On this episode of Confessions of a Creative Director, we’re getting into how creatives can actually play a role in fighting hate.
Design Director Nick Adam’s roots aren’t in design school. They’re in the punk shows, graffiti, and rave culture of ‘90s Chicago, scenes that taught him how visual language shapes belonging, safety, and identity. That lived experience came rushing back during a recent moment in when he saw someone covered in Nazi symbols being treated like it was no big deal.
That’s the wake-up call: hate is hiding in plain sight. And if creatives want to do anything about it, we have to know how systems of exclusion and identity really work, not in theory, but on the ground.
In this episode, we talk about identity as civic infrastructure. About visibility as protection. And why real belonging isn’t something you declare it’s something you design into lived experience.
Because every creative decision either reinforces the world we’ve inherited or helps build the one we actually need.
To dive deeper, check out these links mentioned on the show:
Help Stop HateSlow & Low 2025
2024
the book
