs into two problems. Firstly, there is a difference between the act of designing and the act of making a creative piece. “Design always needs functionality, while art only has to exist” writes Eden Gallery, thus if the function of the design is mass appeal, then a design has to be (ideally) aesthetically neutral. To scrutinise design (of any nature), would then be to scrutinise functionality itself, while also challenging the noble pursuit of universality. True universality, however, is difficult if not impossible. Lombardo writes in her article,

”But there are situations in which [designers] can’t identify with the lived experiences of the audience they need to communicate with. At the same time, they believe that what they do is neutral, universal, and that there is no politics in design. Yet the choices they make are very political; every design vocabulary has history and context.“

“Designers, when not taking into account the impact and effect of Western design practices over non-Western territories, are perpetuating colonisation.”

In the world of graphic design this carries over as Professor Sales speaks about how non-European cultural motifs are not taught in formal education. She also highlights how socio-economic conditions can also factor into how an individual approaches design,

“If you grew up well off, you might have a very neutral approach to designing a logo for a bank. If you grew up where money was not around, your representation of a bank might be very different in terms of color choice or typography”

The second problem that arises is in having the discourse that design is Eurocentric (and thus must be decolonised) leads to the formation of a polarity of the European and non European, the self and the other. In the paper titled “Design and the question of Eurocentricity”, Samer Akkach questions the need for the discourse in the first place. Akkach remarks that the discourse surrounding eurocentricity does form a mirror for the colonised world to reflect with, upon what was lost. Yet, its this same discourse that can lead to ‘othering’ and extreme chauvinism.

However, complete disregard of the cultural context becomes unsustainable. P.hD holder Pedro Oliveira highlights another issue; not approaching the issue with due diligence a designer may end up creating palliative solutions without addressing the issue at its heart.

“Designers tend to think in one-off and palliative solutions to complex problems, normalizing or ignoring the systemic problems created by their own designs. For example, instead of questioning the existence of a wall dividing two countries (what would take the discussion much deeper about the idea of borders), designers’ concerns are focused on “designing a more friendly wall”. Instead of thinking about the mass incarceration of black people, designers are worried about “more human prisons”.

Balancing Functionality and Aesthetics

How does the designer balance neutral functionality with cultural context?

An article written by Maria C. Hunt goes into detail about the Maleness Barnett’s extensive approach to decolonising which ranged from travelling and seeing new cultures to understanding the process of production of products around the world. Barnett, immersing herself in the cultural context, was able to create an award winning carpet design depicting an African folk tale.

How does the theory relate with project Sogolon? I approached designing the project by taking direct inspiration from Malian folk tales. From its conception, I decided to name it Sogolon, after the mother of Sundiata Keita, the founder of the Mali Empire. Being figures of great importance, Sogolon and Sundiata’s story also chronicles the ridicule they faced by society for being different. It has a powerful relation to the mission statement of the NGO, i.e, to support and educate the women in Malian society who have been otherwise oppressed.

I also knew I incorporate inspiration from Bogolan textiles endemic to Mali. This inspiration manifested as the outer band which encloses an emblem within it. Having a complex graphic as the border created a challenge for the rest of the logo- we had to make sure the central elements when combined with the outer element did not make it overwhelming for the viewer.

The approach taken to circumvent this issue was simple. The weight of negative space on the outer band (taken as x) serves as the weight of the stroke of the element in the centre. This balances out the design, making it look seamless to the viewer.

Additionally, the rising sun is a prominent visual in the Malian coat of arms. Other motifs present are the flower and the open arms, signifying the humanitarian values of blooming (self-actualisation) and openness (inclusivity).

On the other hand, the primary colours chosen for the project was inspired by Malian and pan-African visuals without veering into nationalism.

The red is used by Malian artist Fatoumata Diawara to represent Mali, symbolising love, energy and life- coinciding with the mission statement of the project. The red is accompanied by a blue, which represents fertility, and a pan-African yellow that had originally been inspired off of the Ethiopian flag.

Although focusing on functionality in design may seem antithetical to the cultural context, especially when the produced design becomes more maximalist, I would argue that the cultural identity gives it a unique flavour that can be relatable to the target audience. Going beyond any moral imperative that a designer living in a post-colonial world might have, it also gives the creator a bigger palette for designs with more universal audiences.

Further Reading

Here is a list of links that I used to research the topic;