Makeright

Since 2014, through the Makeright initiative, the Design Against Crime Research Lab has developed a range of teaching materials and practical vocational courses for use in prisons. These resources aim to help inmates gain new skills, develop their communication and find pathways to independent learning and personal growth, ultimately leading some towards desistance and crime-free lives.

Through pioneering new learning approaches, drawing upon ‘design thinking’ and ‘participatory design’, Makeright has a track record of engaging inmates that previous education initiatives have not reached. Over more than a decade, the team has monitored the impact of their work, continuously improving and developing the project with input from participants. In 2014, Makeright developed the first course in the world to involve prisoners in designing against crime.

Collaborate with us

If you are interested in hearing more about Makeright, or want to collaborate or partner with us on future projects, please contact Lorraine Gamman, l.gamman@csm.arts.ac.uk.

Funders

The Makeright initiative has been supported by two notable funding partners. The Bromley Trust provided funding for the 'Cards that Communicate' course from 2022 to 2023. The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded the 'Design Thinking for Prison' Industries initiative, which included the anti-theft bag course from 2014 to 2018.

The work of Makeright has focused on two main themes:

Anti-Theft Bag courses (2014 – 2016)

Conducted at HMP Thameside, these courses led to the development of a new product range for Abel & Cole.

You can explore the teaching materials designed for running the Makeright anti-theft bag course here:

• For prison staff: Overview and Making it Happen
• For higher education design staff: Overview and Making it Happen

Or watch this inspiring short film to hear an overview of the project from the staff members involved:

Cards that Communicate and Black Heroes Posters (2022 – 2023)

DAC Lab worked with with young men at HMP Isis to co-create a range of greetings cards, which will be further developed with the charity Untold in the future.   The team also asked inmates at HMP Isis who their heroes were and worked with Here Design to bring these to life in a series of posters exhibited in the foyer of Central Saint Martins. Find out more about the Black Heroes project here.

Outputs

To find out more about Makeright and the value of using of design thinking to engage with prisoners, explore our publications on UAL Research online and our collection on Figshare.

• Could Design Help to Promote and Build Empathic Processes in Prison? Understanding the Role of Empathy and Design in Catalysing Social Change and Transformation (2015) by Lorraine Gamman and Adam Thorpe.
• Made in Prison: Understanding Knowledge Exchange, Co-design and Production of Cell Furniture with Prisoners to Reimagine Prison Industries for Safety, Well-Being and Sustainability (2022) by Lorraine Gamman and Laura Caulifield.
• Carry on Making: How design thinking and ‘maker spaces’ might foster communities in place for returning citizens by Lorraine Gamman and Adam Thorpe.
• Case Study: Design Thinking for Prison Industries: Exchanging design tools, methods and processes with prisons in London and Ahmedabad to build inmate resilience (2014) by Lorraine Gamman and Adam Thorpe.
• Case Study: Innovate Inside: Towards Creative Prison Industries (2016) by Lorraine Gamman, Adam Thorpe and Pras Gunasekera,
• INNOVATE inSIDE: A collaborative design project from the Makeright Design Academy at HMP Thameside (2016)  by Erika Renedo Illarregi and Pras Gunasekera.

Impact

The initial Makeright course at HMP Thameside enabled over 85 inmates to produce a range of bags sold by Abel and Cole, with profits going to Sue Ryder charity. The prison director applauded the project, noting that the Makeright participants demonstrated the sort of changes in behaviour that are key indicators of a reduced likelihood of reoffending.

The participants themselves also reported a positive impact . 20 of the inmates from HMP Thameside who participated in the course were interviewed about what they learned and you can read their direct testimonies here in our Figshare collection.

Seven iterations of Makeright were delivered in the UK and India through the award-winning knowledge exchange project with the National Institute of Design at Sabamarti Central Jail (2015 -16). A total of 170 prisoners benefited from the course, with over 40 graduate design volunteers taking part in a peer mentoring scheme.

In 2023, 52 UAL staff members and graduates took part in a training course designed to prepare them to teach creative subjects in prisons. Participants who completed this training had the opportunity to observe a teaching session in HMP Isis.

If we can secure further funding, our goal is to run a fashion course at HMP Isis to design a jacket with the inmates.

Team

Cards that Communicate (2022 – 2023)

Principle Investigator: Professor Lorraine Gamman
Research Associate: Val Palmer
Research Associate: Carlotta Allum

Advisors

Judah Armani: InHouse Records
Claire Swift: Making for Change, LCF
Jasmine Holland: Open Book, Goldsmiths
Kate Marlow: Here
Adam Thorpe: Public Collaboration Lab

Design Thinking for Prison Industries (2014 – 2018)

Exchanging design tools, methods and processes with prisons in London and Ahmedabad to build inmate resilience (2014 – 2018)

Principle Investigator: Professor Lorraine Gamman
Co-Investigator: Professor Adam Thorpe
Co-Investigator: Praveen Nahar
Designer and Researcher: Pras Gunasekera
Designer and Researcher: Erika Renedo Illarregi
and the efforts of many other freelance staff

Partners

HMP Isis
UNTOLD
Serco Group
HMP Thameside
Abel & Cole
Sue Ryder
National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance
National Institute of Design (India)
Sabarmati Central Jail (India)
Open Book