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The mixTAPE x maniFESTO is a personal and powerful narrative set against your soundtrack that values and aspirations set to the rhythm of your chosen beats.
This approach allows space to articulate and share unique viewpoints dynamically and engagingly. It's design thinking in its most creative form, where the playlist of principles engages and inspires.
The mixTAPE x maniFESTO model can be used in different areas of life. Whether tackling a personal challenge, working on professional development, or just figuring out life's next steps, the mixTAPE x maniFESTO provides the space, the collaborations, the soundtrack, and the tools to approach challenges with creativity and intentionality.
All are welcome to join and contribute to the conversation -- students, activists, educators, artists, community leaders, corporate directors, designers – and anyone interested in…
(1) engaging in community-centered design,
(2) designing collaborative intentionality,
(3) and creating change through storytelling.
ABOUT THE mixTAPE PRODUCER — Born in Seattle, raised in Waco, Texas, grown up in Berkeley, and rooted in East and North Oakland (“The Town”), Milan Drake calls all these places home—they shape how he leads, designs, and thinks. Driven by the belief that real transformation requires less talking and more doing, Milan creates work that bridges education, design, and community impact. As the Community Design Lead at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (Stanford d.school), Milan co-teaches Print on Purpose, a course blending design, social justice, and printmaking, and is the creator of mixTAPE x maniFESTO, a globally celebrated workshop connecting Hip-Hop culture with design thinking.
With over 25 years of experience, Milan has led programs and initiatives centering the well-being of historically excluded communities. His career spans higher education, social enterprise, corporate America, and design thinking firms, where he has consistently amplified unheard voices. From dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline to creating learning-based alternatives for incarcerated students, Milan’s work reflects a deep commitment to participatory advocacy and integrating “Black Thought” as both pedagogy and design process. Milan earned a BS in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley as a non-traditional student-parent, finding his footing in service at Stiles Hall through the Experience Berkeley Transfer Program. He completed an MA in Education at Stanford University, where his research explores Black pedagogies and their transformative potential.
Videography by Seamus Yu Harte/Only People (in)VISIBLE Designers (Stanford, 2019) and Hilary Moko/Amity Park Media (SXSW, 2024).
mixTAPE x maniFESTO is design thinking in its most creative form, where the playlist of your principles engages and inspires.
Design work is multifaceted. It is about creating connections, engaging with the world around us, and being intentional about what we choose to put into that world and what we choose to remove from it.
When I create an actual mixtape, it's not just about compiling many songs to fill both sides of a blank cassette. It's about crafting a personal journey, a narrative that reflects the unique story I am trying to tell. A playlist might be easy to assemble, but a mixtape requires care and commitment beyond digital similarities.
The music in the mixTAPE x maniFESTO serves as a foundation, enhancing messages like a magic carpet, taking the design work on fantastic voyages beyond imagination.
For a mixTAPE, the journey is one of “music, mixes, and manifestos.”
Music also plays the role of a nostalgic timekeeper that takes you back and forth through time — past and present — to reflect, remix, and redesign your challenges and hopes.
The word "manifesto" originates from the Latin "manifestum," meaning clear or evident.
A manifesto articulates a clear, concise vision, providing a detailed blueprint outlining ethics, morals, principles, goals, and commitments.
Manifestos communicate a roadmap or blueprint that aligns values and actions with the conviction that inspires its author to carry out the work and the clarity that inspires others to support it.
Manifestos represent the strength of ideas and the purpose guiding individual and collective efforts toward meaningful and impactful change.
To that end, mixTAPE x maniFESTO is a metaphor. It serves as a practical tool for defining who you are, what you stand for, what you are working on, and or how you plan to achieve your goals — blending the intentionality of the storytelling of a mixtape with the bold proclamations of a manifesto. Here, you are on a journey to capture your passion, purpose, and plans and organize them into a coherent, impactful narrative.
<aside> 📻 mixTAPE Facilitator Guide coming soon on the d.school website…
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Videography editing by Hilary Moko/Amity Park Media ( 2024). Original recording by Seamus Harte/Only People Studios (2022).
The design work of the mixTAPE x maniFESTO is about communication and community. Specifically, communicating and demonstrating the power of our experiences to reinforce or dismantle—because we hold part of the problem and the solution.
My design work is about creating connections, engaging with the world/community around me, being intentional about what I choose to design and introduce to the world, and not being afraid to look at the more significant problems in the world/community and decide to create with the mission of removing those ills.
Authentic community-building means having those necessary, sometimes uncomfortable conversations with potential instructors and students who want to be part of the d.school, ensuring they feel encouraged and embraced within this community.
Community members, especially those unfamiliar with design/design thinking, repeatedly said they didn't belong. They felt unwelcome to explore what design is or to see themselves as potential designers. The mixTAPE x maniFESTO was influenced by their life experiences, race, gender, academic paths, where they came, their stories as space to counter and remix that reality.
