Week 3/4 Response

Note: messed up number of weeks since there wasn't class week 2, fixing it here.
Design and Sustainability

This week's readings include Speculative prehistory of humanity by Buckminster Fuller, The Sincerest Form of Flattery by David Kupfer, and A Question of Design by William McDonough and Michael Braungart.

Speculative prehistory of humanity
In this article Fuller explains the need for humanity to catch up to its own developing technologies. Many things in life could be made easier by using our newer technologies.  We would use less energy and be more efficient.  Fuller's comments still make a lot of sense and can still be applied to today even though the article was written in 1981.  Though it is hard to change pre-existing structures, for example, I feel it would still be applicable to apply changes to new buildings so that they are more efficient and cost effective. Fuller also comments on the eventuality of using materials directly, like using gold in computers.  This is very much true in today's computers, but I don't think we can ever get rid the money system.  A lot of things today have been so abstracted from its original purpose that many people start to lose sight of what they're actually trying to do.  This again applies to design, particularly to instances in advertising where the ad doesn't even really relate to what it's advertising or selling, but rather focused on getting people to notice them.  Nothing about quality or why the product is good is mentioned, the ad only focuses on the idea of the product.  Fuller also mentions looking to nature for solutions, as nature usually already has the most efficient solution.  In general I like Fuller's ideas, but in order to fully carry out his ideals we would need a reorganization of society.

• Many technologies have been developed so it is more and more efficient
• however the most efficient things are least used and higher up in society
• Need to focus our professions to make efficiency our priorities
• money is not wealth, wealth is our technology that can support and nurture us
• money is only used so it is easier to exchange things
• nature is most economical
• we have to adapt to new technologies or fall behind

The Sincerest Form of Flattery
Kupfer interviews Janine Benyus on the subject of Biomimicry, a way of looking to nature to solve today's problems in various fields, like architecture or engineering or chemistry.  I think the possibilities here are very exciting, as solutions derived from nature are safe and natural and can come from anywhere.  Instead of forcing things, biomimicry is able to use our knowledge of nature and find solutions that already exist.  Benyus is able to list many examples in where our technology has been affect by looking at nature around us, and how much better the new solution was compared to the old solution.  Plywood, for example, used to release formaldehyde because of the glue that was used, but now plywood uses an adhesive that mimics how mussel attach to rocks.  I think another good point that Benyus makes is that we don't need more energy, we just need to know how to use the energy we have more efficiently.  While an in-depth knowledge of biology may be needed to produce such things, I feel that this is very applicable to design as well.  Nature contains a wealth of ideas and possibilities that can be used to create completely new ideas that maybe be used for completely different purposes.

• Benyus grew in suburban New Jersey, and she would always see bits and pieces of wilderness
• Biomimicry addresses of the problems of being able to do things without using heat or explosive forces
• Two species working together evolve faster than one specie evolving by itself
• Various examples of how biomimicry can solve some problems
• solar cell based on photosynthesis and a moth's eye
• cement based on coral reefs
• using material already around us instead of mining
• Keeping up with biological knowledge is a large task but new discoveries are always found that can be possibly applicable

A Question of Design
The authors is this article point out the disastrous consequences of the Industrial Revolution.  Looking back at the movement, the article admits that while people's intentions were good, there were many many unintended consequences that occurred because people did not think the design through.  One example is that detergent is made to wash off day-old grease in a pan, but when dumped in rivers and streams it can damage the slippery scales of a fish or the waxy layers on a plant.  Here the designer has neglected to think about how the products affects in the long term.  Many solutions in the Industrial Revolution focused on brute force, the answer that worked without care or thought about other matters that arose from the problem solved.  The authors also point out it's not enough to notice these consequences, but that it's also important to make changes accordingly.  This article warns the designer about what happens when the solution is not thought through clearly.  In terms of design in general, I feel like we shouldn't just be aware of what we're trying to accomplish, but also what happens when we do accomplish something.  As the author mentions, the designer should try and avoid the cradle-to-grave mentality, the feeling that we must overcompensate and the feeling that nature is the enemy.  It is also important to remember that there are always different paths to the same solution, though some maybe better than others.

