The Social Media Conundrum
Lush Cosmetics made headlines last month when they decided to quit social media to raise awareness about the damaging effects to people's mental health that it has been shown to have. "I've spent all my life avoiding putting harmful ingredients in my products. There is now overwhelming evidence we are being put at risk when using social media. I'm not willing to expose my customers to this harm, so it's time to take it out of the mix," Lush co-founder and CEO Mark Constantine OBE stated.You don't have dig very deep to find a plethora of articles about the damage social media has on mental health. From the addictive qualities that make social media akin to playing the slots—to the disappointment and depression caused by FOMO (fear of missing out)—to the fake filters that present a misleading picture of who we really are—social media wreaks havoc with our lives.You also don't have to dig very deep to find "Social Media Designer" as a job title or in the list of essential skills that a graphic designer should have when applying for a job. Graphic designers have always found work where consumers interact with content. With 4.48 billion people using social media worldwide, there is no doubt they need skills in this area. All kinds of classes and bootcamps are available to get certified in social media marketing and they can add this skillset to their resume and portfolio.Recently, a bi-partisan probe has launched a probe into Meta Platforms (formerly known as Facebook) to look into the harmful effects Instagram has on kids and the techniques used to increase the frequency and duration of engagement by young users and the harm caused as a result. New York Attorney General Letitia James has joined the coalition and has said the company continues to put profits over safety and we need to protect our children and young adults. A Meta spokesperson claims they are continuing to add features to deal with the negative issues caused by their platforms including prompts to "Take a Break" and ways to nudge them toward other types of content. It's yet another conundrum; how can they possibly protect their users while at the same time profiting from them?The question is huge, how does a graphic designer work ethically and responsibly within the minefield of social media marketing? All and any ideas are welcome.https://thehill-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/arts-culture/582898-lush-cosmetics-quitting-social-media-to-bring?amp&fbclid=IwAR31-FU0Nzg4Upke0mPcq_lVZKJF_Sxny5CJ9mJju066NAs-Wgt5eV0xdVMhttps://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/lush-cosmetics-quitting-social-mediahttps://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/instagram-investigated-coalition-of-states-effects-kidshttps://lancastergeneralhealth.org/health-hub-home/2021/september/the-effects-of-social-media-on-mental-healthhttps://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-healthhttps://www.statista.com/topics/1538/social-media-marketing/#dossierKeyfigureshttps://backlinko.com/social-media-users#social-media-usage-statshttps://khn.org/news/social-media-is-harming-the-minds-of-our-youth-right-maybe-not/
Dangerously Cute: Using Brand Mascots as Political Propaganda
When the Amul Girl mascot was created in 1966 to represent an Indian brand of butter, she was immediately a hit with households across India.
The branding was created to help the Indian company compete with Polson's, a company who had a monopoly on the market until the 1960s. The light skinned, slightly chubby, adorable girl with the blue-haired bowl cut immediately won hearts, and brand loyalty. She quickly became a pop culture icon and came to represent the upper class and liberal politics in India. The messaging on the ads has evolved through the years and over the last six years, the messaging has shifted to pro-state propaganda and Hindu nationalism. Amul is now being used to normalize harsh government laws and pro-surveillance laws.Learn more and see examples here in this video created by artist and designer Kruttika Susarla: https://youtu.be/znMcCUH8aq8Sources:https://designincubation.com/publications/abstracts/utterly-butterly-propaganda-an-analysis-of-illustration-as-a-tool-of-persuasion-in-amul-ads/
Dark patterns, the dark side of design
The term “dark patterns” was coined in 2010 by UX specialist Harry Brignull, describing online experiences that are intentionally designed to trick users into unintended actions. These actions rarely benefit the user, but do benefit the owner of the site or app, and usually for financial gain. The presence of these patterns makes the current digital landscape one of “user beware.” In this context, even UX designers with the best of intentions can find themselves designing for the dark side — unless they actively take steps to avoid it. If you’re like me, you’ve probably experienced dark patterns in your daily life. Here are some at the most common: Bait and Switch: Takes advantage of familiar actions and behaviors to substitute a new action, typically with some kind of in. This can create confusion or knee-jerk reactions, as when Microsoft’s upgrade to Windows 10 was initiated by clicking on an “X” — how you would normally close a window, not initiate an installation. Disguised Ads: Ads are usually located in specific places on a web page and include graphics and copy that clearly promote a product or service. However, sometimes they are designed to look like action buttons for obtaining content. It’s up to the user to fully read the instructions and ignore misleading graphics. Sites like Dafont.com, that graphic designers use to access free fonts, are a prime example. Roach Motel: Occurs when it becomes almost impossible to delete an account or unsubscribe from a mailing list. A prime example of this was when online donors for Trump weren’t aware that they were making weekly contributions to keep his struggling campaign afloat. One donor who lived on an income of less than $1,000 per month found out what they thought was a one-time donation of $500 had turned into $3,000 in less than 30 days. Friend Spam: Occurs when a product asks for social media permissions under false pretenses and then spams your friend list. LinkedIn was fined $13 million dollars for this as part of a class-action suit in 2015. Forced Continuity: Websites that offer free trials force users to submit a credit card to continue using a site for “free.”Failure to cancel within the allotted time frame leads to automated billing. On top of this, cancelling the subscription can be extremely difficult, akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Affinion Group is an international loyalty program manager that has paid millions of dollars in claims for unfair and deceptive trade practices. They