OUGD505 - Studio Brief 2 - Introduction to Ethics and Sustainability

ETHICS

'Moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity.'

Beliefs, morals, principles
Never truly fixed

Do you think ethics is important in graphic design?

Yes, because design has the power to influence decisions (Propoganda)
Society has trust in visual communication
Inspires individuals to do good (or bad) which can create a more positive impression on society

What defines 'good' ethics in graphic design?

Visual communication that has a positive purpose/impact on specific cultures and society

What does ethical practice entail in graphic design - what principles?

Considerations for other cultures/beliefs/religions
Awareness for how your decision will impact others
Speaking for individuals who don't have a voice

Theorists:

Steven Heller

'Good design is good citizenship' quote from Milton Glaser
- Designers can provide a service to help society evolve, however

So is bad design bad citizenship?

'A designer must be professionally, culturally, and socially responsible for the impact of his or her design has on the citizenry'

Katherine McCoy

Remove our freedom of speech and graphic designers might never notice

Nancy Bernard

'Think globally, act locally'

Anthony Grayling

Can graphic design have a code of ethics

SUSTAINABILITY

'Avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance.'

'The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.'

Environmental - Recycling
Social - People and society - Sustain a common good
Economic - Not wasting money unnecessarily or doing something that promotes economic growth

How does sustainability relate to ethics?
An ethical practice should consider sustainable practice in order to use appropriate resources considering how the materials are made and used.
Eg - Packaging design can be wasteful however recycled packaging or limited packaging is more ethical.

Eric Benson

'Design for re-use'
'Design cyclically, not linearly'

How practical and achievable do you think this is?

It is clear that sustainability has made a big impact on the design industry which studios and professionals are considering more and more.

Creative Concern, Manchester:

Creative Concern was borne out of a belief that communications could change the world. That was in 2002 and this belief remains at the core of our business; it’s what gets us up in the morning. We summarise our approach as: communications for a sustainable future.

Concern have based their company ethos on creating a sustainable future which very much informs all briefs. Making this clear will attract relevant and appropriate clients that share the same ethics. 
Rupert Bassett and Lynne Elvins - A420

A420 is an exploratory unit formed by Rupert Bassett and Lynne Elvins to provide the design industry with a systematic way to navigate the complex subject of sustainability.

Diagonal cross represents the 4 tenets of sustainability and the squares represent the important issues of design:

Financial
'Creating financially viable work focuses on the design issues that effect the costs of distribution and production. But, if designers focus too much on cost cutting or profit making, the danger is that the results will be uninspiring and bland.'

Social
'The overall question posed by this agenda is whether the finished design benefits society as a whole.'

Personal
'Creating personally desirable design work is about fulfilling the dreams and desires of the individual consumer.'

Environmental
'Environmentally responsible design is about considering the natural resources depleted in the production process.'


Group Task

The approach is legitimised as it recognises that each project posses different needs. In order to gain a better understanding of the 4 tenets of sustainable design, a group of us chose the YCN Chocolate packaging brief to discuss how sustainability could be applied. Choosing a packaging brief was down to the fact that it provides a lot of discussion for how ethical and sustainable the packaging is as it is often wasteful and harmful to the environment.

The diagram helped us to consider the context of the brief as well as the context of the Chocolate company, allowing us to consider the effects of the type of ink used and materials for the packaging. We came to the conclusion that the Chocolate company would be likely to look into sustainable packaging because the ethics of cocoa farming could be applied to a zero waste scheme to demonstrate the companies awareness of sustainable design.