Feminist thinking and action in design is not only about making feminist positions visible, but also advancing our ownprofessional emancipation as designers. In order to develop our skills, it is important to understand the tools that areavailable and to be able to use them appropriately. But what are these tools? Are they the ever-increasing number of software packages? Cutter, glue, pen, and brush? Or specific conceptual design methods? To navigate this broad spectrum, learning about the roots of these tools can be particularly instructive for young designers.
In the course Annoying—Toolkit, we focus on the exhibition The F*Word at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (2023), with its extraordinary wealth of works by various designers. Combining lab-based practical work, design and theory, the students take advantage of the unique opportunity to directly connect selected works by contemporary designers with historical positions and to examine the corresponding design processes, exploring and experimentally appropriating the interplay of aesthetics, technology, and design methods.