face multiple class-action suits for misleading consumers using dark patterns. These are just some of the “dark patterns” that have been identified — and more are being concocted every minute, which is hardly surprising given what a lucrative practice it can be. Users must educate themselves to successfully detect and avoid dark patterns. However, the onus shouldn’t just be on users — what is the role of the designer in dark patterns? Many believe ethics for graphic designers should be based on the idea of service, and that helping other people is a good thing to do. With knowledge and access to tools that can direct people’s attention and actions, we have a moral responsibility to avoid using dark patterns for ourselves or clients. If we look specifically at the role of a UX/UI designer, the most basic user experiences are designed to help and direct. Experiences should be positive, easy, and intuitive. Like a carpenter building a set of stairs, the designer should build an experience that is supportive and safe. Dark patterns introduce a moral hazard to this mission, akin to building a set of stairs with booby traps that send users in a variety of confusing or pointless directions. A carpenter would surely be held accountable, as would the general contractor and architect; yet in the online environment we all currently inhabit, there is little accountability. Who should be held accountable? Should it be the individual UX/UI designer, or their employer? Top level management may not know the specifics of the dark patterns used to make an app or website more profitable. However, they are aware of the revenue being generated and prefer to turn a blind eye to the dark side of how it happens. For users, there is a variety of private and public information on how to spot and avoid dark patterns. Cyber security and IT departments have created consumer awareness programs and professional development classes — these are increasingly made mandatory by employers. A non-profit organization, darkpatterns.org, features a “Hall of Fame” where they call out offenders. However, until there are legal and financial repercussions along with public shaming, change will be slow in coming. There is reason to believe that more systematic prevention and punishment is on the way. California recently passed legislation banning dark patterns that trick users into giving away their personal data. The updated legislation is intended to strengthen the 2018 California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which gives Californians the right to say no to the sale of their personal information. Legislators are concerned that this option can be buried with dark patterns. By banning them, California is striving to make sure consumers will not be confused or misled when exercising their right to privacy in online experiences. Unfortunately, the new regulation only bans dark patterns connected to the consumer’s “opt-out” choice, but at least it’s a start. In Europe, CNIL (Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés) emphasized in their report, Shaping Choices in the Digital World, how dangerous manipulative and misleading interface design is and how it jeopardizes our rights and freedoms. Their report is a call to arms for the regulation of design, and a reminder of the need for informed and unambiguous consent. Designers should adhere to a code of ethical conduct where transparency and respect for privacy are first and foremost. Next, they can educate themselves about dark patterns and examine their role in creating them by seeking out research on the topic and attending workshops. They can look for alternative solutions to offer their clients and impress upon them the advantages of building trust with users, rather than taking advantage. They should look at best practices created by apps like Duolingo, that allow users to sign up through their Google or Facebook accounts and quickly give them access to lessons; this stands in contrast to Rosetta Stone, who’s registration process requires several steps and payment information for a trial account. Creating a customer-centric culture will build long-lasting relationships and engender trust. Over time, this will prove much more valuable than the short-term gains that result from dark patterns. While users can stem the tide, designers have a greater influence over the future of dark patterns, and whether or not the dark side will win.
This article was written for Readymag, The Ethical Issue 5/5Dark patterns are online user experiences that are intentionally designed to trick users into taking unintended actions. These actions rarely benefit the user, but rather serve the owner of the site or app — almost always for financial gain. This article by graphic designer, artist and art educator Eileen MacAvery Kane will explore different types of experiences, the role and responsibility of designers, the confusing online landscape created by dark patterns, and what actions can be taken to prioritize users in the online design process.
Photoshop and Body Shaming
I'm a huge Margaret Atwood fan and read the Handmaid's Tale, a science fiction novel about a dystopian totalitarian society, years ago. I've been a fan of the Hulu series too. I recently watched the documentary about Atwood, "Margaret Atwood: A Word after a Word after a Word is Power," and was fascinated when she talked about how much of the material for her 1985 novel was based on true events. With that in mind, it's not a huge leap to imagine the recent New York Times story about altered yearbook photos at Bartram Trail High School in St. Johns County, Fla as more real-life material.In the photo above, someone with Photoshop (or a similar image editing program) added a black bar to the young woman's chest to block her cleavage. There are multiple examples in the yearbook where this was done—without the permission or knowledge of the students. They only found out when they opened the yearbook. Edits were only done on images of female students, no male student photos were edited. Students said their first reaction was fury, then they felt sexualized and exposed.Image manipulation is ubiquitous these days. Most of us assume retouching is used for advertising along with a plethora of other uses. Its use for body shaming is not surprising, but definitely alarming, and perhaps we should view it as a huge red flag.Sources:https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/23/us/yearbook-photos-st-johns-girls-altering.html?referringSource=articleSharehttps://www.insider.com/handmaids-tale-based-on-real-world-origins-history-events-2019-8#:~:text=%22The%20Handmaid's%20Tale%22%20may%20be,in%20religious%20and%20political%20history.&text=Its%20real%2Dlife%20origins%20are,30%20years%20after%20its%20publication.
