Comments on: The culpable designer

By: My old blog « Antworks blog

My old blog « Antworks blog — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:23:56 +0000

[...] Ideasonideas is a blog that invites dialogue on issues relevant to communication designers and brand strategists [...]

By: Karthik

Karthik — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 11:00:07 +0000

The main issue in the artile has been discussed for quite sometime now.

Bad design will exist and unethical practices will continue with major corporates.

- We can't do much as we need the money made from our design skills to run our houses and our lives.
- Even if we want to do it, we have to reach a position in the design world where we can 'afford' to say "NO, this is not done."

Till then, we have no choice but to fight this battle against a huge enemy and hoping to make a difference if not win in the coming years.

By: matthew

matthew — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 18:31:18 +0000

If anyone has ever seen the very smart, yet down to earth series on PBS, called the "Pursuaders", you will recall that they bring up an interesting issue of the culpability of the consumer/audience. Its worth checking out.

I think another issue which can add complexity to these thoughts is whether or not you feel your partnership with a firm like NIKE might end up having some lasting good effect. Boycotting has not always proven to be as effective a model as it could be? However in the case of the Nazis, this becomes much more difficult, as the stakes are raised.

Working for a non-profit myself, whose primary goal is to promote a grace centered good news of the Christian type, we will struggle to make our claims in ways that are authentic, pursuasive, and engaging, but above all true - in accordance with our beliefs, and true in the sense that they aren't manipulative. (I am sure some could hand me a really really good argument about the natural manipulative qualities of religion here :). In essence though, we must all struggle to command our audience's attention, while some of us will feel it is just as wrong to support the Nazi's as it is to convince someone that buying has the power to give life, more than relationship, more than love, more than... dun dun dunnnn .... God? :)

By: Jake S

Jake S — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 17:38:16 +0000

Wonderfully written and good food for thought... I'd like to think I'd hold myself to my moral standards should Mickey-D's call. Thanks for helping us to remember that we are culpable in our world. It can be far too easy to whisk away those feelings we get, just to make money or seek professional accolades.

By: A Look at Art

A Look at Art — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 06:25:41 +0000

Eric Karjaluoto :: The Culpable Designer...

I never have enough time to just think. I'm not talking about the day to day decision making type of thinking, but I refer here to that relaxed let's just ponder the universe type of idle time. I think it...

By: Stuart Medley

Stuart Medley — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 02:07:19 +0000

A very worthy discussion. My own feeling is that between taking-the-money-and-running or slogging it out for another day doing something you believe in, the latter wins hands down. Money is a necessity but we must always ask ourselves the question "how much is enough?" Isn't that the key question the developed world needs to ask itself continually? Losing sight of this is the reason for corporate fraud and individual obesity. As designers we know that all the advertising hype we see out there for new products is just more design about new design. We have the inside run on that. We don't have to buy into it. Similarly, when we are offered a job that has a questionable outcome we should definitely say no if the key reason for saying yes is just that it will pay the bills for the next year. I don't know of any good designers that are on the breadline, and none of them has the local Nike account either. Design is work and life is work. Design is fun and mostly very satisfying work for the thoughtful designer. We are already in a very privileged position. Why would you want to buy out of that early by making mega-bucks? We are already rich. I once turned down a hugely lucrative job to design the OneNation campaign posters for Western Australia because their divisive social engineering politics make me feel sick. The very next day I got a call from the Research Institute for Sustainable Energy who are now my best client. Now, I don't necessarily believe in Karma but â€¦ Here's a site I'd like to share, an Australian design firm with an approach I wold like to aspire to: Inkahoots.com.au

By: Jason B

Jason B — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 17:56:48 +0000

Not to take the conversation to far astray, but I wanted to share a link to a site that helps promote "development of a sustainable and more environmentally conscious graphic design craft." http://www.re-nourish.com/

I came across Re-Nourish a while ago and have poked around, but have not taken it's advice and tips to heart.

Sites like this one can be a great tool in solving at least some of the issues you raised in this post, Eric.

I'd like to think that I would make the "right" choice in your hypothetical, but I have never been in a tough situation like that. I want to be responsible but I also want a dream client or dream assignment. I look forward to the day when I must answer this question.

By: B:)

B:) — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 07:07:48 +0000

Hmmm, morality.

A lofty discussion that really doesn't go anywhere, because honestly, we hardly ever hear the word anymore & and we can't even agree on what it means to be good/evil. At least that's the sense I get.

Designer's need to make a living just like anybody else. Hopefully amongst all the craziness, you just might keep track of the reason why you love design to begin with. Hopefully that was a noble cause & hopefully that comes through in your work, regardless of who your client is.

Consumers have a responsibility as well...to live in the world wide awake. To dig a little deeper & not take things on a superficial level as reality.

Do designers have a responsibility in keeping us awake? Isn't that kind of like arguing with a rock?

The rock will win.

By: R. Sprattling

R. Sprattling — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 06:26:09 +0000

I think the toughest aspect of such deliberations is in taking personal responsibility to carefully consider the context and strive to do a best-fit over time to one's personal morals.

Would I reply to that eager enquiry from Phillip Morris to engage my services? Probably not. What if the call were from Hector at the local cigar shop, which carries only pure-leaf cigars designed to please that discriminating adult, but not engineered to addict its consumer into a 20-smokes-per-day habit? Probably so.

The issue of soiling one's hand in the pursuit of knowledge and ideas is a particularly tricky one. I empathize with the distaste of dealing with artifacts of a murderous regime, but is one morally cleansed by destroying related research materials? I say no, arguing that there is no moral conundrum in studying underlying principles, so there's no need to perform such a sanitizing rite. I'm sure NAZI scholars wouldn't destroy their carefully-collected materials: their job is to document aberrant behaviours to serve as warnings to future generations. A much greater conundrum was faced by post-war military researchers who came into possession of NAZI survival studies: The experiments were carefully conceived and performed, and yielded valuable data on the limits of human endurance when exposed to extreme conditions. The studies could help in the design of clothing and other survival systems vital to airmen and sailors, but their subjects were involuntary, treated inhumanely, and rarely survived. Should a lawful and humane society use valuable data gotten by such horrible means? I don't recall the final decision, but do recall the angst caused by its very debate.

I think Eric said it well: above all, one must navigate from one's personal moral compass. I'd add that one must also ensure one's compass is calibrated, and that above all there can be no delegation to populist morality, for that may be either scattered or marching firmly in a dumb direction.

By: Eric Knudtson

Eric Knudtson — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 16:29:42 +0000

We can all think the designers of the Nazi propaganda were really doing something wrong, but what mattered was if they thought they were doing something wrong, or if they even asked the question. No doubt most of them were functioning on the same assumtions they propagated. These assumtions going unchallenged allowed them to continue their work.

I think it's great that designers are asking these questions, and I appreciate your addition to the thoughts. I think that design is a moral act, made by moral beings, and so we must evaluate the actions based on our morals. To me it is a matter of questioning your own personal morals first and then seeing how your work life lines up with this. If it doesn't line up, make some changes. I understand you can't be always challenging everything you think and feel, so maybe that's what Sundays are for.