Seattle Design Festival, Dear Seattle

Urban planning often seems abstract and remote — something that happens in obscure city offices. We wanted to show everyday citizens that decisions around their city can and should come from them, and also get them to see that it’s the small, emotional things about cities and neighborhoods that create our bonds with them.

In Dear Seattle, a series of playful, low-tech interactives invite visitors to contribute their ideas about design and Seattle, including writing an enormous, communal letter to the city with an alphabet of rubber stamps. In the center of the space a peg-board map prompts participants to pinpoint the city’s hidden design treasures and hot spots. Citizens are invited to take critique signs out into downtown, to flag what they love and what “still needs work.”