The Controversial Kamala Cover

The February Vogue covers of Vice President Kamala Harris have stirred up a heated debate on social media. While many debate which cover is more appropriate, the issue also raises the question of, "what is the responsibility of a publication to their subject?"Both covers were shot with the collaboration of Vice President-elect Harris, who chose and wore her own clothes, however, the Vice President's team has said they felt blindsided; the cover on the left in the blue suit is the one that they mutually agreed upon. Contractually, Vogue had the final choice. Harris' team feels they acted in bad faith.Vogue has said their choice speaks to the approachable nature of the Biden-Harris team and that the more informal image represents this. Editor-in-chief Anna Wintour has defended the choice and has gone on the record saying that their intention was not to diminish the importance of Harris' victory. Vogue responded to the controversy by releasing the more formal image as the digital cover.Critics feel the print cover image is disrespectful and does not represent her game-changing position, as the first female vice president, the first Black female vice president and the first female vice president of South Asian descent. Vogue has also been accused of lightening her skin tone.While Vogue makes a point with their argument and legally it looks like they are covered, the question remains, did they act responsibly toward their subject? They were given an opportunity to convey the essence of this pivotal moment in history, perhaps they should have done so with no explanation needed.Sources:https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/style/kamala-harris-vogue.html?auth=login-email&login=emailhttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/opinion/sway-kara-swisher-anna-wintour.htmlhttps://www.today.com/style/anna-wintour-speaks-out-kamala-harris-vogue-cover-t205582https://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-us-vice-president-elect-social-media-outraged-over-lightening-of-kamala-harris-skin-tone-on-magazine-cover-2867608

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 

Photoshop: In the Name of the Law

For years there have been debates about truth in advertising and whether or not images that have been digitally altered should be labeled as such. Proponents say that digitally altered images used in beauty ads are harmful to consumers, that these ads are misleading, manipulative, and contribute to negative body images. The documentary “Killing Us Softly” by Jean Kilbourne reveals the misogynistic fantasy world of the undernourished, oversexed, and objectified women. Kilbourne makes an excellent case for how difficult it is to be healthy in a toxic cultural environment when the ideal is impossible to achieve.Opponents of labeling claim that this would require warnings on a multitude of advertising materials. For example, the roads used in car advertising are never as serene as they appear. If labeling is required for all digitally altered images, it would extend across a wide range of graphic imagery and require costly and time-consuming measures to enforce it.A recent New York Times article about an altered image used for a lineup highlights the argument taking place in another arena—not just the world of advertising, but in our justice system. Court records and interviews with police departments across the nation show that this has become a regular practice. Some criminal justice experts say that the practice can actually make lineups fairer by adding features to make it harder to distinguish the perpetrator from other suspects.Mat dos Santos, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, thinks otherwise and states, “If you can’t do a good photo lineup, the answer is not to change the photos; the answer is a photo lineup just shouldn’t be done.”What do you think, have we reached a tipping point? Do we need laws in place when law enforcement is using Photoshop to alter evidence?Sources:https://www.pixelz.com/blog/photoshop-models-laws/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/24/us/police-photoshop-tattoos.html?smid=nytcore-ios-sharehttps://uclawreview.org/2017/06/21/truth-in-advertising-should-america-ban-photoshop/

Imagine a world without logos

Logorama from Marc Altshuler on Vimeo.The award-winning animated short, Logorama, does a wonderful job of showing how pervasive branding is in our lives in a clever and satirical parody.The art of crafting logos and creating brand identities has long been a mainstay of graphic design. Schooled in creating icons, it's hard to find an advertising or design company that doesn't have a dedicated section in their online portfolio for branding.In 1999 Naomi Klein wrote the bestselling book, "No Logo," where she reported on the dangers of global branding and how while our minds were elsewhere, superbrands ramped up their cannibalization of every aspect of our cultural lives. Klein critiqued the political power of superbrands.Twenty years later, branding is bigger than ever. People are encouraged to create their own personal brands. There are courses offered in it. High school counselors, job coaches, and other well meaning folks all stress how important this is.On the other hand, people are told personal branding is meaningless in an article by Fast Company aimed at Generation X. The article encourages them to seek out their professional ethos rather than their brand.Brands have become even bigger than Klein had predicted, with bespoke design soaring as a discipline, and entire branding companies describing themselves as bespoke brand specialists. Music festivals, charity events, product placement, social media, sports teams, and more are co-opted by logos of the brands they represent as companies strive for "brand engagement."Whether it is embracing our brand, rejecting our brand, or seeking to create a bespoke brand—the common denominator throughout is indeed branding. There's no question that creating the symbols for them—logos—is bigger than ever.Can you even imagine a world without logos?Sources:https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/aug/11/no-logo-naomi-klein-20-years-on-interviewhttps://www.fastcompany.com/90385831/you-are-not-a-brand?partner=rss

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 LondonoSCAD 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

How important is Ballot Design?