The Power of Advertising
When times get tough, advertising is often the first budget to be cut. However, a quick look at history offers a different point of view and how powerful it can be.After World War II advertising played a huge role in establishing single use plastic. Advertising from this era convinced people how inconvenient returning glass was all while manufacturers of plastic worked hard to make it thinner and more fragile, establishing our firm and unshakable relationship with the disposable. As Odile Madden, a conservation scientist at the Getty Conservation Institute states, “We were trained to buy this stuff, these identical, multiple objects that are meant to be used for a short period of time and then replaced with an identical one ― and that took cultural training."Looking further into this topic reveals more contributors to the cycle. The anti-littering campaigns that followed were started by a consortium of industry groups who wanted to divert people's attention away from legislation to control industrial polluters, much bigger culprits than American consumers. The "Keep America Beautiful" campaign shifted the focus away from production on a grand scale, to consumers, who were a much smaller part of the problem.In recent years, the United Nations has put forth 17 Sustainable Development Goals. #14 is "Life Below Water" with the mission of conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development. One of the positive implications of COVID-19 has been the drastic reduction in human activity, providing a chance for our oceans to recuperate.Graphic designers working in advertising may not be as powerful as the industries they work for, however, they should be aware of the role they play and question what they are being asked to do. The messages they create can pack a powerful punch, both for and against our environment. June 8 has been designated World Oceans Day. Let's create messages that celebrate our oceans and call for their preservation and use advertising to help heal our planet, rather than destroy it.Sources:https://sdgs.un.org/goalshttps://www.marketingsociety.com/the-clubroom/rethinking-role-plastic-and-marketinghttps://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/05/origins-anti-litter-campaigns/https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/blog/2017/10/26/a-beautiful-if-evil-strategyhttps://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-top-10-most-dangerous-ads/http://www.technomarketinginc.com/marketing-budgets-cut/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/vintage-ads-plastic_n_5cdb1768e4b01e9bd3540ffa
The Ad Council gets their moonshot moment
The Ad Council has a 78 year history of partnering with the best advertising minds in the country to create marketing for complex social issues. They have already been working on what some think will be their biggest one yet, their "moonshot moment."
They have launched a series of national PSAs and multi-channel content to provide critical and urgent messages to the American public. The campaign site features a Coronavirus Response Toolkit with access to materials to support and help spread the word about three key issues: Mask Up, Mental Health, and Social Distancing.Like campaigns in the past that enlisted the help of celebrities like Elvis Presley to spread the message about the safety of getting the Polio vaccine, they have enlisted the help of contemporary celebrities and influencers to launch on a variety of digital platforms like the twitter campaign seen below.https://twitter.com/AdCouncil/status/1320791468353691655?s=20 They are also well aware of the Black men and women who are being disproportionately affected by the pandemic who are three times more likely to contract the virus, and five times more likely to land in the hospital. They have launched a campaign called "The Power of Us" to specifically illustrate COVID-19 safety guideline to Black Americans.In January, they will be launching a $50 Million campaign to educate the public on the new vaccine, the largest public initiative in its history. They have the help of infectious disease and public health experts from John Hopkins University, Duke University and more.They have a tough challenge ahead of them with a survey done by COVID Collaborative indicating that only one-third of Americans plan to get vaccinated. The Ad Council's goal is to reverse this trend with unified and consistent messaging. In a world with a multitude of media platforms and channels, it will indeed be their moonshot moment.Sources:https://www.adcouncil.org/campaign/coronavirus-preventionhttps://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/a34937387/ad-council-coronavirus-vaccine-campaign/https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/12/04/943151549/and-now-for-an-important-message-convincing-you-to-get-the-coronavirus-vaccinehttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/business/media/ad-council-covid-vaccine-skeptics.html
Battling Racism with Art and Design
The battle against racism needs to be fought on all fronts. Whether they marching, or making art that engages us emotionally and intellectually, artists and designers are doing their part.Take a look at visual artist Micheline Hess' visceral and powerful views of racism:https://www.instagram.com/tv/CA1W2MbhkDM/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheethttps://www.instagram.com/p/CA_eSQHD32p/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_linkIllustrator Marven Laguerre is making images to inspire us:https://www.instagram.com/p/CA5u37DjD-k/?igshid=1905w7xitfiu3https://www.instagram.com/p/CBHZWJKDTM3/?igshid=y31955yc6vp5The fences blocking the White House have been covered in protest art:
Information and data are indisputable in this infographic:
What have you seen that is helping to fight the battle?
How designers are dealing with COVID-19
We are living in extraordinary times. We are not doctors or essential staff. Many of us already work at home and are used to working alone. But like the rest of the world, none of us are used to the unprecedented events unfolding around us. We will continue to do what we are trained to do, help spread the message through visual communication.At the front line, graphic designers working for the CDC have created a package of graphics and images for download and distribution in English, Spanish and Chinese.Design educators are sharing information, ideas, and resources for moving to online teaching.Illustrators and cartoonists on "The Nib" are spreading the word through humor and political parody as is designer Jure Tovrljan who reimagined iconic logos to bring attention to the situation.Sometimes designers get it wrong though, as author, educator, and design critic Steven Heller points out in his article, "The Worst Magazine Cover at the Worst Moment." Heller calls out New York Magazine for triggering and enabling panic, instead of helping to stop it.Designers don't have a lot of power, but remember to use the power you do have wisely, and be well.
