Students of Design

Rebecca Brooker – Queer Design Club, Trinidad and Tobago, and Being a Better Ally – Ep27

Episode Summary

Rebecca (she/her) is a queer woman of color born in Trinidad and Tobago. She's the Creative Director of Planthouse Studio, a queer-owned design studio built on the foundations of collaboration, inclusivity, and growth, dedicated to growing good things with good people. Bex is also the co-founder of Queer Design Club, the hub for LGBTQ+ creativity, and until recently, the Design Director at Ghost Note Agency. Some of my favorite works in her portfolio are for Hip Hop Caucus and the Center for Journalism & Democracy at Howard University, and she's also worked with the Obama Foundation Democracy Forum, Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum, Grammarly, and many more. Bex loves dim sum, Coca-Cola, Scrabble (like, on a competitive level), lives by the phrase "Be Good," and Maurice Cherry, Antionette Carroll, Debbie Millman, and Vanessa Newman inspire her. Tune in for a talk about building a community for creative people who identify as LGBTQ+, growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, and how we can all be better allies. Follow Bex on Instagram @beccabrooker, find more of her work on her website rebeccabrooker.com, and learn more about Queer Design Club and the Queer Design Count at queerdesign.club. Be Good.

Episode Notes

Rebecca (she/her) is a queer woman of color born in Trinidad and Tobago. She's the Creative Director of Planthouse Studio, a queer-owned design studio built on the foundations of collaboration, inclusivity, and growth, dedicated to growing good things with good people. Bex is also the co-founder of Queer Design Club, the hub for LGBTQ+ creativity, and until recently, the Design Director at Ghost Note Agency. Some of my favorite works in her portfolio are for Hip Hop Caucus and the Center for Journalism & Democracy at Howard University, and she's also worked with the Obama Foundation Democracy Forum, Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum, Grammarly, and many more. Bex loves dim sum, Coca-Cola, Scrabble (like, on a competitive level), lives by the phrase "Be Good," and Maurice Cherry, Antionette Carroll, Debbie Millman, and Vanessa Newman inspire her.

Tune in for a talk about building a community for creative people who identify as LGBTQ+, growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, and how we can all be better allies. Follow Bex on Instagram @beccabrooker, find more of her work on her website rebeccabrooker.com, and learn more about Queer Design Club and the Queer Design Count at queerdesign.club.

Be Good.

Questions for this interview.

• How can I, or anyone, make space for people to present themselves the way they perceive themselves?
• Can you briefly introduce us to Queer Design Club and explain what The Queer Design Count is?
• What message does the world need to hear right now?
• Can you share how growing up in Trinidad impacted your ability to discover your identity freely?
• Is it true that when you were 16, your parents sent you to speak with a nun after you came out to them?
• Queer Design Club has 1800+ members in its talent directory and over 5000 total members across 72 countries. How do these numbers make you feel?
• Can I get your thoughts on his quote from the 2019 Queer Design Count? "As a Black LGBTQ+ designer, I find the industry to be more welcoming to LGBTQ+ individuals than to Black designers."
• Can I get your thoughts on his quote from the 2019 Queer Design Count? "It's hard for me to tell if I have to fight harder because I'm a lesbian or if it's just because I'm female on a male-dominated team."
• What steps can cis-gendered, straight people take to view identity more fluidly?
• How do you apply the phrase "Be good" in your life?
• Can you suggest something we can work on to support people in design who identify as LGBTQ+?