Concordia design professor contributes to Montréal’s new inclusive design toolkit
The professional designers participating in the video series, Changing Mindsets, complementary to the guide. Left to right: Kevin Yuen Kit Lo, Joman Baku, Farah Khan and Maira Gonzalez.
Kevin Yuen Kit Lo, assistant professor and undergraduate program director in Concordia’s Department of Design and Computation Arts, recently participated in the development of En perspectives: a toolkit for inclusive design, launched by Design Montréal. The project brings together creative and critical voices to advance equity and representation in the city’s design ecosystem.
The initiative — produced in collaboration with Montréal-based creative studios Six Cinquième and Never Was Average — emerged from a Design Montréal call for proposals to foster a stronger, more inclusive design culture in the city. As Lo explains, the final toolkit offers a practical and reflective methodology rooted in “intentional listening and conversation”.
Lo, who teaches courses on graphic design, critical theory, and community-oriented creative strategies, was invited, alongside fellow BIPOC designers Farah Khan, Joman Baku, and Maira Gonzalez, to contribute to a series of video capsules titled Changer les mentalités (Changing Mindsets), which serve as a complement to the toolkit. These interviews highlight the lived experiences of underrepresented designers and speak to the deeper structural issues at play in the profession.
Image from the video series, Changer les mentalités.
“People of colour are critically underrepresented in the design industry, especially here in Montréal and Québec,” says Lo.
“Beyond the barriers designers face entering and establishing themselves in the field, the deeper issue is that communities of colour — and the challenges they face — are deeply under-served by design itself.”
Lo’s participation in the project builds on his longstanding commitment to socially engaged design practice and pedagogy.
Released in April 2025, the toolkit is now publicly available through Design Montréal’s website.
Learn more about En perspectives: Toolkit for inclusive design and discover the Department of Design and Computation Arts.