A democracy benefits from a smooth interaction between society and government, where public debate and scope for the opinion of citizens are of great importance. Design and journalism can play a much larger and more important role in this than they do now.

To date, their impact is mainly determined by the greatest reach. It is often forgotten that public attention is not the same as importance. Paradoxically, at the same time, design and journalism are increasingly entrenched in bastions for the happy few, which only increases the distance with the public.

To bring about renewed contact with the public while at the same time ensuring that the public is kept informed of relevant social issues, a new type of discipline is required. Design and journalism are able to create this field together by forging relevant insights, surprising perspectives, strong design and reliable information into one whole: Designalism.

The combination of design and journalism, christened Designalism by ACED, is still relatively in its infancy. There is still little knowledge about this growing phenomenon among the public, but also among many insiders, and a specific domain for this new field is lacking. The public is still served separately by both disciplines. Design still reaches its audience through traditional cultural platforms and works and projects circulate mainly within the artistic circuit. Journalistic productions usually still find their way to the public through traditional channels.

Because of the comprehensive and diverse possibilities offered by the combination of design and journalism, ACED commits itself to Designalism as a new domain at the intersection of design and journalism.