Big Data—Big Responsibility
A recent article by FastCompany has declared that it's official, data visualization has gone mainstream.While data visualizations have been created by graphic designers for years, 2019 included fashion wear from information designer Giorgia Lupi, who created a super popular, data-driven fashion collection for Other Stories, a co-lab that turns data visualizations into wearable stories. The clothing line is so popular that many of the items have sold out. The designs reveal the amazing achievements of three trailblazing female scientists. The collection is an excellent example of how Lupi strives to find the human element in data-driven narratives.The article by FastCompany discusses other moments in 2019, including Donald Trump's use of a data visualization as well as the introduction of reflective data visualization with Michelle Rial's book, Am I Overthinking It?It's important to remember that while discussions and investigations into data bias are not new, a plethora of information that is being represented with them serves as a call to action to be mindful of the blank spots. A recent article by Meg Miller for Eye on Design, focuses on the work of artist Mimi Onuoha, "The Library of Missing Datasets." Onuoha's project is a mixed-media installation that shows how big the blank spots are from data that has been left out. File cabinets that feature empty file folders with titles like "Publicly available gun trace data" and "Accurate Birth Registration" point to how much misinformation we are likely being served. Onuoha says, "Spots that we've left blank reveal our hidden social biases and indifferences."The article features many other examples that speak to the problem of not just data bias, but the danger of data blank spots; about power, who has it and who does not.As we move forward in world filled with data visualizations, it's important for designers to be informed and aware of all the implications of the data they are using.https://www.fastcompany.com/90450827/its-official-data-visualization-has-gone-mainstreamhttps://eyeondesign.aiga.org/finding-the-blank-spots-in-big-data/
How to Be Good
The notion of being a "good" designer has always been fraught with contradictions. Does it mean good technical skills, good concepts, good return on investment for clients, good intentions, or good design for the greater good? All are valid questions—in fact, history shows us that award-winning design may be both technically "good" while even advancing the most evil of causes.This past year the opening of "Design of the Third Reich" in the Netherlands caused quite a controversy. Proponents of the exhibit point to the academic world of design, where the art and design of totalitarian regimes is an established field of research. Critics find it's very nature offensive and have protested outside the museum since it opened, voicing concerns that it lacks proper social context and may fuel the fires of far-right ideologies.Perhaps the most current and critical area of ethical issues in design is in the area of product design and UX/UI. Mike Monteiro's article, "Dear Designer: Hope is Not Enough," leads with an anonymous quote from a Facebook employee where they state, "We’ve been behaving so badly that I hope the government comes in and regulates us."Monteiro’s article does offer hope when he talks about the 22,000 Google employees who staged a walkout in protest of their company's work with the government, and the Microsoft workers who protested against their company’s contract with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). However, when he discusses the unprecedented amount of data harvested from Google's 2.5 billion users and discusses the ethical responsibilities of designers who work there, he points to the elephant in the room and one of the biggest ethical dilemmas that today’s designers deal with—how to responsibly and ethically use this data in a manner that benefits users without compromising their privacy or society's well-being.Designers seeking to do good have always struggled with questions about who their client is and the products that they are promoting. The complicated world of data collection and product design has only added to the Pandora's box: as always, may those who open it beware.Sources:https://news.artnet.com/opinion/timo-de-rijk-nazi-design-1652641https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/17/arts/design/nazi-design-den-bosch.htmlhttps://modus.medium.com/dear-designer-hope-is-not-enough-70509b196a46
Political Propaganda in the Age of Instagram
The use of social media in political campaigns is not new: the 2008 election was hailed as transformative in its use when Barack Obama became the first presidential candidate to successfully use social media platforms to communicate with voters. Since then social media has been considered an essential part of the political machine. So to see China using it so effectively in celebrating 70 years of communist rule last week was not a surprise. Social media is transformative, changing narratives in a way that political speeches could never do. As one person interviewed for a NY Times article says, “When I was growing up, it was considered uncool to be overtly patriotic and take photos with the national flag,” one person in China wrote of the outpouring of love among young people for their country. “Not anymore.”While Instagram is not allowed in China and the use of social media is highly censored, people there have no problem creating a similar experience using WeChat. In fact, so many people rushed to add the national flag logo to their WeChat profile, that they crashed the webpage. From enlisting superstars like Faye Wong to sing an updated and polished national anthem, to enlisting propaganda symbols of old like Lei Feng, the government has effectively created potent symbols for the internet age and in that way, a strong and censored propaganda machine where users have the illusion that they are in control.As the U.S. Democratic candidates tour the country in their efforts to gain supporters, the use of social media is no less intense. Liz Warren's fans are known to wait for hours to get a selfie with her and although the idea of snapping selfies with a candidate is not new, Warren's team has made it a centerpiece of their digital strategy. Selfies that are snapped with the American flag as a backdrop are meant to be shared online by her fans, and then retweeted by her own staff. And similar to China's changing narrative in what is cool, Warren's approach is intentionally aimed at getting voters to show their pride in supporting her.In the the twentieth century, poster design stands out as one of the primary vehicles for spreading political propaganda. In 2012, the Library of Congress released, Presidential Campaign Posters: Two Hundred Years of Election Art. The book shows political campaign posters from Andrew Jackson through Barack Obama and includes historical commentary. In 2017 Communist Posters was released and is considered the first major survey across the history and diversity of communist poster art. Countless other examples can be found.As social media and its importance becomes even more apparent in driving political campaigns, one can't help but wonder if the legacy of 21st century political propaganda will be the selfie.Sources:https://www.nytimes.com/2019/1
Ethics at the Core of Practice
Designer’s ethical conversations should include a deep self-reflective process related to the decisions they are making, who they are designing for, why, and the social and environmental impact behind the artifacts they are creating.—Juanita Londono
SCAD grad and fellow alum, Juanita Londono, recently completed her thesis as a quest to explore ways in which the practice of design can be redeemed by pushing for a more ethical practice.During her research process, Londono collected data from designers as well as other disciplines, including artists, engineers, and business administrators, about what areas of ethics they thought were most important. Participants were invited to interact with this reflective process by choosing topics and creating bracelets. Londono then took their choices and visualized the data in poster format as well as translucent pieces of artwork. Viewers walked through these data creations for an immersive and interactive experience. The presentation brought to life the myriad of topics that designers are faced with, as well as summarized what issues are most important to them.As part of her research, Londono looked long-standing tenets of a designer's education like the Bauhaus, the premiere school of design during the 20th century that has long been held as the gold standard. She also looked at The Doughnut Economics model proposed by Kate Raworth. The Doughnut provided her with an idea of the complex problems and needs of society that require designers' attention.Londono discusses how much design practice has changed since the Bauhaus and the need for Design Thinking to be the new standard, one which challenges assumptions and revolves around understanding the people for whom designers are designing. She proposes that ethics be the core of a designer's practice, rather than the end result that has been standard practice, and at the core of the Bauhaus model.
