Note for Contributors

Driving Design, Volume II (tentative title) is the sixth in a series of seven publications developed within the Distributed Design Platform, co-funded by the European Union.

The 2024 edition continues to address the drivers of design that have emerged over the past years and those that will be key in designing for the near future. In the context of Distributed Design, we consider drivers like plurality, production and learning ecologies, care, kinship, systems thinking, commoning, and rural practices as essential topics for our community to consider.

The submission styles are varied: we include articles, reviews, and profiles. In the spirit of Distributed Design, we strive to include a range of ways information is presented. For example, an article may mean an interview, a manifesto, an adaptation of a journal article, or a call to action. Explore last year’s publication for examples.

Anyone embracing and exploring the practice of Distributed Design can send in a submission. We do believe that design has historically been gatekept by certain groups. Acknowledging that, through Distributed Design we believe that historically excluded people in society must be re-centred in the work we do, including folx who are BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, migrants, have disabilities, have previous experience with the justice system, across dimensions of sociocultural origin, religious affiliation, literacy levels, social status and age, or are otherwise members of historically excluded communities. We strongly encourage submissions from folx with these identities, who are members of other excluded and/or marginalised communities, or who are at the nexus of these identities.

Written, edited and advised in a collaborative process, the publication will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It will also be free to read and experience online at distributeddesign.eu. In this way, the book itself is promoting the Distributed Design movement through directly implementing, researching and developing alternatives to mass production and linear consumption models.

KEY TOPICS

• Practising plurality: the ecologies of knowing, being and doing
• Rural resurgence: a look at how rural practices are returning to the forefront
• Learning & education: democratising the design and creative process(es)
• Kinship with mice, mountains, and machines: designing with systems
• Commoning approaches to combat the scarcity myth: designing with abundance
• Promoting healing: designing with care
• Designing futures: from alternative presents to emergent futures

SUBMISSION TIMELINE

The submission process for authors interested in contributing is as follows: 

Abstract submission

November 1 – November 30, 2023
250 word abstracts should be submitted by November 30th for first review. Abstracts must be submitted through this form.

Abstract acceptance

November 1 – December 8, 2023
Abstracts will be reviewed by the Distributed Design Platform coordination team at Fab Lab Barcelona, IAAC. By December 8th, the coordination team will communicate by email if the abstract is accepted. 

Final submission

December 8– December 31, 2023
Final contributions should be submitted in their complete, and proof-read format, by December 31, 2023 for review. Check the Accepted Formats section below to see the submission options and templates for submission.

Submission revisions 

January 2023
Contributions will be read, checked and edited by the coordination and editorial team, who will ensure the suitability of the submission in the overall publication approach and style, the readability, and the correctness of the contribution.

The coordination and editorial team has the liberty to edit to ensure the above is met. Submissions will not be returned to authors for comment, unless significant revisions are required.

ACCEPTED FORMATS

The Distributed Design Platform publication is accepting typescript writings. The accepted contributions will be published in the book. The curatorial committee may select some articles to be expanded into multimedia pieces (podcasts, interviews, motion pieces, etc).

Articles

4,000-6,000 words

An Article can be an essay, interview, state-of-art writing, research paper, or more. The content should be supported by citations, references, bibliography and footnotes. Authors should explain a rationale (research) or an idea (interview, state-of-art, and essay) supported by results. An Article can be written about any one of the Key Topics and should strongly align with at least one. Check pages 30, 120, & 234 in the last edition, Driving Design, for different examples of the articles we feature.

Articles must follow the template provided here.

Reviews

1,500-3,000 words

A Review is a secondary resource, a writing based on a specific happening, hot topic or discussion (case-study). This provides an overview, highlights and outcomes through analysing the focal theme. A review can be written about any one of the Key Topics and should strongly align with at least one. Check page 44 in the last edition, Driving Design, for an example of a review.

Reviews must follow the template provided here.

Profiles 

1,000-1,500 words 

A Profile is a narrative presenting a project, person, organisation or event: what they do, what makes them important, and why they connect with the theme of this year’s publication. The profile follows a questionnaire (see the template) and is an in-depth portrait based on facts and data. A Profile can be written about any  one of the Key Topics and should strongly align with at least one. Check page 148, 154, or 252, in the last edition, Driving Design, for different examples of the profiles we feature.

Profiles must follow the template provided here.

If you are interested in submitting an abstract, please consult the note to contributors for the complete submission requirements.

Chief Editors

Jessica Guy, Fab Lab Barcelona at IAAC
Sally Bourdon, Fab Lab Barcelona at IAAC

Contributing Editor

Guillem Camprodon, Fab Lab Barcelona at IAAC

Art direction, Editorial & Graphic design

Manuela Reyes, Fab Lab Barcelona at IAAC

Editorial Board

Editorial Board made up of representatives from: Pakhuis de Zwijger, P2P Lab, Re:Publica, Happy Lab Vienna, Danish Design Centre, Innovation Centre Iceland, Maker, Espacio Open, Politecnico Di Milano-Polimi, Ars Longa, FabLab Budapest, Politecnico de Lisboa, OpenDot, Fab City Foundation, MAO, Global Innovation Gathering, and Institute Of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia | Fab Lab Barcelona