• The Industrial Revolution had many negative consequences that still affect the world today
• Raised standard of living but at a price
• Design was too limited: only focused on practical, profitable, efficient and linear
• only economical reasons without looking at other effects
• Nature had to be used, conquered: Nature was viewed as an enemy
• Wasteful use of products: products become waste quickly
• Products designed for general purposes overcompensates and can damage the environment
• We need to adopt a strategy to change our processes and think of a better design

These three articles really point out how important it is to be aware of the natural world around us.  We are part of the earth, and we can use that to our advantage, whether we take and destroy from the earth or observe and learn from the earth.

Week 2 Response

Corporate Identity and Consumption
This week's readings include the First Things First Manifestos, by Ken Garland, The Responsibilities of the Design Profession, by Herbert Spencer, Ethical Design Education, by Susan S. Szenasy, Innovation and Exploitation - A Critique on American Apparel. by Anna Kealey, and finally The First Things First Manifesto and the Politics of Cultural Jamming: Towards a Cultural Economy of Graphic Design and Advertising, by Matthew Soar.

First Things First Manifestos
In these manifestos, Garland points out the need for graphic designers to refocus their priorities away from advertising and products and more towards more practical media, like books or signs. I like the idea of the manifestos, and I would mostly follow what the manifesto is saying.  This is because I feel that not all product advertising could be bad, I could help design something for a small company or a company that are trying to make changes for the better in the world.  However, I will agree that product advertising nowadays seems to be more in the area of persuasion as compared to practically designing something. Advertising in this sense almost feels like an unwanted offshoot from design, something that is design but somewhat compromised.

• We are reaching a point where advertising has taken up a lot of our time and skill
• This skill can be better devoted for informational materials like books, signs, buildings, films, etc
• Advertising has already permeated through most of our society
• Not suggesting to entirely get rid of advertising, but a change in priorities
• Hope that society will realize the gimmicks of advertising and realize there is more worthwhile design 

 The First Things First Manifesto and the Politics of Cultural Jamming: Towards a Cultural Economy of Graphic Design and Advertising
This essay by Matthew Soar goes through various opinions from other designers about the First Things First Manifesto as well as arguments bought up for and against it.  A main argument against the manifesto was that it was too elitist and uncompromising.  One designer, Milton Glaser, commented on an earlier draft saying it was asking you "choose or die."  You either had to be on the side of advertising or on the side of designing other media.  Micheal Bierut also made the comment that most of the people who had signed the manifesto were people who were designing for the "cultural elite," and thus put the manifesto higher up than the average graphic designer. However some designers also felt that just the fact the manifesto brought up arguments about design was a good thing, so the designer become more aware of who he/she is designing for and why he/she is designing.

• Introduces time period and situation when manifesto was first written
• Goes over several opinions by known designers
• manifesto seems too elitist
• message would be carried better if not for the status of the signed
• Goes over organizations with same mindset as manifesto
• Adbusters: parodying ads
• Manifesto at least brings out discussion and get people thinking critically about design

The Responsibilities of the Design Profession
Spencer brings up the topic of not only advertising but also when design becomes a "design of a design," letting the design take over the process more than what the design should conveying and telling the audience.  This is also related to the question of whether a product in question has to be present in a design.  Spencer describes that in the his current time when graphic designer was finally being accepted as an actual profession, it doesn't mean that designers can or should fall back into conventional design methods or stop trying find the best ways to communicate an idea.  Design should be something of quality and depth, not something shallow or quick, and thus can be applied in many situations; situations that may change the world.

