Deem is a global platform focused on design as social practice.
Our beliefs
Design is the process of adding value.
Design is a fundamental shared experience.
Design is everywhere.
Our intentions
Explore human-centric design frameworks independent of exclusive institutions and industry categories.
Ask what design can do for communities by creating conversations that are transdisciplinary and intergenerational.
Seek to uncover meaningful narratives, connections, and patterns that might help us better understand our histories and imagine our futures.
Deem creates space for vital and transformative conversations.
Deem Journal is our annual print publication. Our editorial approach highlights a multitude of voices, beyond traditional industry gatekeepers, to engage in dialogue about design futures. Our community of contributors and readers spans a range of identities, disciplines, geographies, and generations.
Our website allows us to expand on the themes we explore in print. We publish a combination of new content alongside select stories from print, leveraging audio, video, and live-streamed moments.
Deem Audio is an exploratory approach to interview formats, oral histories, and storytelling. This includes an ongoing series of podcast programs exploring topics of design at the intersection of various critical social issues.
Through our public programs, we create live moments for designers, and the design curious, to explore their practices together. With the Deem Symposium, Reference Room, and Forum Series, we have been able to expand beyond print and provide opportunities for our community to interact in real time.
“What Deem Journal offers is a refreshing perspective which I urge everyone to engage with. From the design of the publication itself, to the structure and materials used, every detail has been carefully considered. This level of attention is a testament to the energy and commitment of its founders and, upon reading, draws you into each conversation, provoking thoughts, discussions, and action towards a positive design future.”
—Roddy Clarke, Forbes.com, June 2020. Link
Deem is the recipient of the 2022 AIANY New Perspectives Award. Here’s what other people are saying about us:
AIGA Eye on Design | Cool Hunting | Cool Hunting: 2020 Editor’s Favorites | Creative Boom | Creative Review | Design in Dialogue | Design Miami | Design Milk | Design Milk: Clever Ep. 121 | Design Milk: Friday Five | Fast Company | Forbes | Fortune | It’s Nice That | It’s Nice That: Nicer Tuesdays | Magculture | Metropolis Magazine: July/August 2020 Issue | Monocle: Issue 136, Sept 2020 | Monocle: The Stack (Podcast) | New York Magazine | Scratching The Surface (Podcast) | Something Curated | Space10 | The Architect’s Newspaper | The Architect’s Newspaper: 2020 Gift Guide | The Creative Independent
Press
Alice Grandoit-Šutka
Editorial Director / Co-Founder
Nu Goteh
Creative Director / Co-Founder
Marquise Stillwell
Contributor / Co-Founder
Isabel Flower
Executive Editor
Amy Mae Garrett
Executive Producer
Jun Lin
Designer
Cody Cano
Designer
Staff
Deem is a creative partnership between New York-based Openbox and Los Angeles-based Room for Magic. Get in touch at hello@deemjournal.com
Brand design and site by Justin Gorman, Tim Kamerer & Brandon Kitajchuk