Londono's thesis discusses current research that has been done about the need for ethics in design. She also discusses the many ways ethics can be infused in design education, including the need to experience them in the field and away from academia and presents several case studies that can be used as models.Her findings led her to believe that an ethical baseline should be at the core of a designer's education. Introducing ethics to designers early in their education and keeping it front and center, is the best way to prepare them to address the complex problems society faces.Londono's project continues and she wants to continue to share the process of creating bracelets and collecting the results. If you'd to participate, please email her for a digital guide with instructions to create your own bracelets.Learn more about her project here: https://jlondi.com/ethics-in-design
AI and Creativity—Is It Ethical; Will It Kill Creativity?
By Guest Author, Frank J. Martinez The use of Artificial Intelligence tools such as machine learning and predictive analytics will eventually become a part of the design process, it is inevitable. At first, AI will find its way into the decision-making process forming the design brief, because decision makers always seek a competitive advantage and a principal risk reduction strategy in business processes is the reduction of uncertainty. These decision makers will falsely believe that AI will grant a competitive advantage, a short cut to consumer acceptance and profit without investing research and testing. Why focus group or explore alternative designs, when the marketplace has spoken?The danger and promise of using AI in design decision-making is that AI will bake in the biases that currently exist in design practice, theory and design education. How? The processes underlying AI will rely on the use of data collections called data sets that will be made up of existing images of works of design and, when complete, may also contain consumer purchase patterns. The result will be the “baking in” of the biases of the choices made when creating the data sets. This means that the decisions with respect to style, wealth, race, gender, sexuality and cultural identities will be incorporated in the AI decision-making process. Contrary to common belief, an AI computer can only work with the knowledge we give it and if AI is used in any design decision-making process, and it will be, such bias will form a silent but influential part of the design brief.Without a basic understanding of the processes underlying AI methods and how those processes generate a result, we can expect design decision makers will rely on a diet of culturally blind and biased design choices. This information will shape and guide the design brief, robbing it of the ineffable humanity that underlies good design. The role of the designer and design decision maker educated in the basics of AI is to be able to recognize when AI’s pernicious effects exist and to communicate the danger of overreliance on AI in the creative process. These design leaders will guide decision makers in understanding how the human-creative element in design can only be simulated by an algorithm, it can never be replaced.In a design context, a product manager may be tempted to use artificial intelligence to ask, what are the characteristics of a successful personal care product or packaging for a food product? An algorithm trained (machine learning) using existing data sets might have the “intelligence” to suggest the optimal package configuration for a product, design color way and type fonts and a retail price point in answer to the question. Furthermore, using data sets related to past purchasing patterns, buyer geodata and credit card use histories and other population data, the algorithm may even be able to suggest the optimal launch dates for such a product and provide consumer profiles and contacts based upon purchasing histories for such goods from Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Google searches. Nowhere in that product development workflow description do the words design or designer occur.A product or brand manager could, in theory, develop a design brief that is almost entirely devoid of an inquiry about good design and how design communicates a product’s benefits or features or the relationship of the consumer to the product. If the data set is good and the algorithm is properly trained, the artificial intelligence engine will deliver an answer that will be accurate based upon the data it examines. However, that answer will also incorporate the limitations of the data sets and any biases that were incorporated into it. What AI cannot deliver is a new design conceptualization based upon evolving trends flowing from consumer awareness, consumer behavior, buyer weariness or cultural changes. AI cannot incorporate design sensitivity to race, cultural, and gender concerns, if it is not present in the data sets. AI cannot do this because these trends, or more accurately information derived from these trends and concerns, are not, at this time, present in existing data sets.In addition to blindness as to race, culture, economic and gender issues another significant question is whether the growing use of AI reduce the decision-making power of the designer. Will the design brief devolve into mere instructions to create design based upon a narrow set of limitations, such as requirements to use defined colors, fonts and layouts? The corollary danger is that AI may reduce the designer’s ability to influence the growth of design or exploration in design. Stated simply, will AI reduce the chance for bravery in design? These are the principal challenges of the use of AI in design, in order to meet the challenge, a designer should acquire some understanding of AI.
How Does Artificial Intelligence Work and How will it Work in Design?
