JustDesign


The JustDesign campaign in late 2018 originally sought to give certification to architecture offices that have exemplary labor practice. It was intended to let would-be employees know how offices treated their workers, not just what designs the office produced. Surveys with six criteria for good labor practices were sent out to employees, and from there, recommended firm owners were interviewed as a follow up. Because not enough exemplary firms materialized, certification was no longer logical and the firms that did make it were written up as case studies, published on our website and in Archinect. In 2020, TAL sought a grant from the Graham Foundation for a relaunch of JustDesign (JustDesign2). It was awarded a grant in December 2020. Various factors led to the demise of that second effort — potential lawsuit from Just, another nonprofit insisting on a name change; the original grant applicants leaving the Lobby — and a request was made to change the goal of the grant to support broader worker issues, to which the Graham Foundation agreed in September 2021. In consultation with the TAL Organizing Committee and TAL membership at large, that broadening distilled into What’s your story? in May 2022.

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  • TAL Worker Outreach Survey

    TAL Worker Outreach Survey

    What unites us in building collective worker power across diverse firms, project types, and community contexts? We want to hear from you about your labor conditions, issues you care about, and challenges you face.  TAL is a worker-run labor organization and our campaigns are only as effective as they root in the experience and needs…

  • March ’26 Newsletter

    Our semi-monthly edition of the Lobby newsletter is delivered. Check it out — and subscribe if you want to keep them coming — over here. Highlights

  • TAL – Boston Statement Against Unpaid Design Labor

    TAL – Boston Statement Against Unpaid Design Labor

    Challenge accepted. October 13, 2025 The Boston Chapter of The Architecture Lobby stands firmly against the practice of unpaid design competitions and design performed during the interview process. Production of unpaid design diminishes the value of design labor, exacerbates inequality, and promotes exploitative work practices. By requiring unpaid design as a part of competitions or…