PLATES, an editorial and curatorial response to contemporary design practice and criticism. Each issue dives into a specific topic that is pertinent to the design reality we live in, presented and archived in a series of image and textual plates in an organic, iterative and evolving format.

In its first iteration, PLATES presents collective voices of practitioners situated along overlaps or cracks between disciplines to rethink the subject “Manifesto vs. Manifest” in relation to their practice through this iterative lens. The manifesto as a category of writing feels fixed and loaded, while contemporary design operates on the intersection of many manifestos, sensationalism in media, technological hype, identity, geopolitics, social activism, inclusivity and misalignment, alt texts, screenshots, fragmented truth, psychic readings on TikTok, and endless advertisements everyday everywhere. Iteration 1 manifests a version of each contributor and/or their practice in this convoluted and cacophonous context, shaped for any now or any future.