After months of inspiration, thinking, and fine-tuning, the In/Visible Talks Team is pleased to present Our Manifesto.

A manifesto serves as a creative framework through which you can uncover and communicate your beliefs. Personal and filled with passion, it is a call to action and an invitation for others who agree with you to join together, to become part of something, and to take action. Manifestos are deeper and bigger and juicier than mission and value statements, and we challenged ourselves to write one because we believe there’s no better way to get to the core of what we believe and what we aspire to become. 

As part of the creative process, we studied iconic as well as contemporary models that have inspired and motivated us. We wrote from a place that was personal, raw, real, heart-centered, wild, and passionate. We debated the merits of each word, then fine-tuned every beat till it felt authentically In/Visible. We shared our manifesto at In/Visible Talks 2020, and now we’re ready to share it with all of you. 

We hope our manifesto will inspire us all to create space for the possibilities, fresh ideas, provocative dialogues, and innovative thinking needed to keep pace with the ever-expanding boundaries of “design”.

At In/Visible Talks, we believe we must…

Be passionate about making the invisible visible. 

Design is not magic, but a practice comprised of hard work, craft, and expertise. Let’s reveal the tricks and the truths, the behind-the-scenes, and share them with each other.  

Show up in generous ways. 

This means being generous with our time, our resources, our knowledge, and our introductions. Encourage others to do the same so we all rise. 

Get to know each other, really. 

As we connect, we cultivate greater opportunities to come together in more intentional and influential ways. The world needs more creative voices; our future depends on it. This future will be better because of our combined power to shape it. 

Define the field of design broadly. 

We see a fluid, evolving definition that recognizes the state of the world, the evolution of technology, and the expansion of our field in ways we have yet to discover.  

Keep the community open and inclusive. 

We want everyone who wishes to be here and can show up meaningfully with respect to others to join in. We believe our community is better for this collective nature.

Seek out opportunities to cross-pollinate and collaborate.

We must never assume our expertise exempts us from the benefits of learning from others. Our work gets better when we are exposed to perspectives that are different from our own.

Practice curiosity. 

We are curious about the world around us, the tools available to us, and the fountain of knowledge, ideas, concepts, and unbridled creativity shared by others. We are open to ideas. And it is through this practice that we refuel our creative reserves and inspire others.

Bring our whole selves to the work. 

It is our responsibility to use our creative minds and passionate hearts to solve problems, fix things that are broken, and create new things that take our breath away with their innovation, purpose, and beauty.

Give ourselves permission to create.

We believe in having big, bold, crazy ideas, in going too far, and in simply trying and experimenting. It is all part of the work. Most important, we believe in learning and growing through all of the chaos, struggle, and dreams that make up the creative process.

Fondly,

Arianna + Dava