Ep. 133: Design Not Guns
This is the story of how design is making the world a better place, one street at a time, in the most impoverished gang ravaged neighborhoods in El Salvador. Recorded in May 2020 during WantedDesign Manhattan’s Online Conversation Series, designer Roberto Juárez, co-founder of Lero Studio in San Salvador, discusses how he is helping 10- to 15-year-old at-risk children to embrace design rather than gang membership. Roberto is joined by Bernhardt Design’s Jerry Helling and our very own Amy Devers.
Read the full transcript here.
This episode is presented as part of WantedDesign Manhattan Online Conversation Series 2020, presented by Clever and Design Milk. Visit wanteddesignnyc.com/online to view the program and watch replays of live talks.
Roberto Juárez: I realized that I was leading a change. I was leading a community, I was leading this event, I was inspiring other people to launch their brand among other stuff. I had the decision to bring the design topic onto the table.
Amy Devers: Hi everyone, I’m Amy Devers and this is Clever. Today, I’m presenting Design Not Guns, a story of how design is making the world a better place, one street at a time in the most impoverished, gang ravaged neighborhoods of El Salvador. Designer Roberto Juárez, founder of LERO Studio in San Salvador discusses with Jerry Helling, president of Bernhardt Design how he is helping 10-15 year old at risk children embrace design rather than gang membership. The program engages young people in the design process to create neighborhood safe spaces and improve the appearance of their communities. As a result, they are becoming the catalyst for social change, using design as their weapons, not guns. This program was recorded via live zoom panel as part of WantedDesign Online, a conversation series presented with WantedDerign Manhattan, Clever, and Design Milk in response to this year’s COVID related cancellation of NYC x Design. To see the whole program, visit wanteddesignnyc.com/online. Now, here’s the show.
’m delighted to introduce our main speakers, Jerry Helling and Roberto Juárez in dialogue about design as a catalyst for social change on the streets of El Salvador. Roberto Juárez is a Salvadorian industrial designer, co-founder of LERO Studio, which focuses on human development and long-time friend and colleague of Jerry Helling, the president and creative director of Bernhardt Design, an international furniture brand with global distribution and active mentor and champion of the arts.
I know Jerry has been particularly captivated by the work Roberto is doing in El Salvador so I’m very excited to hear this conversation. Jerry Helling, take it away.
Jerry Helling: Thank you Amy and thank you Odile and Claire from WantedDesign for having us here, we’re very excited to join you. And I think I said I’m Jerry Helling, president of Bernhardt Design, I’m with Roberto Juárez.
Last fall when I was in El Salvador to judge the annual Contempo design competition I was lucky enough to get to spend time with Roberto and talk to him about some of the programs he’s doing and some of the things he’s doing as far as community outreach within the city. And I was, I don’t if the correct word is ‘captivated, enthralled, obsessed’ with the work he was doing with high risk young people in the most dangerous and impoverished neighborhoods.
And how he was using design as a catalyst to make change. I was so impressed by him and his partner Leo that I said we have to share this with a broader audience; more people need to hear about what you’re doing. And let me warn you, if you are anything like I was, be prepared to, after you hear this conversation, that you’re gonna want to go out and do more to help people (laughs) because that is certainly the way I felt.
To get started and set the stage, I guess, let me ask you Roberto, tell us a little bit about your background and your personal story?
Roberto Juárez: Yes, well thank you first of all to all of you for this effort and this huge opportunity, really nice words Jerry. Well, I’m from El Salvador, the smallest country in Central America and I’m the middle son of an engineer and a really skilful craft artist and teacher and I’m married now, with a talented woman. As a kid I was really introverted and that helped me to spend my time trading words in my mind and I was lucky enough to go to a French school as a kid, with my brothers where I had my first start-up at the age of 13. Then I went to the Universidad del Bosco here in El Salvador and I was in the third generation of industrial designers educated in the country.
Then I become a teacher there too, but that’s where I met my partner, Leonel and we realized we were on a priceless conquest. El Salvador is known for its problem, but we’d like to say that it’s full of opportunity actually.
JH: Can you tell us a little bit about the studio you started with Leo and what you guys focused on?
RJ: Yes, we founded with Leo the LERO Studio back in 2013, we were still at school and we founded it after we won an entrepreneurship competition that gave us money to start. And we’d been involved since then, been a mad adventure. Now what we do is we design products, locally inspired and crafted in El Salvador and we also do interior projects where we focus on custom made pieces that allow us to enhance the functionality of flexible spaces according to each climate.
