design for development [d4d]

D4D was founded by Maria Rogal, Associate Professor of Graphic Design at the University of Florida. She created design for development—a collaborative initiative with entrepreneurs in rural communities in southern Mexico, students, designers, and other disciplinary experts that integrates design research, teaching, and practice—to explore how we can use design, in its broadest sense, to positively shape the human experience.

Maria Rogal is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Director of the Office of Design for Development in the School of Art and Art History at the University of Florida, USA. Maria’s trans-cultural perspective influences her work, which focuses on the relationship between design, culture, and development and how we can use design thinking, processes, products, and strategies to positively shape the human experience and empower people. Since 2003 she has been collaborating with design colleagues, students, and members of indigenous organizations in southern Mexico on projects that leverage design to responsibly foster social, cultural, and economic development. Maria works on research projects that explore the visual representation of indigenous cultures in the public space. In 2006, she was awarded a Fulbright-García Robles Scholar grant (2006–2007) and a Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad grant (2007) to conduct research in the Yucatán region of Mexico and teach in the Social Communication program at the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Her writing includes “Mexico: My, Your, Our Fantasy: The Problem of Flatness in Intercultural Representations of Mexicanidad” (International Journal of Intercultural Communication), “Cultural Hybridization in the Visual Vernacular” (European Academy of Design), and “South of the Border…Down Mexico Way” (Visible Language). Her creative work has been exhibited in national and international juried venues, including in the UK, Hungary, Venezuela, and Cuba.

2009–2010 Designers

2008: Xyaat Ecotourism and Artisans Network Projects

2007: Lol-Balché Honey and Cuauhtémoc Orange Juice Projects

Collaborators