Artificial intelligence is the process of using mathematics to determine a best answer to a question. Such answers are reached by reviewing features and attributes that exist in a collection of information, generally called data. Stated with increased complexity, artificial intelligence is the process of using a mathematical algorithm to find the best answer to a question based upon (a) finding those features and attributes in a data set which (b) correlate to the question in a relevant manner.Artificial intelligence’s power is derived using complex mathematical analysis (algorithm) of information converted to numerical data and by this method, teaches itself to find the best answer to a question asked by the user. Using this process, a computer, will learn how to find the best answer by repeatedly applying the algorithm to the data set. More importantly, the machine may have learned, by automatically refining the algorithm, how to apply that process to answer a question and more astonishingly, unrelated questions, with startling accuracy. On occasion, the ability of these algorithmic explorations seems to border on prescience. The important terms here are question and features. A question, is query posed by the user such as, what type of person will find me attractive based on my personality characteristics or how likely is a consumer to buy product X based upon its packages design features and/or their purchase of product Y? Stated another way, artificial intelligence is merely the seeking of an answer (or best answer) to a question using an analysis of relevant features in the data set to find the best answer. A feature in data is a character or element of the information in the data which is used as a guide to measure the “relatedness” of information in the data to the answer. Currently, design data sets are quite small and primarily limited to search libraries such as the Minst fashion data set, Imagenet (14 million images) and a painting image data set on Reddit. The Wikipedia listing for available machine learning data sets contains listings of images, sounds, twitter entries, handwriting, news, speech, and music, among others. The website Kaggle, has a data set devoted solely to the classification of artwork. Eventually, someone will create data sets devoted solely to works of design with subsets devoted to various design disciplines. In the next few years, the number and types of data sets devoted to art and design will grow and with them the temptation to use them in design decision-making. At this time AI technologies are not yet able to create works of art and design that pass the Turing test, but one day they will. Designers need to understand that AI tools will become more commonplace and their use will find their way into design decision-making. The challenge and goal for designers is to understand the basic principles of AI and to use that knowledge to help their client understand the difference between design by formula, imitations of another’s work, and genuine design that shows the thoughtful analysis of a client’s needs, their customers and the best design solution that serves all those parties.Frank J. Martinez is a former artist, designer and Patent Examiner. Frank earned a BFA from Pratt Institute and was the Production Director at Landor Associates in New York prior to attending law school. After serving as a Design Patent Examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and an associate at several law firms, Frank founded The Martinez Group PLLC in 2008. Frank is admitted to practice law before the courts of the State of New York and the Federal District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York as well as the Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas (Austin).Frank is also an Adjunct Professor at The School of Visual Art where he teaches Intellectual Property Law in the MFA Designer as Author and Entrepreneur Program. Frank is also a Mentor in the SVA GroundFloor Incubator Project where he counsels Incubator participants in IP Law. Frank earned an MBA in 2017 and studied advanced management at Harvard Business School’s HBX Program and is a member of the Board of the College Art Association Committee on Intellectual Property. For the past 2 years, He has studied Python Programming, AI and Machine learning at Code Academy and Coursera.
Social Media Ethics—Opening Pandora's Box
Back in the day when I was first out of school and looking for a job, an entry level graphic designer could usually find work if they could put together pamphlets, flyers, direct mail packages, and other sales and marketing materials. Today, there's a long list of other skills piled on top.Graphic designers looking for work these days will not only bring added value, but may land the job based on their ability to write and distribute marketing copy for social media, track social media statistics, and develop social media strategies. And yes, they should also know Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, some coding and animation skills to put together a strong layout that will engage audiences.But what about the ethics involved in Social Media? Creating original content is the front facing side of things. Issues like respecting copyright and authorship is the easy part. On the other side, questions about who they are doing business with and issues of privacy and censorship run rampant. Facebook recently celebrated 15 years and their Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, admitted, “We did not anticipate all of the risks from connecting so many people."Then there are the studies that show that designing for apps is akin to designing for slot machines—aimed specifically for addiction. Graphic designers who end up in UX/UI and product design must wrestle with their conscience, much like those who created advertising for tobacco once did.Let's not forget about censorship and surveillance. As graphic designers navigate the world of social media in posting and creating content, they must also keep in mind they are working in a fishbowl with every engagement. In doing so, they should be mindful of not only content, but also context and how their own identity is being perceived. As they create digital footprints for their clients, what are they creating for themselves?The social media landscape is indeed a Pandora's box for anyone who engages—graphic designers, especially those just starting out, need to be especially aware of its implications while building their careers.Sources:https://www.futuristgerd.com/2019/02/is-facebook-unethical-by-design-a-case-study-on-digital-ethics-power-responsibility-and-regulation/https://www.fastcompany.com/3046149/applying-the-addictive-psychology-of-slot-machines-to-app-designhttps://www.thenation.com/article/jeffery-lane-digital-street-book-review/
Inclusivity in Graphic Design
Inclusivity means "an intention or policy of including people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who are handicapped or learning-disabled, or racial and sexual minorities." Graphic designers intersect with this in a number of ways, including creating symbols that foster inclusivityIn Elizabeth Guffy's recent article for the NY Times, "A Symbol for 'Nobody' That's Really for Everybody," she writes about the power of graphic symbols in helping people feel safe and included. Guffy candidly shares her personal experience and how a simple infographic takes on much more meaning then merely guiding people to park, it allows millions to fully participate.Guffy was inspired to write about the symbol, originally conceived by Danish designer Susanne Koefoed in 1968, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. Koefoed designed the symbol in a competition sponsored by the United Nations and the International Standards Organization. It wasn't widely used until 1990, when George W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and made it official. It is now found on road signs, parking signs, and official documents in all 50 states.Since its conception, the symbol has evolved through efforts like the "Accessible Icon Project" in order to create an icon that features a more dynamic figure and shows individuals with physical disabilities in a new light. The newer symbol has been legally accepted in New York and Connecticut as a replacement for the original icon.Look for the symbols in your neighborhood, are they present, have they been updated? And think about ways you can influence inclusivity.Sources:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/25/opinion/a-symbol-for-nobody-thats-really-for-everybody.htmlhttps://www.aiga.org/inclusive-accessible-icon-project-icon-wheelchairhttp://accessibleicon.org/
