In this episode we talk with Dimeji Onafuwa, a Nigerian-American designer, researcher, artist, and educator with experience in transition design. We start with Dimeji’s engagement with the Common Cause Collective, an interdisciplinary group of designers applying transition design methodologies to wicked problems in the Pacific Northwest. Dimeji then explains to us what transition design refers to and then delves into the topic of “recommoning” through Dimeji’s personal journey with working with collectives, and the kind of recommoning tools he has used with them. For him the “re” prefix to commoning refers to the continuous act of reclaiming, allowing designers to work with collectives, in radical interdependence. Dimeji also brings forward the role of the designer in a recommoning context, weaving links between political design, design for social innovation, and the influence that Yoruba culture has had on his quest to get a better understanding of what design could be.
The Common Cause Collective: https://www.commoncause.design/collective
Dimeji’s painting website: https://www.artbydimeji.com/
More on Dimeji’s work: https://www.ecuad.ca/news/2021/dimeji-onafuwa-designs-world-everyone-represented