But in the last couple of years we’ve been involved in really, really rewarding projects with a more human centered focus on these. And in these projects we’re able to empower people with design tools so they can find their own future.
JH: You have certainly been one of the people that take up the mantle of continuing the design tradition in El Salvador. This movement started, I don’t know, 10-12 years ago and it really started with a USAID grant and this larger than life force of nature, incredible woman, Isobel Mason who brought everyone together and convinced the local business leaders, opinion makers, politicians that design could be something to create a positive influence in the country.
Socially, culturally, economically, that design could give something to El Salvador other than the conversation about violence and gangs and drugs and gangs. The initial program has spawned a yearly competition with the Contempo, exhibitions in New York multiple times, was really responsible for the creation of the Carrot Concept, the Carrot design collective which was an incredible program.
And really spawned some very talented international designers that had become very successful, like Washington, Javier Cristiani of Markamoderna and it’s kind of interesting to me this band of people coming together without incredible government support. Why do you think this entire movement has continued through the years when something like a well-funded program, like 100% Norway has disappeared?
RJ: Yes, it’s exciting, all the resolve these kinds of programs had during the, I think it’s 12 years now. It actually opened the doors to a whole new world of opportunities for design from El Salvador and that dream that was achieved from that generation has been shared to younger generations. So I was lucky to be in this next generation, let’s say, because I had the chance to meet these professional designers that had already been through a lot of challenges and were able to succeed in some opportunities.
And obviously also to fail in some others, so they shared the knowledge and experience with my generation and now it’s our own task to continue their legacy and share the same mindset they shared with us with younger generations.
JH: You interestingly referred to yourself as one of the baby carrots the other day (laughs).
RJ: Yes.
JH: I thought that was interesting, Harry & Claudia and company are not very old, but they already have baby carrots that are moving on in their tradition. The economic situation in El Salvador, it’s pretty bleak actually, it’s marred by a lot of poverty, gangs and violence, so I wanted you to try to set the stage about what daily life is like in these more impoverished neighborhoods and probably, most importantly, what’s daily life like for a young person? What are their experiences? How do they view the world?
RJ: Yeah, well, poverty, it’s a really, really complex problem. I mean there’s a lot of ways to define this, but one that I feel really gets to it is that we can define poverty by the lack to satisfy basic needs. In these kind of neighborhoods you can find homes with not the correct building materials. They are also usually really overcrowded with more than four people per room. They don’t have access to drinking water; the sanitation system is not the right one.
And one of the biggest problems is the lack of education that is really linked to a high rate of teen pregnancy. There’s numbers from the last study that shows that 52 women from 10-19 years old get pregnant each day in El Salvador. That goes obviously, really linked to the education and that makes the biggest problem of sub-problem of this. Because actually when the teen pregnancy happens, nor the mother or the father are ready for that situation.
So the father usually runs away, the mom gets on average, until the 6th grade education, then she has to find a way to survive and give a future to their child. The kids grow and they have to live with their grandmother because their mother has to go out pretty much all day to earn money to survive. Sometimes even the whole week out of their houses, so kids grow with their grandmothers.
And after school their only option to go is their home, which is obviously not under the right condition and most likely not appealing for a young kid right? So the next option they have is to stay on the street, to go out, play with a ball, play with their classmates maybe, but that’s where danger really is for them. They’re at the mercy of violence and gangs because they don’t have a proper place to spend their spare time.
JH: Rob thank you and before we start talking about the Flashlight Collective that you guys started specifically, I think you became involved with global shapers, can you tell us a little bit about that program?
RJ: Oh, Shapers Community, it’s an initiative of the World Economic Firm and it gathers young people from around the globe that are working in local issues, like poverty for example, and they found me when I was creating these events in my quest to understand what design, it’s supposed to be in a country like El Salvador. And once I got in in 2014, I realized that I was leading a change. I was leading a community, I was leading this event, I was inspiring other people to launch their brand among other stuff.
That opened my eyes that I was in a unique position as the only designer in the Shapers. I was allowed, or actually I had the decision to bring the design topic onto the table and to start solving the problems we face through my design context. The Shapers actually was shaping me as a leader I became.
JH: Well its sounds like you’re probably shaping them by bringing design to the table to a group of people that typically weren’t focusing on design as a way to solve problems.
