Pearse OʼShea
First Draft Proposal
Title: Ethics in Graphic Design

Abstract:

I have decided to write a report on the role of ethics in graphic design. In it I
would like to deal with how designers feel about the nature of the business, if
they feel it is too commercially driven and if they feel that it produces enough
socially aware work. To find this out I would like to investigate and find out
from designers how they individually feel about ethics and how they put (if at
all) these ethics into practice in their professions.

I would like to find out how different designers feel about the role of ethics in
their commercial work and also if they undertake pro bono work or actively
seek ways to use their design skills to produce work for social benefit.
I also believe that ethics are important to design companies in the form of an
ethos on which they run their business. Generally a design company will have
a set philosophy that becomes emblematic of the spirit of the studio. This is
another area of ethics I would like to look into.

As well as this, I believe it would be interesting to investigate how clients and
companies feel about the ethical positioning of graphic designers – does it
bear relevance to their selection, do clients actively seek designers that have
an ethical standpoint?

At the heart of this report would be my own curiosity into how the industry
overall feels about ethics and is it receptive to people, who like the signers of
the First Things First manifesto, believe that graphic design can be used for
much more than the selling of consumer goods. I believe this would inform the
tone of voice of the piece and give rise to a narrative arc.

Chapter Headings

1: Historical Context

I would like to include, at the beginning, a brief historical and cultural context
because I believe there is correlation between the rise of consumerism and
globalization (and all its ills and benefits) and the apparent fizzling out of
social responsibilities in graphic design. I would like to, in this section, go over
a few movements that had a social role as their core philosophy – such as
modernism, Constructivism or the Arts and Crafts movement. I believe this
would help maybe highlight the importance of ethics/social awareness for the
designer.

2: Ethics today

I would like, in this section, to use the information from my research to
establish how different designers feel ethics feed into their practices. I would
like to see just how important companies feel their philosophies/ethics are to
their business.

I would like to write about if they feel ethics are relevant to clients and can
how hard/easy it is to stay true to your ethics in industry and maintain a
successful profession.

I would also like to see how clients and the commissioning companies feel
about the role of ethics for graphic designers. Do clients consider a designers
ethical standpoint when they commission him/her, do they look for someone
to fit in with their own corporate ideology. A possible topic could be do
Unilever (who are become more green and sustainable) want to associate
themselves with green and sustainable designers? Or do charities like Oxfam
and Concern look for designers with a track record of socially relevant
projects?

3: Pro Bono/Socially Aware work

I would like to, in this section, see if designers undertake any jobs outside of
their commercial practices. Stefan Sagmeister made the graphics for a Ben
and Jerryʼs campaign to lower military spending; he also began a charity for
homeless people in New York. Milton Glaser produced the “I LOVE NEW
YORK MORE THAN EVER” symbol post 9/11 to give New Yorkers something
to take pride in. It would be interesting to see what unknown designers are
undertaking similar work.

This section could also include opinions from designers on ethics, if they feel
elated by the consumerism that drives their work or do they feel slightly
depressed that their skill set is used mainly to produce high quality work for
low quality unnecessary products.

4: Conclusion

In the conclusion I would like to go back over the information in the body of
the report and summarize what was said. Based on the feedback from
designers and clients, the conclusion would either express just how relevant
ethics are in industry. I imagine that ethics are very important to lots of people,
especially with the green campaign and sustainability issues and also how
people are becoming more aware of the dark side of globalization, indicated I
think by the rise in popularity of Fair Trade food stuffs and ethically sourced
products.

Action Plan:

I plan to conduct primary research by getting in contact with graphic design
companies/designers and asking them questions about their ethics and
company philosophies, their feelings about graphic design and it's social
relevance. I would like to contact as many as possible so as to assure that I
have a significant body of information to work with.

I would also look into questionnaires for students who may give feedback on
how they feel about what ethics means to the graphic design industry. These
questionnaires may also be relevant to non-designers, to see how they feel
ethics should effect how designers work and assess their work.

I believe research in books will probably provide a solid bedrock of research
for the project – books like Citizen Designer by Steven Heller or books on
professional conduct and practice may help. For the cultural/historical context
I would need to research books on various disciplines that were ʻsocially
awareʼ. Essays by designers such as Milton Glaser or Stefan Sagmeister
would also be relevant research.

Relevant images may be the use of examples of widely acknowledged socially
aware design, or even widely accepted examples of graphic design that has
no social relevance at (if even possible). Or the pro bono projects of designers
could also be shown.

Bibliography:

Below are a selection of books and website links that I have encountered so
far which cover the areas of ethics, social responsibility, pro bono work and
essays on “good” or “ethical” design. As I encounter more articles/essays
these will also be added to the bibliography.

Citizen Designer (2003) Steven Heller, Allworth Press

How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul (2005) Adrien
Shaugnessy, Laurence King

Good: an introduction to ethics in graphic design (2006) Lucienne Roberts,
Ava Academia

Made You Look (2001) Peter Hall, Booth Clibborn

Design of Dissent (2006) Milton Glaser, Rockport

http://miltonglaser.com/pages/milton/mg_index.html

http://www.typotheque.com/articles/how_good_is_good.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/philippe_starck_thinks_deep_on_design.ht
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