How important is Ballot Design? Maybe more important than you think.The Broward County election results are being questioned and a state-mandated recount is underway. 24,000 residents voted for Florida governor, but not for a U.S. Senator—a highly debated contest and the first one on the ballot. The pattern is unusual, and found only in Broward County, and many feel poor ballot design is at the heart of the problem.The ballot design doesn't follow best practices for design and violates guidelines outlined in a 2007 report by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The Senate race was placed in the bottom left-hand corner, below vertical  instructions, making it very confusing.The recount will see markings that weren't picked up by machines, however it can't recover votes that weren't placed because they were overlooked.This isn't the first time a Florida ballot design is at the forefront election results. In 2000, the butterfly ballot in Palm Beach County has been blamed for George Bush's victory over Al Gore.With these ballot blunders, it's pretty obvious that universal design standards that also meet accessibility standards are being called for. The Center for Civic Design is offering advice to make sure poor design does not get in the way of democracy.Sources:https://www.fastcompany.com/90265447/terrible-ballot-design-may-have-decided-floridas-senate-racehttps://eyeondesign.aiga.org/the-high-stakes-of-voter-ballot-design/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-election-broward-unusual-total-20181108-story.htmlhttp://www.mit.edu/~jtidwell/ballot_design.html

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

Civil Rights vs. the Right of Refusal

As the supreme court decides the case against a Colorado baker and his right to refuse a gay couple's request for a wedding cake, parallels to the graphic design profession are easily drawn. Last week I posed the question to my graphic design class and asked them to imagine that the case was not about a cake, but about a wedding invitation. Like the supreme court, the class was not all on the same page. While some immediately felt it was the responsibility to serve the couple, others felt strongly that the cake designer had rights too, and that his right to refuse should be protected.What followed was a lively discussion about civil rights vs. personal rights and when and where lines can be drawn. Parallels to the civil rights movement were made and how the implications of what allowing one small business in Colorado to do sets the stage for abuses of civil rights on a larger scale for other marginalized groups. As one New York times article asks, "should free speech protections include self expression that discriminates?"The debate brings up morality issues that are core to any service business. Like an attorney, is it a graphic designers' responsibility to represent their client without being influenced by their own personal beliefs, including non-secular issues that are at odds with laws that are in place to protect our civil rights?Sources:https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/learning/should-free-speech-protections-include-self-expression-that-discriminates.htmlhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/12/05/wedding-cake-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-highly-anticipated-supreme-court-ruling/?utm_term=.179c4376e606

Rules for School (and to live and work by)

 "Dear Design Student" is an advice blog for designers by designers. A recent post written by Mike Monteiro entitled "A Designer's Code of Ethics" hits hard at the core of design practice and what all students and educators, as well as designers, should be thinking about school is about to go back in session.Designers create a lot of ephemera during their careers. Advertisements, brochures, websites, products, and packages all have a limited shelf life and it's easy to think that what we do doesn't have a lasting effect. One of the easiest ways you can test this is if you lose your files. It has happened to me more than once, and while there is always one thing you will need, most of it you will never touch again. Students may feel the same way once they receive their grades.Monteiro offers a counterpoint to this belief when he says, "by choosing to be a designer you are choosing to impact the people who come in contact with your work, you can either help or hurt them with your actions. The effect of what you put into the fabric of society should always be a key consideration in your work."He goes onto to discuss how important the work we make is and how important it is to NOT abdicate responsibility. We need to think about what we do and where it ends up, and more importantly, who or what it represents. He states, "we need to fear the consequences of our work more than we love the cleverness of our ideas."The idea that a designer is hired for their counsel as well as their labor is extremely important. A good designer strikes a delicate balance of listening, interpreting, and advising—as well as designing. Monteiro asserts that "a designer uses their expertise in the service of others without being a servant and that "asking ourselves why we are making something is an infinitely better question than asking ourselves whether we can make it."Monteiro's article raises other issues like designing for the marginalized, or rather the common practice of not designing for them as well as diversity, competition, and self-reflection.As you get ready to go back to school or simply continue with your design practice, it's well worth the read.Source:https://deardesignstudent.com/a-designers-code-of-ethics-f4a88aca9e95