RJ: Yes.
JH: The project, the Color Movement is another wonderful program and I believe the Global Shapers that you’re, the Flashlight Project that we’re going to be talking about, is under the umbrella of the Color Movement, is that correct?
RJ: That’s correct, I actually went we met alight actually and discovered this Color Movement initially, it aligns perfectly on our quest to see how far we can push design boundaries because they were already working with capella sisters in the community, supporting families, building stronger communities and creating new opportunities for them in El Salvador and Mexico and the US. So in El Salvador we became their partner’s right?
JH: So moving into the Flashlight Project, what inspired you to begin your involvement with these particularly troubled parts of the city and focus on young people?
RJ: Yeah, maybe the designers from this program would help before and meeting a lot of people in the design shows, show us that actually the best thing to do is to help each other. That way we could grow altogether, so LERO we’ve always been inspired to help others. I think that’s one of the main reasons why we are partners actually. And we always been looking ways how design can be a fine different context, right?
So when we met the communities through our life and the Color Movement, we find this golden ticket, this golden opportunity to really go into these really risky neighborhoods and bring design to solve the problems that were challenging. So we met the kids right there and that shined even more because kids are the key to break the violent cycles they go through.
JH: Yeah, that is, I think that’s so true in any culture. A point I find interesting is that you initiated a rather challenging project and you had to start somewhere and I find it so curious that the Catholic nuns were the ones that kind of held the keys to the kingdom.
RJ: Yes, actually, well, violence, as I said, it’s really complex that obviously when you’re facing that you don’t really know where to start but once you get to know the communities you find these sisters playing a really important role in the growth of the community. And they not only done work there, but they also live there, they listen, they embrace, they share the knowledge and help everyone they can. So they are actually making the change the community needs, but it’s only one or two sisters for the whole community.
They are showing actually an option to a life of violence and they always see the good in people. They’re trying to bring peace and unity to them and that makes them really respected by everyone, even the gangs. So by keeping that balance and inclusion of everyone into this new set of new ways of seeing life, teaming with them actually was really a smart move because they are the key to go inside the communities.
They’re already working with the kids and everyone else, so when we partnered with, aligned with the sisters it made all sense and allowed us to go in safely into the communities.
JH: Yeah, that’s fantastic, I wouldn’t have, until I heard you talking about this, I wouldn’t have thought going to nuns would be the place to start such a project (laughter). So that’s very interesting. You said the first thing you had to do was that you had to create a space, that that was the key element to get this underway, was creating a space. Why was that so important?
RJ: When we started talking with the sisters and the kids we realized that these young kids from 10-16 years old, which are the age where they get recruited by the gangs, they didn’t have a place to meet and be themselves and enjoy their age. They want to learn things and a lot of different things that they weren’t allowed at their houses because they were too small to be all together. And also the next option will be on the street but they cannot be there all day without being at the mercy of violence, right?
So due they didn’t have a secure space to enjoy this spare time, so obviously that makes us as a designer, we saw this opportunity to create a safe physical space for them, but we saw and we took the challenge to not make just a safe space, but also a space where they could share from each other. They could learn and connect with their peers and it’s really important that they can feel, they can tribe there and that they’re being part of something positive.
Because they feel they don’t belong to nowhere. At their houses they’re just a kid that most likely wasn’t wanted, so they don’t feel cherished there. And here they can belong to somebody rather than to belong to these gang members.
JH: That’s truly amazing, that’s a beautiful part of the story of needing to create a space so that the good club can exist (laughs).
RJ: Exactly.
JH: You’ve got a good clubhouse (laughs) where kids that really want to try something different, they can go and make and be with peers who feel the same way. When you started this, your first approach was to actually take the young people outside of the community for educational experiences, is that right?
RJ: That’s right, as a designer, with LERO we’ve been practicing this on a system thinking theology, so we find it really easy to connect the dots. So based on that experience with the design programs we were in contact with the design supporters that we can say, and we have the content with the Museum of Contemporary Art in El Salvador, which is called Marte. And we find easy, like the first step can be to bring these kids that are really creative in their own way to this museum that they feel really a part.
Like they feel the whole city doesn’t belong to them, even if they are as El Salvadorian as the rest of us. So we were able to bring them to the museum so they can explore art. And luckily we were surprised by them when they decided to sponsorship a 16 week program for the kids at the museum, with some artists as teachers for them. And they were able to explore values, commitment and feelings and a whole spectrum that they’re not used to.
