I am Rachel Herring (she/her) an educator, writer, and designer creating work at the intersection of techno-critique, design ethics, and participatory research. My background as an art director at L’Oréal, and deeply involved in the beauty industry, informs my desire to examine the ethics of design. I believe co-design and design justice can be taken a step further by allowing the user to customize the product for themselves. I am interested in how the rapid pace of technology, intertwined with the aestheticization of society, shapes our perception of time, space, and sociopolitical dynamics in a contemporary context. To view some of the work I have created around these concepts, view my portfolio here.

Since the fall of 2022, I have focused on a central research project, Cellular Balance, which consists of a workbook, website, immersive installation, and four socially engaged workshops. Cellular Balance Workbook empowers smartphone users to redesign the most designed object in the world to suit their individual needs—not the needs of corporations. I argue that no technology has a greater impact on the pace of contemporary life than the smartphone and by changing its design, users can change how they experience time and space.

Ultimately, my work is about a way of being in the world, as a person and a designer. I value slowing down and looking closely at the everyday, whether it is the light on a wall or the light emitted by a smartphone. In a world where everything is designed, I hope to democratize design by creating products with the consumer and allowing them to customize products to best suit their individual needs.

Design is not a precious artifact to be observed from afar. Design is meant to be used, touched, redesigned. Its un-preciousness makes it precious. Design is part of the everyday. Design is the everyday. Design is life.