Ethical Design Education
Susan S. Szenasy
- How to use environmental issue to design more sensitively
- Designers have a choice of what materials to choose from
- Ethics of Design – moral duty and obligation to fellow humans and creatures
o Responsibility to: planet, regions we live in, our community, profession, the client and our self
- Mind Walk, a 1991 film – abandoning Cartesian, mechanistic, linear thinking that influenced industrialization and the modern world.
- Ecological-systems
- Invisible Technology – replacing the bulkily visible
- Throw Away Culture – lack of recycling, over kill of materials – more waste than recycled
- IKEA
- Post-Consumer Materials – products made from recycled products
- Morality of Materials – the importance of craft and human touch, social responsibility of designers – William Morris
- Bauhaus
- Collapse of social and economic values
- Design as a contribution to society
In Susan S. Szenasy’s article she stresses the need of designers to think ethically and responsibly when it comes to the environment and the materials used. She persuades her student’s to start to think of design not only as a way to communicate to consumers, but to use design to set examples that could potentially invoke social change. Today designers are faced against consumers and a society that overkills materials and is generally wasteful. She calls these characteristics of the modern culture as a ‘Throw Away Culture’. This ‘Throw Away Culture’ is of influenced by ‘Invisible Technology’, which encourages the average consumer to constantly to keep up with the latest fashion and trends throwing away the old product. This process is greatly affecting our environment not only because of consumer neglect to recycle materials and reuse products, but also because the materials used in the products are not biodegradable or have to be chemically broken down. It is our responsibility as designers to choose materials more carefully to create post-consumer materials, products made from recycled materials/products. Designers have the opportunity to contribute to society by choosing smart eco-friendly products and using them towards products that will improve the environment and can raise consumer awareness about social issues.
Innovation and Exploitation: American Apparel
Anna Kealey
- American Apparel – manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer
- Don Charney – Founder, main photographer
- Success – through advertising and media perception as an “ethical and socially responsible company”
- Anti-sweatshop policies
- Benefit for uneducated/foreign workers – English classes, health benefits, etc...
o Model sexually harassed
- Marketing – highly sexualized, amateur pornographic iconography – sexist and racial issues
- Nostalgia of 1970’s
Anna Kealey examines the business ethics of clothing company, American Apparel, and how it has met the call as being socially and environmentally responsible when it comes to the production of products as explained by Susan S. Szenasy in her article, “Ethical Design Education”. American Apparel is one of the few mainstream clothing company’s today that it it’s own designer, manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer. The company became a mainstream by being a strictly ‘domestic’ company and with its anti-sweatshop laws. American Apparel meets the standard of helping the community by giving American workers jobs with fair hourly wages above minimum wage, health benefits, and giving foreign workers free English lessons. Although the employees who do all the grunt work are taken care of, issues arise when it comes to the models that are used in marketing. American Apparel’s marketing strategy is known for it’s pornographic imagery, sexist views towards women, and mainly using women of ‘minority’ backgrounds in their advertisements. This marketing strategy is seen as a “re-appropriation of 1970s imagery”, when women were uses as sex symbols to sell products. This idea of “sex sells” is sending a false message to young consumers who attempt reflect his or hers own self image with these marketing ideas. This derogatory marketing falls into the category of “junk” marketing and frivolous consumer culture.
The Responsibilities of The Design Profession
Herbert Spencer
- The rise of design as a respected and important cultural profession
- Design as an important tool of communication
- “Designer’s designers” – not working for the common good, but for the “approbation of their colleagues”
- Research into the practical and psychological aspects of communication design
- Loss of true printing tradition
o Disregard for the printed word as a means of communication
o Loss of respect from consumers and customer
- Designs lacking in honesty of purpose or of function, which deliberately disregarded the nature of materials and paid scant attention to the convenience or comfort of the user
- Design should incorporate research, experiments, and investigation
- Designers call to better the community to solve social and environmental issues
o Can aid or out perform scientists, engineers, and civil servants when creating an environment of communication outside of advertising and consumer needs
Herbert Spencer discusses the rise of Design as a respected and important cultural profession. He describes the evolution of design from master-apprentice to schools that train individuals to become professional designers. Schools such as the Bauhaus discussed in Susan S. Szenasy’s article, “Ethical Design Education,” teach the importance of designers taking the time to research the practical and psychological aspects of communication through design. Like many other critics, Spencer believes designers have a unique and creative understanding of how communication works between individuals. He argues that with this special ability to communicate clear directions or ideas, designers are able to put their skills and imagination to create a better community outside of the domain consumer communication. Spencer believes that this call to a greater cause could allow designer to take over jobs of scientists, engineers, and civil servants when it comes to communication through community symbols and public service announcements.
First Things First (1964-2000)
Rick Poynor
The Politics of Culture Jamming (2002)
Matthew Soar
- Designers time wasted on trivial efforts – influence of money
- “Advertising Clutter”
- Designers and Advertisers should work to improve society
o Act as facilitators of proper’ communication
- Advertisers should stray from frivolous and disconnected (abstract) campaigns
o Those that are manipulative or misleading
- Affects how we perceive things – affects emotions, ideas, behavior, lifestyle, decisions, etc…
- Create products which create an idea
o Positive ideas can transcend through cultures
- Design as a tool of necessary information and persuasion
- ‘Cultural Intermediaries’ – individuals whose job it is to develop forms to mediate (articulate) between the realms of production and consumption
- Those who have the means can succeed, actively participate, and resist temptation of frivolous endeavors – already have prestige and/or money to do so
The First Things First manifestos call out designers and advertisers for creating an emphasis on frivolous marketing campaigns that are disconnected from the actual products being sold. Today advertising campaigns rely and focus on cool visuals that have nothing to do with the product being sold. The automotive insurance company GIECO uses this abstract advertising as an attempt to engage viewers with comical visual and jokes that fall short. The company’s newest commercial is a spokesperson asking the consumer if GIECO is reliable enough by asking, “can a woodchuck really chuck wood?” The commercial cuts to two puppet woodchucks throwing logs into a river, proving yes they do and indirectly stating GIECO is a reliable company. Commercial like GIECO fail to meet the concerns of the consumer and is a cheap attempt to win customers with humor. There is no communication of necessary information; the viewer really never learns how reliable GIECO really is. First Things First challenges designers and advertisers to disregard the influence of money and to start creating campaigns of intelligence and of real informational value.
Media, Gender, and Identity (2002)
David Gauntlett
- Popular ideas about self
- Media helps mold individuals
- Media tolerant and liberal
o Corresponds with growth of society
o Marketable? Profitable? – Wider audience
- Media sets examples and stepping stones for others
David Gauntlett examines the role popular culture and the media plays on the perception of consumer ‘self’. The idea of consumer ‘self’ is how we the consumers use popular cultural ideas as an attempt to define our ‘self’. Considering the media today is more tolerant and liberal towards ideas once considered outside of norms (gay rights, etc…) people view popular culture as progressive and as something concrete to set our standards. Designers are a big part of creating these standards communicated in society. If designers begin to change priorities from frivolous advertising to important social responsibilities society will eventually follow. This reformation of advertising will change ideals and standards and will lead to a better society.
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