And they were doing it through art. So they were able to explore the paint, collage and different other techniques that obviously allows them to re-imagine what they can do, right? Also since that time of the year, what’s happening, the Exhibition of the Temples Finale and I was part of the coordination team. I was lucky to be able to give them a guided tour to the exhibition.
And we talked about each piece and what inspiration was for each designer and they were really eager to understand how was Salvadorian with local craft that they are used to, like woodworking; they could transform through design these materials into something more functional and visually attractive. So I believe that that’s when the dream for design for the kids started and with at some ideation stations we have later the kids were drawing these kinds of pieces they saw in the museum.
JH: Yeah, I thought it was quite ironic that the week after we were all there for Contempo and spending a week talking about design and celebrating design, that you were able to bring the kids there and walk through exactly what we had walked through previously. (Laughs) And after conducting this program and giving them this exposure on the outside world, then you went back to the community and to your clubhouse and you really started the design ideation process of what this was gonna look like.
RJ: Yeah, obviously this space, we sense, when we get the kids, the kids out of the communities and bring them to the space, that it was really easy for them to feel out of Salvadorian context, let’s say, when they were out of their community. So we needed to have a space that they feel, that they could feel they were, they belonged to. So for that obviously we did some ideation sessions with the kids to know their dreams and aspirations.
One of the biggest insights and really inspiring is that they, all of them, they are really eager to learn and grow as a person and professionals. Not to have success in life, but to have something to share back to their communities. They all want to give back something to their communities. So we understood that these spaces need to allow them to grow as persons and to understand how life works in some way and that they can take their own decisions, right?
So we aim to design a flexible space where they could feel proud of it and part of it and help them build confidence and for that what we did is that we got inspired from the same community actually. We did some several tours around it. And we understood that they already had local solutions. So we need to retake those solutions into a more specialized design solution that was aiming to the need of this new space, but something that allows them to feel still in their community, even if it has a different complete look, right?
So the first thing we did is that we transformed the same materials they see every day around it in new things. For example, the metal grid they use to protect their windows, we used it to hang stuff and organize things inside. Plastic cords they used to hang their clothes or to build some chairs, we allowed them to dream and by themselves put the layout on this structure where they can put pictures. In that way it can be recognized as part of the new place and the new team they were creating, right?
So during this process we also understood that they needed to learn how to take decisions because life is made out of decisions, bad and good right? We designed a process to have a small window for them to decide on how they wanted some stuff, for example a mural, they decided through some guidelines we gave them, how the mural is going to look like and then we all painted together.
So that makes them feel a part of it, obviously and proud and they discovered new skills.
JH: That’s fantastic. It must have been really interesting seeing this thing evolve from an empty space into something that had a lot of charm and character. And you had mentioned before they had a real sense of ownership in this, in what they had created. How do you think being involved in all of this has changed their outlook about themselves or their outlook about where they fit into the community?
RJ: Actually our theory of change was that if they were able to change the inside of a room, most likely they would be able to believe they could change their own context. In that way they can impact in their communities, right? So in the process we designed a furniture, for example, to be modular and to be assembled with the kids. So they learned how to use a drill, they learned how to use a screwdrivers; they know how the furniture was actually designed.
They understood a lot of things they didn’t before the process. So this allowed them to take some decisions, like obviously controlled decisions, but still they made decisions and they made it happen. So they learned to do things, that makes them more confident and obviously if they discover that they can dream it and then they can make it happen, a whole new future awaits for them, right?
JH: Exactly, you said at one point that some of them were taking home and starting (laughs) interiors projects within their homes.
RJ: Yes they wanted to do some shelves [cross talking].
JH: Really interesting, they probably wonder what they let their child get into when they decide to come home (laughter) and start turning the house into an interiors project. (Laughter) You created something absolutely fantastic here. And one of the questions that I’m probably sure a number of us have is how is this going to be sustainable? There’s only so much of you guys to go around.
RJ: Yeah, we believe that team work is the best way to go in El Salvador. So as we partner with Alive and with Global Shapers in this project, we already had a program for the year long, actually this was before the pandemic situation, but still, we’re already aiming some programs and activities to do with them.