Videography by Hilary Moko/Amity Park Media (SXSW, 2024).
Hearing from the community revealed that my approach to building community and the mixTAPE x maniFESTO could significantly shift how folks experience design/design thinking. I realized that designing "safe spaces" wasn't enough. Instead, I needed to focus on designing "brave spaces" where courage is the foundation, and people can bring their whole selves without fear of rejection or judgment.
Making connections: I've enjoyed taking this mixTAPE x maniFESTO on the road. I've been everywhere, from the d.school community to community churches. Whether I work with schools, students, government agencies, or nonprofit organizations, the message is the same…" All are welcome.” Connections, designing bridges, is where my design work finds its rhythm.
DESIGN THINKING IS NOT EXCLUSIVE; IT IS INCLUSIVE.
mixTAPE x maniFESTO is a part of my effort to build more inclusive environments at the d.school where marginalized instructors and students can feel seen and heard. I focus on creating brave spaces where genuine community and belonging can grow. It's been an honor leading this work, hearing stories, reflecting deeply, and listening to the views of those all over the county and the world.
When I set out to push for more transparency and honest dialogue about community, design, race, racism, mental health, and more—across Stanford's campus, both inside and outside the d.school — the mixTAPE x maniFESTO became an intricate part of how I could do that successfully.
“A mixtape is a message, from the maker to the listener. It’s not just about ‘which songs’ but it’s about which songs and in WHAT ORDER. Microseconds between segues, tempo changes, the details. How does the listener experience it? Do songs fade out or fade in? EVERYTHING MATTERS.”
[Netflix, “The Mixtape Movie,” 2021].
Music is an undeniable force everywhere we turn — film, media, activism, commercials, religion, therapy/wellness, politics, teaching; it is everywhere.
Case in point, it wasn't that the world didn't already know the music DJ D-Nice was spinning at Club Quarantine or that the artists battling on Verzuz were premiering brand-new music—it was the exact opposite. Millions were drawn to the undeniable familiarity and nostalgia woven within the fabric of the music — the universal language.
At its core, mixTAPE x maniFESTOS is (Club Quarantine + Verzuz) x (Inside The Actor's Studio + SOUL Train) = design thinking.
A mixtape is a personal playlist from a DJ who feels this is the way the sequence should be, this is the story the DJ is trying to tell through the music. The DJ is basically saying, “these are the artists, the songs, that I feel create the vibe that I want to convey. THAT’S A MIXTAPE!” [Paramount+, “The Mixtape Documentary,” 2023]
No matter which SIX PILLARS OF DESIGN WORK are in the mix — systems, experiences, institutions, data, products, and technology — mixTAPE x maniFEST is where intentions meet actions. It's where purpose drives processes. And where decisions direct change.
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Milan: DJ’ing Activism at the d.school
mixTAPES x SXSW x Print on Purpose 📸 CREDIT Amity Park Media
The heart of the "mixtape manifesto" at SXSW was to be a fast, inviting, and interactive activity that revolves around the concept of a “mixtape.” Each participant came to the Future's Studio to create their personal “mixtape,” symbolically representing their definitions for the future of education. In tandem, they designed mixtape liner notes, designed a mixtape cover, brainstormed a mixtape title, and even developed mixtape tracks.
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BONUS TRACKS
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Black Design Week @ Tennessee State University (TSU) 2024
mixTAPES x (in)VISIBLE Designers LIVE Podcast | 📸 CREDIT Amity Park Media
All are welcome to join and be a part of this conversation -- students, activists, educators, artists, community leaders, directors, and designers – as we discuss and design tools to:
(1) foster community-centered design, (2) design radical collaborations, and (3) and transform systems/create systemic change through storytelling.
<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/9eda5330-3565-4696-b56b-195061b145bf/719d3c02-5eaa-4634-9cdf-19bcb392071b/SOBD_2024.jpg" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/9eda5330-3565-4696-b56b-195061b145bf/719d3c02-5eaa-4634-9cdf-19bcb392071b/SOBD_2024.jpg" width="40px" /> mixTAPE Features: 📸 CREDIT: Elle Danielle
mixTAPE x maniFESTOS at State of Black Design 2024
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Creative Support Team (2020 - 2024)
Seamus Harte (Only People)
Hilary Tobe Mokolo (Amity Park Media)
The Black and Missing Foundation
Derrica Wilson + Natalie Wilson
Louie Montoya
Hannah Joy
Dr. Katie Dieter + Dr. Ato Quayson
Carmen Drake
Patrick Fenton
Indya McGuffin
Felicia Smith
Aleta Hayes
Manasa Yeturu
LaRhonda Crosby-Johnson
