Summary essay on `Can Design be Socially Responsible`

In the nineties , the buzzword in design is `social responsibility Almost everywhere one finds design , he finds an inherent `responsibility ' along with it . A designer is expected to inject some political content , social relevance , or pro-activity in his works , since social responsibility says it his or his organization 's obligation to maximize their design 's positive impact and minimize their negative impact on society . However , injecting this responsibility in a field where information modulation is the main goal , is problematic

Design is very powerful since it is involved in image production . This

br power , as everyone knows , comes with great responsibility . But where should responsibility come in ? Is it in the content , the form , the audience , the client and /or the designer ? According to norms , when a designer does not work for a cigarette manufacturer or for companies that produce weapons of mass destruction and he /she is sensitive to the impact of the materials he /she create , then he /she can be called `responsible . But it does not appear as simple as that . If he /she does not work for the cigarette manufacturer but he /she does work for an organization it funds , a plantation it runs , or a mall it owns , can he /she still be called `responsible

Other than social responsibility to ponder upon , there is also personal responsibility . A designer may work for the organization the cigarette company funds because of the causes it fights for , which do not deal with any cigarette matter at all . Like what professionals in other fields experience , personal conviction and choice can stand above social responsibility

Moreover , it is difficult for a designer to be responsible especially in this day and age when laws of capitalist consumption rule the world A profit-minded designer will not probably give up a big project for a multimillion company if he /she knows that he /she will get a high pay if he /she will pursue the project . Can you blame this designer and call him /her self-centered knowing that for people , money , and the abundance of it , is very vital ? The question of to whom is the designer accountable to surfaces . Is he /she accountable to the company or individual who pays for him /her or to the audience who views his /her work ? Will he /she create a design based on the rules of the client even if it means deceiving his /her audience

The answer really lies on the designer , on a case-to-case basis However , if a designer really wants his /her design to be socially responsible and proactive , then he /she should be aware of the cultural effects of all products that pass through him /her . Designers ' voice is a voice that people choose to hear in a lot of aspects , in a lot of materials . They are actually one of the movers and shakers of today 's world because they possess the power to influence how people think , how their discourses go , and how they view things . They have a...