And also we’re working closely to a group of volunteers that are called the Animators, actually, of these spaces and these Animators are going to learn how to execute and lead this kind of activity. That way they can repeat them and adjust them according to their own context and inspire themselves to the younger generation after them. The things we were talking with them, it’s not only about design, it’s also about design thinking and then we’re talking about gender equality.
We’re talking about leadership, we’re talking about politics, we’re talking about this culture, this way they can be aware of the whole context because if they have more knowledge, they’re going to be able to make better decisions by their own. So the Animators, they’re going to learn something, we’re going to leave those valuable assets in these communities. We are already there.
We’re going to still working with them totally as we move to other communities to replicate the same process. So that way when we replicate, we have a series of communities who can create a network of animators around, so they can share experiences. They can learn good and bad practices from each other and that way they can grow themselves and be the change makers their community needs, right?
JH: That’s fantastic and really interesting to hear that they’re like interns in a way, that are going to take over the job. And you’re able to keep moving forward and this group of people coming up in these different neighborhoods, they probably have different challenges and stuff, are going to be in connection with one another, which I think probably even broadens their scope of their understanding and creates a bigger world for them than just being centered strictly in their neighborhood.
RJ: Exactly, if they know how to solve problems, they can recognize their own problems and solve them by themselves.
JH: So what happened to all this when the pandemic struck?
RJ: Yeah, it was a hard hit for us actually because we were just finishing the spaces, like the final touches when the pandemic started in El Salvador. So we didn’t have a chance for the kick-off of the spaces but still it was really inspiring how these communities, these youth self-organized to find a way to help their own communities.
So they were able to collect food and other basic items in these spaces and they even organized community foods and cooking to distribute to the less, or to the most needed and more vulnerable people in their communities. So it was really, really inspiring from them, right?
JH: And I think that’s a perfect example of when you’re not there and you’re having to move onto a new community to begin work, that the people there are doing it without you.
RJ: Yes.
JH: Making interesting, caring decisions without you being there directing them and telling them what to do.
RJ: Yes, it kind of proves our theory, right?
JH: Yes, exactly. This is probably really unfair (laughs), I’m going to do an Amy Devers and put you totally on the spot (laughter). You worked with so many [0.40.00] interesting children and young people in this project, is there one kid that kind of stands out as special in your heart?
RJ: Well, yeah, that’s a really hard question Jerry. Obviously we’ve met a lot of stories with LERO and each one of them is really special. But there’s this kid, his name is Jeffrey, he was really involved since day one. He went to the museum activities, really eager to discover art and to hang with his friends. But Jeffrey, he’s the oldest brother of two little sisters and one day at those activities at the museum he appeared with a scratch on his cheek.
We then find out that he got it because his mother had problems with alcohol. So she made that to him once she was drunk because he was protecting one of his little sisters. And that made us realize that their context is not really fair for a kid of 13 years old, right? He’s not supposed to live that at such a young age. But still he always showed to the activities. He was really committed to learn during this process of implementation of these spaces, he was really eager to understand how the design and the furniture pieces were made.
And he was eager to be part of it right? I remember also this story once we were installing stuff that he volunteered to make a hole in the wall to put some structure and this Jeffrey, he’s really skinny, a bit tall but he’s skinny. So open the wall, the concrete wall, obviously he had to do a lot of effort with the drill. And after like five or six times he tried, we were thinking with LERO, okay, maybe this is too much for him.
But he didn’t stop, he was like, I can do it, right, I can do it, and keep insisting until he made it. He shout out mouth] right, like okay yes, he was able to. So at the time he learned a lot and obviously you could see his face, like really proud of the space he helped do. Even sadly news his mother got in a car accident and passed away last December, so that was before the process of the spaces.
So still with that sad news for him and his sister, he started living with his grandmother, he was really full of energy to make this change in this space and you could see that he was becoming more confident in himself and he was more, with a more mature attitude towards his sisters. So obviously those kinds of story is the reward we get for this kind of project, right. It makes it all worth it and makes it all again, it’s what we want actually.
AD: Yeah, that’s a really beautiful example of how it’s working, that you can feel the impact directly on society.
JH: That’s so powerful. That young people just need something and for our community, knowing that that something can be design, that changes their way of thinking and make them see the world through a different lens is really remarkable. So again, I’m so impressed by the work you’re doing. If anybody else wants to volunteer to help in any way, they can contact Roberto.