Dark Patterns on the Road to Hell
When Milton Glaser wrote "12 Steps on the Graphic Designer's Road to Hell" it was pre-internet. I think it's safe to say designing dark patterns would certainly be worthy of a place on the list.Dark patterns are hidden design elements that are added to websites and apps to make you buy or sign up for things. Not unlike designing a package to look bigger on a shelf or a promotion for a product you know does not work.They can be implemented in a variety of ways:
- Bait and Switch
- Confirmshaming
- Disguised Ads
- Forced Continuity
- Friend Spam
- Hidden Costs
- Misdirection
- Privacy Zuckering
- Roach Motel
- Sneak into Basket
- Trick Questions
In his book, Evil by Design, author Chris Nodder compares dark patterns to the 7 deadly sins and organizes the content as such, ie. Envy: Create a culture of status around your product and feed aspirational desires.As consumers, we probably recognize many of these tricks. As graphic designers, how often have we helped create them? There is a fine line between influencing user behavior and tricking people. As a graphic designer its important to understand the difference. It's also important in a practical sense as Google may penalize websites with "intrusive interstitials" and subsequently your client's search engine optimization rating.In a recent article about avoiding dark patters on the web published by SpeckyBoy, author Stephen Moyers asks designers to avoid dark patterns at all costs. If you think something is unethical and falls into a dark pattern category, take a different route.https://darkpatterns.org/https://evilbydesign.info/https://speckyboy.com/ethics-ui-design-avoiding-dark-patterns/https://medium.com/adventures-in-ux-design/dark-patterns-and-the-ethics-of-design-31853436176b
Who's to Blame? Human or Machine?
In an article featured in The Guardian a few years ago, author Tom Chatfield states "Meaningful collaboration between people and machines must not subvert human creativity, feeling, and questioning over speed, profit, and efficiency. This sentiment has been echoed over the past several years and is getting even louder.Google has made blunders before, for instance when they released a new photo app in 2015 which resulted in automatic tagging of black people as gorillas. Google was quick to blame the problem on computer algorithms and quickly removed the "gorilla" category.The most recent controversy has been about an app that was released in 2016 and matches selfies to works or art. Once again Google's app is having a hard time with how it interacts with images of people of color. Much of the conversation has focused on choice of museums and organizations that Google has chosen to partner with and the collections that they have, or rather what's lacking in their collection.Others, like Joy Buolamwini, a Researcher at MIT Media Lab and founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, feel that the heart of the problem lies in the teams of mostly white engineers who create facial recognition algorithms based on their own experiences.Neither of these arguments speaks to what some feel is the heart of the problem, the intertwining of human and machine relationships, and how we as humans view our roles with these machines. In an article for The Guardian, author Tom Chapman writes, "We think of ourselves as individual, rational minds, and describe our relationships with technology on this basis." But we do not have as much individual freedom and autonomy as we think we have, we are interdependent, relying on our devices much more than we would like to admit.The same logic that Google's algorithms use are at work in all aspects of our lives, cars that drive themselves—medical procedures that don't require a physician. The problem is that technology is Darwinian and data and performance drive where our culture is headed.Argodesign's Mark Rolston recently wrote an article for Co.Design that points designers to doctors for a model on adopting an ethical code. While I agree that ethics are called for, I don't know if a model has been created yet for any profession that deals with the issues ahead of us.ProPublica is one organization that is actively working to change things as Katharine Schwab reports for Co.Design. Led by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Julia Angwin. Dedicated to investigating algorithms that impact people's lives, they've ended up building their own algorithms in order to hold big tech companies accountable.Google's Art and Culture App may not seem very serious today, especially to those who don't bother with such silly things on social media sites. However, it may very well be foreshadowing a future where algorithms and data control our world more than we do.Sources:http://digg.com/2018/google-arts-culture-racist-facehttps://www.fastcodesign.com/90159804/what-designers-could-learn-from-lawyers-doctors-and-priestshttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/20/humans-machines-technology-digital-agehttp://bgr.com/2018/01/17/google-art-selfie-viral-app-privacy-racism/https://www.bustle.com/p/googles-arts-culture-app-is-being-called-racist-but-the-problem-goes-beyond-the-actual-app-7929384https://www.fastcodesign.com/90160486/how-propublica-became-big-techs-scariest-watchdog?utm_source=postup&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Co.Design%20Daily&position=1&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=02162018
Designing in the Age of Anxiety
Milton Glaser and Mirko Ilic have recently reissued their book The Design of Dissent.In a recent interview with Fast Company's Creative Director, Florian Bacheda, they discuss how the anxiety and disorder of our time is changing design.The release of the book in 2005, which showcased socially and politically driven graphics from around the world, was pre-Arab Spring, the election of Donald Trump, and a plethora of other conflicts and events around the globe that have polarized our world even more.Many points about globalization are raised in the interview including the ubiquitous nature of design. Milton Glaser points out that because of social media, and certainly Google image search, some visual icons (ie. smiley face and the Guy Fawkes mask) appear everywhere.An interesting question is raised by Florian Bacheda when he asks the authors about an interview with design author Steven Heller who wrote, "Changing an established order is the goal of dissent." Bacheda asks that if established orders are typically governments and powerful industry special interests, will companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook become the new dominant order and will we see dissent against companies like these? We are already seeing push back from designers in the tech industry with movements like "The Copenhagen Letter." The effort asks tech designers to take responsibility for the world and put humans before business. They've gathered 3577 signatures to date.The interview goes on to discuss the influence of social media, the introduction of new forms of media such as video, as well as showcase some excellent examples of posters designed for dissent over the past decade.It's also a disturbing trip through recent history and does a good job of encapsulating why and how we live in an age of anxiety. One can't help but see the link to a recent article in the NY Times about why American teenagers are suffering from severe anxiety now more than ever. We are not only designing in the age of anxiety, we live there too.Sources:https://www.fastcodesign.com/90146795/how-the-anxiety-and-disorder-of-our-time-is-changing-designhttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/magazine/why-are-more-american-teenagers-than-ever-suffering-from-severe-anxiety.htmlhttps://copenhagenletter.org/
Graphic Design: Taking Lives or Saving Them?
