Values in Design
When I was young I spent weekends in the park and gathering with friends and family. That was all I needed, I was happy. Today we have become a society of consumers and spend our weekends in stores shopping. We believe that whatever is going to make us happy we will surely find in a store. Advertisements even say so!
As soon as I open my eyes to start my day I am bombarded with advertisements. They are everywhere. Advertising is a communication to persuade a consumer to purchase or consume a particular brand or service. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising March 7, 2009) So, as society looks for happiness at the shopping malls we as designers have to question how far we are willing to go to help our clients sell their brands or services people are buying up in those malls.
There is such saturation in advertising today and companies push the limits in their quality and value in designing ad campaigns. I watch advertisements with half-naked women selling cars, razors, books, phones, makeup and even clothing, which is just really odd to me (the whole point of advertising clothing is to actually SHOW the clothing!).
That is where organizations like the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) step in. Their job is to make sure all advertising meets high standards laid down in advertising code. Of course these companies can only do so much. Then what? Who is going to say this is where this stops? Is it the designer who ultimately chooses what he or she is going to design and put out to the public? The consumer is the one putting the money down in the end. What is their responsibility in all of this? We must have it all! The person with the most toys in the end wins!
There has always been the debate as to values existing or not existing in design, for example the designing and advertising of cigarettes, gun manufactures and alcohol knowing that the products are harmful. Every designer has a choice. Some designers feel that there is a line and it must not be crossed and there are other designers that say at the end of the day you still have to pay your bills and put food on the table.
In 1964 Ken Garland wrote First things First’ a manifesto and was backed by over four hundred other designers. He was concerned about where the design field was going and what choices he had to make regarding his values in his work.
“applauding the work of those who have flogged their skill and imagination to sell such things as: Cat food, stomach powders, detergent, hair restorer, striped toothpaste, aftershave lotion, before shave lotion, slimming diets, fattening diets, deodorants, fizzy water, cigarettes, roll-ons, pull-ons, and slip-ons. By far the greatest time and effort of those working in the advertising industry are wasted on these trivial purposes, which contribute little or nothing to our national prosperity.” (Ken Garland, ‘First things First’ 1964)
In 2000 Adbusters (a reader-supported activists magazine, devoted to numerous political and social causes, many of which are anti-consumerist in nature) came across Garland’s manifesto in a back issue of Eye Magazine. They decided to reprint a new version of the manifesto, for the 21st century, feeling that its sentiments are still quite relevant today. The aim of the manifesto is to stimulate discussion in all areas of design communication, education, in practice, organizations as well as outside of design.
There are many designers out there that are passionate about their work and communicating issues that need to be addressed, like Luba Lukova’s new poster design, “foreclosure”. She always takes something of importance in the world and puts in the light for people to see.
What is our role as designers? I want to look back on my career and know that I made a difference and maybe changed a few lives for the better with my work. I want it all to mean something. I want to spend my weekends at the park.
Resources: www.adbusters.org
Eye Feature ‘Thirty-three visual communicators renew the 1964 call for a change of priorities’, http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=18&fid=99
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