RJ: But yes, I mean as that story of Jeffrey, you can find a lot of other really inspiring stories and you can see that there’s only a lack of opportunities for them. So as designers we can create these opportunities for them, right?
JH: And while you’re doing that, I’m going to close with a quote from a very wise man and the quote is, ‘Design allowed them to visualized a future for themselves that they didn’t dream was possible.’ And the author of that quote, do you know who it was?
RJ: I don’t remember (laughter).
JH: It was Roberto, when he said that, he goes, ‘Design allows them to visualize a future for themselves that they didn’t dream was possible.’ It was kind of, for me it was kind of that Jerry McGuire moment; you had me at hello (laughter). It put it all in great perspective.
RJ: Yeah, and with this talk with you, it just made me realize that I’m just replicating what this older generation, but not so old, showed me right? If they allow me to dream, to be on a stage with you at a fair, for example, one day, I could allow somebody else to dream something and they can make it happen.
JH: That’s beautiful. So Amy, are you ready with the Q&A?
AD: I’m ready with the Q&A if you guys are ready. I’m gonna start with one from Andrew Guiterez: I’m a design student from Montreal, born in Mexico. I’m truly inspired by such beautiful initiatives. My question is: What type of design thinking do you encourage or suggest to future practitioners in order to create meaningful change for those in need?
RJ: I mean the basic perspective is to believe that before being designers we are humans and people, right? So the first thing to engage with your users or your clients is to see them as people too. If you’re able to understand from you, as a people, to another person as a people, the situation is gonna change to see what their basic need is. And obviously all these observations, some are interviews with them, to really understand what they believe they don’t know, what they want.
It’s really tricky to see it, but as long as you practice, you’re able to create this skill, to understand that even small changes can be really meaningful for all kinds of people, right?
AD: Here’s another one from Emily Pellirin: First off, thanks so much for sharing these stories. I’m curious if in this projects vision there’s future expansion to other countries in Central America and how do you see that scaling happening in the COVID age?
RJ: Well obviously the situation in El Salvador is really similar to the situation in all Latin America. So obviously one of the things is that we procure during the process, is that we can have a process that will allow us to replicate this, but on a tailored way to each community. So this can be really easily replicated. We were actually on a trip before the pandemic to Tijuana to work with immigrants on some shelters over there where we could replicate the same process with them and how we can give them a shelter for humans actually.
That’s really basic and we sometimes forget about this. Now with this situation of the pandemic, Leo and I, we were starting to think how these communities are going back to this new normal we see ahead. And it’s really dangerous because obviously there’s a lot of people in this community, because it’s crowded and with huge needs to go out and earn money to survive. I mean there’s these kind of people that earns the money the same day that they need it, so they can survive.
So obviously with the current teen status we have right now, each day that goes by makes them more eager to go out and try to survive by themselves. So we were thinking of this whole context, not only as the youth center, but the whole community and how you can see a bus stop next to your youth center. You can see the market also, you can see a lot of people moving around and going out the communities and going back.
And they need to go out, even if the virus is out there. So we were thinking of protocols, we were thinking on furniture to be placed in key points where we can stop the contagious about it. And there’s a lot of opportunity and once again, it’s just to understand how they live and how they move and how they need to survive so we can design solutions and opportunity for them in this new normal that is coming.
AD: Okay, I have a part two of that question which is: What recommendations would you have for designers and creatives here in the States who wanna support in similar ways? For example in New York City there’s certainly communities of children who could benefit from these sorts of programs. Are there existing programs that you recommend looking into that we could lend our efforts and resources to?
RJ: Well, I don’t remember exactly one by name and location, but I know for sure there’s a lot of initiatives around the globe making their efforts. I think one thing really important to remember is that we are humans, again, and our effort; it only goes as far as we can, as we want also. So don’t worry if you cannot solve the whole issue. As long as you can solve a small thing, that’s going to help to solve the bigger issue. So get involved in any kind of these initiatives locally or regionally if you’re able to, but as long as you can provide something different from somebody else that is already doing something, that’s going to make an impact.
Or if you can replicate something that is done somewhere else, but you can do it in your city, that’s going to make a difference. It doesn’t matter how big or how small it is, there’s still a difference you can do.
AD: Here’s one from Alejandro Michel: What kind of knowledge we need as young industrial designers in El Salvador if we wanna pursue this project of the redesign of spaces for vulnerable individuals? What are the challenges? And there’s a thank you to both of you.
