Dignify through Design
Across northern Ghana, hundreds of women live in "witch camps," exiled after accusations that follow death, inheritance disputes, or success. Beneath the language of the supernatural lies a familiar political economy: the expulsion of women from land, rights, and belonging.
Divest
In 2026, we're watching the breaking point accelerate, a cultural rupture where authenticity confronts algorithmic perfection, and designers must decide whether to decorate capital or design for human care.
Mutual Care
I can’t believe I almost didn’t celebrate Galentine’s Day this year. Almost skipping an excuse to hang out with our loved ones, create cute crafts, and eat delicious baked goodies, what were we thinking?
Divest
I followed a DJ to a phone-free, clown-themed dance floor and stumbled into a living experiment in neo-Luddism. From luxury dumbphones to sweaty nights off-camera, two aesthetics of opting out are emerging: “luxury low-tech” and “phone-free presence”.
Design is Circular
Ancestry is often seen as the past, but in design it’s a living system. Every form carries memory. To create what lasts, we don’t invent from nothing. We translate what came before into what comes next.
Design is Circular
Industrial harm reduction is a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with contemporary production methods.
Dignify through Design
Let this movie, or any of [Del Toro’s] other films, remind you of the comfort that comes with self-acceptance and living your truth regardless of societal norms. Let them remind you of how powerful we become when we challenge society’s norms.
I followed a DJ to a phone-free, clown-themed dance floor and stumbled into a living experiment in neo-Luddism. From luxury dumbphones to sweaty nights off-camera, two aesthetics of opting out are emerging: “luxury low-tech” and “phone-free presence”.
Ancestry is often seen as the past, but in design it’s a living system. Every form carries memory. To create what lasts, we don’t invent from nothing. We translate what came before into what comes next.
How Àrokò Cooperative designs radical solutions for individuals and organizations.
ÀROKÒ ANTHOLOGY NO.1: FOLKLORE FROM AFRICA & THE DIASPORA Curated and edited by Aishatu Ado DEADLINE 12.31.25 // Submit to: contact@aroko.coop THEME We invite fiction and poetry that breathes new life into folklore from Africa and the African Diaspora. Send us stories that draw from folktales,
A home for critique, reflection, and conversation at the intersection of Blackness and design.
Comrades, dear friends, co-conspirators, As 2025 draws to a close, we find ourselves in that familiar in-between space, the festive glow of gatherings alongside the weight of everything this year has revealed. At Àrokò, we end the year energized by the prospect of continuing our work. We are grateful to
This roundtable discussion names a growing unease with societies that reward visibility over substance.
"Because we're a community that's figuring out how to do business together, most of what we do together is play."
At the beginning of October, the two–year anniversary of the first Black Clay Workshop quietly passed. This coming January will also mark two years since I settled in Oakland—and honestly, it has all felt like a whirlwind. I’ve met so many people, built so many connections, and
04 VERSES IN THE WAKE Darfur opens— a wound the sun keeps trying to close. A girl stands in the heat, holding her silence like a bird too frightened to lift its wings. The air breaks against the girl’s face. Someone’s scream from the night before still clings
Ethiopian-American designers reclaim Halloween as a time of joy, blending culture with creative freedom!
Mama zipped me in a Ninja Turtle shell—Michelangelo, the laughing one, 'cause I giggled through gunfire and dreamed in technicolor even when sirens split the night like wishbones. Sweat glued the mask to my face, plastic breath, cinnamon gum, and that hum of danger, a tuning fork struck
Someone will ask you one day if you've seen Eve's Bayou. You need to be able to say yes.
How Àrokò Cooperative designs radical solutions for individuals and organizations.
Forget brain-training apps. In the ‘90s we already had one: Super Mario 64. Turns out Peach’s castle was a cognitive gym all along.
ÀROKÒ ANTHOLOGY NO.1: FOLKLORE FROM AFRICA & THE DIASPORA Curated and edited by Aishatu Ado DEADLINE 12.31.25 // Submit to: contact@aroko.coop THEME We invite fiction and poetry that breathes new life into folklore from Africa and the African Diaspora. Send us stories that draw from folktales,
On this next creative library adventure, I visited the Myers Park Library for an Arts & Crafts Drop-in experience. Normally, I’m used to booking an art event where you have to stay for the full 2 hour timeframe, so, it was really nice to have the option of how