OUGD505 - Ethics and Sustainability in Graphic Design

Ethics:

• Moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity.
• The branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles.

Do you think ethics is important in graphic design and why?
What defines 'good' in graphic design?

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

Themes:

• Being a good citizen.
• Who to work for.
• Influence and persuasion.
• Aesthetics and ethics.
• Value and purpose.

The Designer's Responsibility to Audience Members and Users (AIGA):

• Designers must recognize the need to include audience members and users whenever possible in the process of developing effective communications and to act as an advocate for their concerns to the client.
• The Designer’s main concern must be to create communications that are helpful to audiences and users and that meet their needs with dignity and respect. Any communication created by a designer that intentionally misleads or confuses must be viewed as a negative reflection on the profession as a whole.
• Designers must not knowingly use information obtained from audience members or users in an unethical manner so as to produce communications that are unduly manipulative or harmful in their effect.
• Designers must advocate and thoughtfully consider the needs of all potential audiences and users, particularly those with limited abilities such as the elderly and physically challenged.
• Designers must recognize that their work contributes to the wellbeing of the general public, particularly in regard to health and safety and must not consciously act in a manner contradictory to this wellbeing.
• Designers uphold the credibility and dignity of their profession by practicing honest, candid and timely communication and by fostering the free flow of essential information in accord with the public interest.

Sustainability:

• Social sustainability (people and societies).
• Economic sustainability (capital and growth - markets).
• Environmental sustainability (the planet).

How does sustainability relate to ethics?

Sustainability Issue Mapping:

A diagonal cross axis is used to represent four tenets of sustainability - financial, environmental, social and personal sustainability (the user). This approach recognises that each project will posses different needs and potentials in sustainability. Items closer to the centre are important. Items can relate to more than one area of sustainability.

• Financial - "creating financially viable work focuses on the design issues that affect 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".