Mar 17, 2014 8 Questions with: Jenny Liang
My friend Jenny Liang always seems to be immersed in the most fascinating projects. Imagining utilitarian fashions for the homeless (i.e. a fabric pouch made out of upholstery swatches). Traveling to Africa to study and fight poverty. Improving dull urban landscapes with guerrilla furniture. It turns out her line of work is called social design, and I had to ask her more about it.
How would you describe your job?
I have a lot of jobs. I’m passionate about helping people (especially the ones that need it the most) so that’s what tends to tie them all together. As a strategist, I help companies figure out what to design next based on interviews with their customers. I teach this process at different schools and events related to design. I also run my own design-based experiments outside of this. It’s ambiguous work and I am constantly switching between different activities and ways of thinking.
What are you currently working on?
I’m teaching a class called “Good for Your Health” at OTIS, which helps students to use design to improve community health, while simultaneously questioning the whole process. I’m also facilitating some design workshops for UCLA focused on helping high school and community college dropouts stay in school. On top of that, I’m figuring out what my next big project will be when the semester ends.
What does an average workday look like?
Every day is different. Just this year, I’ve had days where I’ve talked to people in Nairobi slums, toured local health nonprofits with my students and met with corporate innovation leads to talk about social-minded design. The less fun days are spent answering emails.
Do you have a favorite project or two that you would like to share?
I worked with a team to create a vision, road map, and supporting content to make social-minded design profitable and sustainable at the design consultancy, Continuum.
On the more experimental side, I collaborated with Ken Mori to design guerrilla street furniture which we call Post Furniture.
Where do you find inspiration?
Talking to people helps me uncover what they really want and need. Less directly, the little overlooked pockets of Los Angeles. I love this city.
What are you reading at the moment?
Paul Polak’s The Business Solution to Poverty. I’m passionate about the topic, but, unless it’s pop science, nonfiction is always a slow read for me.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grow up?
An astronaut or a fashion designer. I think I’ve pretty much found the midpoint.
What’s your favorite post-work destination?
I’m trying to get to post-work, but I’m out of practice.
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