RJ: Yeah, well, El Salvador it’s really particular in industrial design, it’s only like 15 years that it’s been offered in the country. So I’m from a third generation and that allowed me to explore a lot of things. So that’s one of the first suggestions. You just need to explore and see what you can do and what you cannot do and still going forward. But definitely we need to understand that what we see at school, in these books of design and these iconic chairs, it’s really far from our reality in El Salvador, that we have a lot of other more important issues like poverty and violence and gangs and other stuff.
That obviously the same process, not exactly as to design a chair, but as to design a solution for a need that can also happen in the context. So to start exploring, start looking for your interest and also start losing fear that maybe your work is not gonna work or not and just do it. At the end you can figure that on the way and you’ll find a way as a designer.
AD: Okay here’s from Brad Ascalon: Hey guys, great hearing from you all. Roberto, how do you see this idea translating for people in different communities or countries and with different societal and cultural issues? What are some roadblocks with an idea like this, traveling?
RJ: I think the main one is how to replicate efforts in time because obviously the main thing is to get in contact with the users. So that can happen in two ways, either a group of designers travel to that location and it might take longer to empathize with them or you can find local designers that are really aware of what’s going on locally and they’re going to empathize with the user faster than a foreigner can do.
So one of the roadblocks is that, that foreigners might take longer. And the other is that there’s a lot of cultural aspects from each, first, from each country, but then from each community. We were actually seeing that from one community, we had some inside jokes, then when we moved to the other community; they didn’t make any sense for them (laughs).
So that’s one also of the roadblocks, you need to understand not only the country, but also inside communities, things going on and open this confidence relationship with them. If they don’t see that you’re authentically there and trying to help them, they’re gonna block you right away. The communities are also known to receive a lot of programs, initiatives and people that go in and try to understand the problem, but then somehow either the project ends or the budget ends or the social service ends and they are alone again.
So once you show that commitment and something that worked for us about that is we were showing up in all these activities, we were showing up at the museum, we were showing up at local communities, festivals that they were planning themselves. We were trying to support them in, I don’t know, designing a logo for their jelly, locally made jellies, this are small actions, it builds trust to them and since you’re aligning to the same objective as them, they let you in and they let you know them and they let you understand what they’re going through and that way you can help.
So another roadblock might be time again, because it requires a lot of time and effort to connect with them.
AD: Here’s one from Marjorie Bonia: Hi Roberto, you were talking about your question of what an industrial designer must be doing in El Salvador and now I wonder if that doubt has different answers because of the pandemic and how this situation has made more visible problems to work on? Greets to Amy and Jerry from El Salvador.
RJ: Actually I think it’s still the same. A designer in any part of the world, the mission must be to make life better for everyone. So the only thing that changes are the kind of context and problems that these people face, right? It’s not the same that now, for example, the government blocks all the public transportation, even for the people that has to go to work at a hospital or something else.
So it doesn’t make sense, right? As long as you can design solution tailored to their needs, it doesn’t need to be expensive, but it needs to be really meaningful for them. That’s the goal of a designer in context of El Salvador and I think it’s the future. You can see a lot of problems and a lot of bad headlines in the news outside El Salvador that you can transform that problem into an opportunity to design a solution, right?
AD: From Maricella Avalos: Congratulations Roberto and Leonel, great project, hi from El Salvador. What is the impact on design education? How can design programs motivate students to share the same view that you have?
RJ: Yes, thank you. Actually one of the main things is that something that contemporaries do also, we need to connect the university, the education with the real situation in El Salvador and the real situation is not only meeting other designers, but it’s connecting with real problems. Connecting to context that may be from their own context, when they grew up and they go to university, they don’t realize it’s happening just around the block. So that’s one of the main things.
And the other thing is also to bet on the teachers. I mean the teachers are the ones that can connect and link both worlds and bring realities and bring experience to their students. So I think that’s key. And also to share experiences within the university. It’s a small country in El Salvador so it’s supposed to be easy, sometimes it’s not, but there’s hope from different small initiatives that we can connect them and they can share If we are all solving the same problem at the end, but from different context and different skills and toolboxes, we’re going to solve it better and faster if we are together.
But for that obviously it’s communication between them and in a clear objective and view towards the future.
AD: Amen! (Laughter) Another one from Mark Thorpe and I think this is a really valuable question right now: How can designers in the US help your program specifically? What can we do? How can we contribute?
