Long Overdue:

Communication Design+
Social Innovation

© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA 1

 For years now I have been working on some ways to illustrate the
process of communication design in order to make it easier to
understand, follow, and hopefully actually do. In response to many
requests to send along my slides as a follow up to the the
workshops I’ve conducted, I am finally trying to put them in a form
here that makes sense outside the context of my voice over.

© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA

 The principles that follow are based on a few core
assumptions:
1. That communication can solve 99% of the challenges we face,
if we simply learn not to suck at it. The ability to be heard and
understood, to connect with people and engage them is a
(perhaps the) most important element in any relationship, and
relationships are the beginning and the end of life.

2. That communication – regardless of how big, complex or

controversial – can be intentionally designed. It is not simply a
talent that some have and others not so much.

3. That communication is a system of interconnections, beliefs and

messages that influence and to a large extent control the “events”
that we see and hear. And, that to create lasting impact, we need
to work at a systems level.
© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA
 4. Like everything else that is meaningful, powerful communication
begins deep inside us, with truths that are more than facts, more
than intellect alone. Nothing meaningful can be spoken or
understood unless it is felt. This is a dynamic to which people
easily nod their heads, but struggle to live out, in our society’s
disconnection from our bodies and senses.

5. It’s never too soon, or too late to get it right. Giant corporations,
cities and governments have big, complex communication issues
that can be aligned more easily than most believe – when they are
approached as a system. And even the most inchoate
entrepreneur should begin by designing the outcome at the start.

© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA

 Communication and the stages of effectiveness.

Whether you are a young social entrepreneur, a CEO, or simply a

person who wants to move mountains and needs others to help
you do it, these principles apply.

© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA

The role of communication

Visionary Leader

Idea Promise
Definition Framing
Language
Values
Purpose

© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA

The role of communication

VISIONARY TO LEADER
You may have the most brilliant idea in
Visionary Leader the world, or a dozen of them, but unless
you can explain them in a way that other
people see their brilliance, you may be a
visionary, but you’ll remain a well-kept
secret and will never be a leader.
Idea Promise Becoming a leader requires that you are
able to express you vision in a way that
people hear and respond to it. Most of
Definition Framing the time, this has less to do with polish or
vocabulary than it does with the power
Language that comes from truth. To quote David
Values Ogilvy, “When Aeschines spoke, they
said, 'How well he speaks.' But when
Purpose Demosthenes spoke, they said, 'Let us
march against Philip.”

Expressing an idea is something I have

written quite a bit about before. The best
way to do it is in the form of a promise
(see the next chart on “Definition” as
well). Writing a promise entails doing the
hard work of determining what you truly
want to accomplish, how you’re different,
and what value you will provide to all
those who support you.

© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA

The role of communication

LEADER TO
ENTREPRENEUR
Visionary Leader Entrepreneur To be an entrepreneur means
that you form an enterprise, or
a business. One simple
powerful thing to keep in mind
is that any business, regardless
Idea Promise Relationships of how big or small, is nothing
but a series of relationships -
with team members,
Definition Framing Strategy customers, funders, the media,
suppliers and so on. So it is
Language Communication only when you understand how
Values Audiences to use communication to
intentionally create the right
Purpose Messages relationships with the right
Identity people (which you evaluate by
communicating with them) that
Mediums you can form an organization
Narrative to realize your idea.

To develop relationships, you

must understand your
audiences, develop messages,
create a narrative and an
identity, and develop a strategy
for the how, what and where of
communicating with them.

© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA

The role of communication
ENTREPRENEUR TO
CHANGE-MAKER
Only when you can turn
Visionary Leader Entrepreneur Changemaker your relationships into
action will you see real
impact from your idea.
What is it that moves
people from passive

Idea Promise Relationships Impact

agreement or low-risk/
reward support to the
kind of getting-off-their-
butts-and-acting
Definition Framing Strategy Support required to create
lasting change? You
Language Communication Engagement need to find out if you
Values Audiences Transformation want to make a
Purpose Messages Scale difference.

Identity Real engagement

Mediums requires mastery of
communication –
Narrative staying relevant and
interesting to the
people whose support
you seek, providing
value – through your
communication as well
as your product and
service, and staying in
touch with the realities
of their lives are critical.

© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA

 When you are creating communication in the service of an
idea or mission, it’s useful to understand the different roles
it plays, when to use them, and why the order is inviolate.

© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA

How to communicate

Definition

First, communication plays the

role of defining the idea. (See
visionary to leader.) It is the what
and why. It is also the core of the
identity of your project or
enterprise. Nothing can move
forward successfully without this.
If you have worked with large
organizations, as I have, you will
know that enormous money and
time are devoted to initiatives that
have not been fully defined in
Language advance, and that they inevitably
fail or limp along for years as a
black hole of resources.

© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA 11

How to communicate

Definition Understanding

Next, communication creates

understanding. Think of it as the
“kick the tires” phase. What kind
of team is required, and who are
they? How does it work, how
much will it cost, how long will it
take, and what is the strategy?
This is where the structure of the
enterprise is determined, where
information is sought and
Language Content/structure Flow
disseminated to those who need it
in order to make it real.

© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA 12

How to communicate

Definition Understanding Engagement

And finally, communication leads

to engagement. This is the phase
at which relationships are
developed with a broader
audience – all those for whom the
enterprise will provide value. Here,
a clear picture of the benefits, the
role that products and services
will play in people’s lives, what is
expected of them in return, and
how they can participate in it are
Language Content/structure Flow brought to life. This is where
emotion enters – where the hard
work of understanding audience
needs and context pays off, and
where transformation takes place.
© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA 13
 “Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about
originality will ever be original: Whereas if you simply
try to tell the truth, you will, nine times out of ten,
become original without ever having noticed it.”

C.S. Lewis

© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA 14

 Cheryl Heller is the Founding Chair of the new Masters Program in Design for Social Innovation at the School
of Visual Arts in New York. She is also Board Chair of PopTech, a laboratory for disruptive innovation focused
on technology and social change, and founder of Heller Communication Design. She is a pioneering
communication designer and business strategist who has twice been nominated for the Cooper Hewitt
National Design Award for Communication Design.

She has led transformational initiatives for major corporations including Ford, American Express, Reebok,
Mariott International, Cemex, Gap, Bayer Corporation, Seventh Generation, L.Oreal, Hearst and Sappi, non-
profits such as WWF, Audubon, IDE, Concern Worldwide and the Girl Scouts of America. She created the
Ideas that Matter program for Sappi in 1999, which has since given over $10 million to designers working for
the public good. She also advised Paul Polak and the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum on the exhibit,
“Design for the Other 90%.”

Cheryl has been a core faculty member for the PopTech Social Innovation and Science Fellows, mentoring the
most exciting social entrepreneurs in the world as they create and scale new models for solving issues around
poverty, water, health care, energy and conservation, often through the use of technology.

She is the National Director of Leadership Education for AIGA, the professional association for design, and is
a writer for NextBillion.

© Cheryl Heller Design for Social Innovation, SVA 15