Ethics
Definition: "Moral principles that govern a persons behaviour or the conducting of an activity"
"Electronic communication has now almost destroyed distance and time, so that we have little excuse for not being aware of the world's ills. Practically every decision we make as designers has ethical dimension, requiring us all to 'balance the forces' in our own small way as responsible individuals." Lucienne Roberts
Group Discussion:
Q: Do you think ethics is important in Graphic Design? Why?
Yes, because graphic design reaches many people and can affect their decisions and actions.
It also depends on your intentions and design decisions, and how you apply the ethics to the work.
There is a struggle sometimes between your morals and your comfort of life, where you may not approve of the message of a job you were given, but you may find yourself needing to take it in order to earn the money you need to survive.
Q: What does ethical practice entail in graphic design - what principles?
It depends on the individual, they may set themselves certain rules which to follow in order to lead a personal ethical practice. Eg. a vegetarian/vegan may not want to work with companies such as KFC, McDonalds etc.
"Good design is good citizenship" Steven Heller
"A designer must be professionally, culturally, and socially responsible for the impact his or her design has on the citizenry" Steven Heller
"Remove our freedom of speech and graphic designers might never notice. We have trained a profession that feels political or social concerns are either extraneous to our work, or inappropriate" Katherine McCoy
"Even if you don't personally agree with your client's message, if the message is a legitimate one, do you take a stand based on your own personal morality or do you act as a professional and continue to provide a service?" A.C Grayling
"When it comes to graphic design, isn't it better not to walk away from jobs on ethical grounds, but to ask if there's some way that you can have influence, something you can bring?" Jacqueline Roach
Themes: Being a good citizen, Who to work for, Influence and persuasion, Aesthetics and ethics, Value and purpose
3 principles of ethical practice that you would like to adopt:
- The responsibility to the community/citizens of creating culturally and socially responsible design.
- As a graphic designer I have a voice, and my personal ethical and moral views are legitimate and appropriate factors in my design process.
- Not all design will always have a deep ethical meaning, therefore design for the sake of aesthetics and beauty is appropriate, and can have a positive impact and intrinsic good.
Sustainability
Types of Sustainability: Social, Environmental, Economic
Sustainability is:
Social - people and societies
Economic - capital and growth
Environmental - the planet
Group Discussion:
Q: How does sustainability relate to ethics?
They are interlinked, as being ethical arguably cannot be achieved without being sustainable.
Ethics may come as a result of sustainability, as when you consider the social, economic and environmental impact of your design, you automatically consider ethical impact too.
On the other hand, ethics may come first, and sustainability also emerges from ethics.
Thinking about sustainability broadly is more difficult than thinking about ethics broadly, as sustainability is more dependant on the project, whereas ethics is a design view and approach as a whole.
Eric Benson's best practices to design sustainably:
In the beginning ask yourself:
Is this the best method to communicate the message?
What is the impact of making this piece?
How can we lessen the impact by producing the work?
Initials discussions:
Respect and care for the community
Improve the quality of life
Conserve earth's vitality and diversity
Minimise the depletion of non-renewable resources
Change personal attitudes and practices to keep the planets carrying capacity
Conscious design decisions:
Design for re-use/longevity
Design cyclically, not linearly
Choose recycled/nontoxic materials
Minimise waste
Minimise ink coverage
Choose venders that use renewable energy and employ socially equitable and environmentally friendly business practices
Educate consumers about the lifecycle issues through messaging/marketing
Encourage others to design sustainably
Things to look at:
Creative Concern, Manchester
Foot Print, Leeds
Cast Iron Design, Boulder USA
Re-Nourish
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