RJ: Yes, what I was talking with Jerry is that it’s not only about money. It’s about time and commitment. Actually during the process we were able, locally, to bring younger designers into the process so they can, the things I was saying, to connect them with these other reality we are not used to. So definitely that’s a talk we must have. But we can organize trips to these communities, to show them, to inspire them.
At the end we need to show the kids and the community that there’s another set of options they can apply to and they can achieve it if they dream it. If we can bring people in and show them new skills and inspiring them through their stories or helping create another solution that we haven’t seen yet. That’s some ways we can collaborate, definitely.
AD: Well, any last words from you or Jerry?
JH: Thank you, thank you so much again for having us. I’m just in awe of what Roberto is doing and really humbled to be able to share the screen with him today, so thank you again.
RJ: Thank you all, actually it’s a great job you’re doing. Also the fair at Wanted and Design Milk and Clever, it’s doing a great inspirational work over here. And also that’s a tool that we have to inspire others actually. So that’s one of the suggestions we have for younger generations, to follow these kinds of contents, that is really useful. And really, thank you for this opportunity, it became a dream come true for me and hopefully we can generate more collaboration between all and see you next year in New York.
AD: I wanna thank the audience so much for joining us here today. We tried to get to all of your questions but we know there are more, so let’s continue the conversation online, @wanteddesign, on Instagram, use the hashtag #wantedconversations. I wanna thank Jerry Helling and Roberto Juárez for this compelling dialogue and for the good work you’re doing in the world. Thank you to Design Milk and of course, huge thanks to Claire Pijoulat and Odile Hainaut, the organizers of WantedDesign and this conversation series.
Many thanks to this episode’s sponsors:
Polish Cultural Institute New York
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Roberto Juárez Color Movement Headshot
Roberto Juárez is an industrial designer based in El Salvador. Co-Founder and Creative Director of LERO Studio that co-designs solutions for human development and companies competitiveness. Also Co-Founder of IDWEEK that promotes a design community in El Salvador by creating spaces to share, learn and connect. Member of the Global Shapers San Salvador Hub, part of the global young leaders community of Global Shapers, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Selected in 2017 as one of the most promising entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean by the U.S. Department of State as being selected for the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative.
Jerry Helling Headshot
Jerry Helling is President and Creative Director of Bernhardt Design. He repositioned Bernhardt Design from a domestic manufacturer of traditional wood furniture to an international brand with global distribution. Helling is widely known for supporting design education and mentoring young designers. He is credited with establishing an annual design studio at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. In 2014, Helling was elected as the first President of Be Original Americas, an industry initiative committed to preserve authenticity in design.
Roberto Juárez, Apopa Center
The program engages young people in the design process to create neighborhood safe spaces and improve the appearance of their communities. They are becoming the catalyst for social change, using design as their weapon rather than guns.
To understand how important this project is, you need to understand the context of El Salvador.
Since the early 21st century, El Salvador has experienced high crime rates, including gang-related crimes and juvenile delinquency. El Salvador had the highest murder rate in the world in 2012, but experienced a sharp decline in 2019 with a new centrist government in power. It is also considered an epicenter of a gang crisis, along with Guatemala and Honduras.
In response to this, the government has set up countless programs to try to guide the youth away from gang membership; so far its efforts have not produced any quick results.
Roberto and his business partner, Leo, have decided to take action and use design as a tool to help the kids stay out of the streets, and out of trouble.
Roberto and his team are shaping this group of kids using design as their common language. They created a space for them to gather, and be creative together.
“It gives the kids a sense of freedom, a place to be themselves, to be with kids their age, to avoid violence and be creative. We wanted to create safe space for the kids so they would feel that they they belong somewhere,” said Roberto during the live conversation.
“Life is a succession of choices. For these kids, each choice can put them on the path of having a good life or a very scary one.”
Roberto developed this program to empower the kids and give them opportunities to make choices by themselves, and encourage good choices. Teaching them through design to evaluate a situation and take action, letting them do things themselves, and trusting them to do the right things has been a big part of this program.
Jerry ended the talk with one important quote by Roberto: “Design allows the kids to envision a future they would have never dreamt of.”
Clever is produced by 2VDE Media. Thanks to Rich Stroffolino for editing this episode.
Music in this episode courtesy of El Ten Eleven—hear more on Bandcamp.
Shoutout to Jenny Rask for designing the Clever logo.
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