It's not a surprise to most of us that Graphic Design has been credited with taking lives.Revisiting the rise of Joe Camel in the US during the 1980s before the campaign was banned offers a quick refresher. By the time it was stopped in 1997 Camel had 32 percent of the teen cigarette market, and more than 90 percent of six-year-olds could recognize Joe (more than knew Mickey Mouse).One needs to look no further than advertising for alcohol and its prevalence in major events like the Superbowl to find more examples of the strong influence graphic design has. Research shows that in addition to parents and peers, alcohol advertising and marketing have a significant impact on whether or not youths decide to drink. Research also shows that alcohol advertising and marketing influence expectations and attitudes and creates an environment that promotes underage drinking.A new exhibit at the Wellcome Collection in London takes a balanced approach. The exhibit features a collection of over 200 objects created by graphic designers that explore the role of graphic design in creating healthcare messages that inform, persuade, and empower people. Curators Lucienne Roberts and Rebecca Wright have included everything from 16th-century anatomical pop-up books, 21st century apps, to comic books advocating safe sex.The Guardian's recent review of the exhibit talks about how the section on smoking skillfully pairs examples of seductive attempts at selling tobacco with clever efforts to get people to kick the habit. The review features many examples of the exhibit, as does the exhibit's Image Gallery and Steven Heller's recent Print Magazine article, "Graphic Design is Healthy."If you are like me and can't get to London before it closes, be sure to view it online.Sources:https://wellcomecollection.org/graphicdesignhttp://www.printmag.com/weekend-heller/weekend-heller-graphic-design-healthy/?utm_content=buffera9f8f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=bufferhttps://amp.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/sep/07/can-graphic-design-save-your-life-review-wellcome-collection-london
Online Engagement (aka Designing a Slot Machine)
Making an impact online is all about engagement. According to Kara Swisher of "Recode Decode," it's often assumed that making an impact is positive. In an interview with Tristan Harris, Swisher says that in her experience, many of those involved in designing online engagement don't give much thought to what type of impact they are making.Tristan Harris left his job as a Design Ethicist at Google to lead Time Well Spent, a non-profit movement with the mission of "reclaiming our minds from the race for attention. Their goal is to look at how business models, user habits, and design can be changed to measure success by how much engagement benefits people's lives, rather than just how much engagement is generated. The question for all involved in creating online engagement should be, "How do you ethically shape the thoughts and actions that will appear in a billion people's minds today?"Harris talks about how the experience of checking our phone is akin to playing a slot machine. The randomness and timing of what appears in our social media and news feed are deliberate to keep us hooked—just like those who are hooked on playing the slots. Research about addiction to gambling focuses on the psychological, biological, and morality of gambling addicts—but some studies have shown that the real problem may be the slot machines themselves. Contrary to what we may think about the allure of the thrill and risk associated with gambling, slot machines provide people with a false sense of safety and security. According to Harris, our experience with our apps is not much different—giving us a false sense of safety and security while presenting us with a multitude of opportunities to squander both time and money.Graphic designers bear much of the responsibility for the design of our online experiences, and subsequently, also the consequences. We need to look at all the implications of our designs, and in the process, aim to answer some of Harris' questions:
- How do we make sure designers use the wisest moral operating system when making choices on our behalf?
- How do they distinguish between what’s good for business and what’s good for society – or even navigate these situations clearly?
- How do we align their design goals with our goals for how we want to live life?
- How do they catch and minimize unintended negative social and behavioral externalities?
- How do we hold designers accountable for their influence over people’s choices?
Sources:http://www.tristanharris.com/the-need-for-a-new-design-ethics/http://www.timewellspent.io/https://www.recode.net/2017/2/7/14542504/recode-decode-transcript-time-well-spent-founder-tristan-harrishttps://newrepublic.com/article/115838/gambling-addiction-why-are-slot-machines-so-addictivehttp://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/Slot-Machine-Win-Game-Play-Casino-Gambling-602976