We’ve got a problem and we need to talk about it. Graphic design—predominantly a white profession—is already a small, rather esoteric industry, one that San Francisco illustrator Dugald Stermer once called, “The pinky ring on the hand of corporate America.” If we don’t actively seek to reflect the changing racial and ethnic composition of our society, graphic design may well find itself marginalized in a whole new way. Diversity, especially race, is an issue that all designers need to be concerned with in terms of the future of our profession. Talking about race is risky. It makes people uncomfortable. “There is fear, fear of offending, or feeling like they aren’t doing enough, or God forbid, the wrong thing. I think our society needs to drop the fear factor and just open up discussions or nothing will change. I think that talking about race can make huge differences, especially in design,” says Traci Moore Clay, who teaches graphic design at Washington University in St. Louis.

Let’s look at some facts. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reports that the civilian labor force is 82 percent white, 11 percent black, 4 percent Asian, and 3 percent all other groups. (Note that DOL and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics track only these races; they track Hispanics as an ethnicity.) According to the 2000 census, by 2025 what are currently considered minority populations are predicted to be 40 percent of the U.S. population. By 2050, more than half of Americans are expected to be members of current minorities.

To break it down further, Mitra Toosi, an economist with Bureau of Labor Statistics, reports, “The share of white non-Hispanics is anticipated to decrease from 73 percent in 2000 to 53 percent in 2050. Over the same period, Hispanics are expected to more than double their share from 11 percent in 2000 to 24 percent of the labor force in 2050. Blacks are expected to increase their share from 12 percent in 2000 to 14 percent in 2050. Asians, the fastest-growing group in the labor force, are projected to increase their share from 5 percent to 11 percent in 2050.” In contrast, a recent AIGA diversity survey finds graphic designers who responded, 2 percent are black, 4 percent Hispanic/Latino, 6 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, and 2 percent other. That leaves 86 percent white.

But what does our profession look like in the future? In taking a look at a dozen design programs around the country, the numbers are very similar to the AIGA survey; 86 to 90 percent of graphic design students are white. There are rare exceptions, like The New World School of the Arts in Miami, where whites comprise only 18 percent of students. The majority are Hispanic—76 percent. These design programs mostly mirror the communities that they serve.

A desire for an infusion of students of other races, ethnicities, and cultures was echoed over and over again by design educators. However, the desire for and appreciation of the benefits of diversity don’t translate into minority student recruitment yet. In fairness, most design programs have no budget for any sort of student recruitment, and therefore leave it up to their admissions departments to attract a mix of students. The good news is that over half the schools I spoke to report that they have a diversity initiative in place. These initiatives support the hiring of minority faculty as well—especially important in graphic design where there are very few full-time professors. The understanding that there is a need for inclusiveness in higher education institutions is encouraging, but it is often a contentious issue, with ongoing discussions about the best methodology to accomplish goals.

Ultimately, the lack of minority students in design programs stems from a lack of awareness. Parents and children in underrepresented groups don’t know that graphic design exists, let alone that it is a viable profession for a person with artistic talent. It’s not too much of a stretch to imagine that certain racial and ethnic groups actually discourage children from going into visual arts, pushing them instead toward science and engineering. For others it’s a question of finances, with the cost of a design education being prohibitive. Scholarships and outreach programs are being implemented in some schools by enlightened teachers and professional designers, but it’s going to take generations to transform the situation. We can’t open up the pipeline of future practicing graphic designers and design educators of color unless we get minority kids interested in studying design now.

While there have been attempts at multicultural initiatives in the past, AIGA has recently launched a new diversity initiative. A task force has been set up to develop leadership policies, active support for understanding and awareness, and plans for education programs for high school students, design students, and professionals. AIGA president Bill Grant says, “There is a lot of passion and good intent in the design community, but there is also a lot of fear about not appearing to be politically correct. Fear-based reactions are not the answer. We have to be brutally honest with one another and be open to mistakes along the way. We also need to separate the emotional aspects of diversity from the rational ones. Diversity is critical if the design profession wants to remain relevant to business and society.” (Go to www.aiga.org and click on “Initiatives” to read more and get involved.)

Responding to this article prompted some teachers to talk about diversity in their classrooms. In explorations of the salient issues that define a designer’s identity—race, gender, class, nationality —some students felt that race was a non-issue. This may be good. Perhaps people born in the mid-’80s and later have fully internalized that discrimination is evil and have evolved to a higher acceptance level than previous generations. It can also mean that colorblindness is masking unconsciousness about the issue. Only in talking openly about diversity will we be able to uncover and deal with our biases.

Consensus is growing that a lack of diversity in our field is indeed an issue worth tackling. Steps are being taken, choices are being made, discussions are happening. Seeing color isn’t bad. It’s something all designers can do that will open themselves and our industry up to being more inclusive. The future is in all of our hands. We’re inventing it now.