• Design is a relatively new profession
• Everything is designed but some are designed better than others
• Comparison between development of typography and design
• as more ways were developed for type and design, people took advantage
• more and more freedom
• Stay away from conforming to trends and design of a design
• What we do as designers can affect the world

Ethical Design Education
Szenasy also brings up the issue of the effect of our designs, but more so in an environmental and ethical way. She addressed the need to avoid big companies that indirectly support unethical things like child labor or animal pelts. Szenasy also went over the possible consequence of design and how we should be aware of the materials we use and waste as well as how the material was produced. We need to be certain that we are not indirectly supporting unethical behavior, and that if everyone has this general attitude, changes can be made for the better in the world.  Even though the graphic designer maybe seems to have not much power since they design things other people want them to, by choosing who to design for and being aware of the design process the designer can at least be in the moral right.

• class of 28 students in Ethics of Design Class
• control of the big companies- designers are just tools used by other people
• we need to think about how materials are used and where they come from
• discussion with monkey fur and palm of heart
• American lifestyle is unsustainable, we need to connect to humanity and the resources we use
• students decide to be more ethical and considerate of what to use

Innovation and Exploitation - A Critique on American Apparel
Kealey discusses American Apparel's advertising and marketing campaign.  Despite American Apparel's focus on being a socially ethical and responsible company, they have ads that emulate soft pornography. While the author commends the company's effort to advocate their sweatshop-free policy, Kealey criticizes on their advertisements and the many negative connotations that the advertisements can carry. However Kealey does try to reason with American Apparel's ways, saying maybe their sweatshop-free policy may balance things out, or the fact that they are able to stand out more than other "ethical" companies is because their advertisements are the way they are now.

• company is sweat-shop free
• Benevolent Dictatorship- overly paternal management style
• sexualized advertisements- social responsibility
• negative connotations - emulate amateur pornography
• ethical practices maybe balance out unethical portrayal of women

Week 1 Response

What does Design mean?

In the articles, No Logo, by Naomi Klein, Branding the Individual, by Jane Pavitt, and Bing! It's Fabien!, by John Seabrook, design is presented in varying situations and contexts.

No Logo

The separation of marketing and production... is this good or bad?  While the costs of production are cheaper, there are ethical issues concerning outsourcing production. The price of the product isn't even about the quality of the clothes anymore, it's about the branding.  All the consumer sees is the design and marketing.  As a designer, I feel like the marketing is covering up how the product is produced, disguising any trace of production.  It seems that in an effort to appeal to the people the companies that outsource are disregarding other people. 


Branding the Individual
I generally agree with the author. We cannot avoid branding because everything we wear has a label, well known or not. The people define the brands and the brands define the people.  However I do not feel particularly attached to any sort of trendy brand, but everyone, including me, have a certain way they dress, and certain brands can cater to that.  It is unfortunate when someone is caught in between this process, like Nicole, who feels peer pressure for not having Abercrombie & Finch.  Here the brand is something to be both hated and revered by Nicole, a goal that she wants but cannot obtain. 


Bing! It's Fabian!
This article gave us a day of Fabien Baron, an art director.  Seabrook is able to express how important design can be, and Fabien's desire to create something new.  However, it seems a little strange that Seabrook is so attentive to everything Fabien does, including describing Fabien's quirks and emulating his accent in the article.  The article leads up to Fabien doing a photo shoot for a Calvin Klein Ad, where the model is naked with a hat to cover up his parts and his underwear is at his ankles. This image is already very provocative, and Fabien still wants to go further and just remove the hat completely.  Here, it feels like the design has gone off by itself and the subject advertised (underwear in this case) is left in the dust.


These three articles also address what a graphic designer will be willing to work with.  Should ethics come into your decision for who to work for?  I'm not sure if I could work for Nike, if I knew they were outsourcing production under minimum wage. I'm not sure I would want to work at a clothing store, simply because I can't agree with their slogan or image. If I did, it feels like I would be selling myself out, because I would be compromising my values for money.  I don't agree that something has to be shocking to be successful, and I also don't want to indirectly support unethical working conditions.  However, I will agree that the designs produced from these faculties can still successful, despite by personal misgivings.