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

Presenting the Underrepresented

As Black History Month draws to a close, it's a great time to take a look at the website put together by Tim Hykes, a St. Louis based designer. The project, 28 Days of Black Designers, spotlights AIGA medalists like Sylvia Harris along with global designers like Rafael Smith whose career has focused on challenges related to poverty.Graphic design has a long history of being white male dominated, clearly lacking diversity in race, 86% of designers are Caucasian. Lack of diversity exists in gender, age, sexual identity, ability/disability, and location as well. In an article by Antoinette Carroll, Diversity & Inclusion in Design: Why Do They Matter?, Carroll discusses the interconnectedness of the world—in all its forms—and how important it is for innovation and subsequently, problem-solving, which is at the core of all design. Carroll's article goes on to state that by 2050 53% of the country will be people of color. It's vital that the design community openly embraces more diverse practitioners and retains them through inclusion.As Black History Month comes to a close, think about your role in presenting the underrepresented in the design world. You can start by celebrating and being inspired by these 28 designers.Sources:http://www.28blacks.com/http://www.aiga.org/profile?uid=209671http://www.aiga.org/diversity-and-inclusion-in-design-why-do-they-matter/https://www.subtraction.com/2017/02/23/28-days-of-black-designers/

Teach our Girls to Code!

Historically, women are woefully under-represented in computing and technology fields. Today, women earn just 18 percent of tech degrees and get 11 percent of tech executive positions. This trend extends into the field of graphic design, where women hold a small percentage of the jobs in the rapidly expanding disciplines of game design, UX, UI, and web design. Research has shown that the industry would likely benefit economically, as well as socially, from an increased female presence. Equal pay for women is still an issue in the U.S. with women typically earning 79% of what men are paid, and around the world earning even less. Tapping into the tech industry would be one area where women could grain ground for equal pay, and create parity within the industry sector.In recent years, there’s been a debate about whether or not graphic designers need to know code. Some argue that it’s not necessary; stating that they simply need to design and then hand their designs off to others for coding. Others contend that employers increasingly expect their designers to have experience with front-end development and coding.In AIGA’s 2016 article “What do graphic designers need to know?” they mention that technique is the most recognizable, yet rapidly changing part of what designers know. In addition to being able to manipulate type, forms, and images for both print and digital media using contemporary software, graphic designers need to know basic programming like HTML, CSS, and Javascript.A quick look at job listings might settle the argument. Take a look at job listings on AIGA’s site or Behance and you’ll find a high number of them do require some coding skills. If you need any more convincing, take at a recent NY Times article about workers turning to coding for a career change; it’s a sellers market; companies cannot hire fast enough with the average base salary for software engineers starting at $100,000.Let’s stop arguing, and in honor of Women’s History Month, instead, let’s start encouraging the women graphic designers we know to learn code.Sources:http://girlswhocode.com/http://www.aiga.org/guide-designersneedknow/http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2015/01/women-and-workhttp://artbistro.monster.com/careers/articles/8794-10-fastest-growing-design-jobshttp://azraelgroup.com/should-designers-code/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/29/technology/code-academy-as-career-game-changer.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipadhttp://time.com/3836977/un-women-wages-and-careers/http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/

White lies—unethical, or an act of kindness?

Visual persuasion is at the heart of a graphic designer’s job. Taking information and ideas and forming them into communication that engages and invokes is what we do. Regardless of whether our client is selling a product or ideology, our quest is to help them do it. Some would argue that we are like lawyers. It is our responsibility to use our skills to get the best possible outcome for them and not let our own personal views influence us.Yet, like lawyers, we also face certain ethical and moral challenges along the way.  The graphic designer’s moral dilemma becomes apparent pretty quickly—in our quest to do “good” design, how many “bad” things do we do? This debate comes up often. Milton Glaser’s essay, “Road to Hell”  is one of the most famous, but it was not the first and won’t be the last.In a recent article for A List Apart, “Design, White Lies & Ethics,” Dan Turner discusses some of the choices Interaction Designers face. He also raises the question of whether or not deliberate miscommunication is sometimes actually an act of “good,” reassuring and helping users along their way.The case study that Turner uses involves a mobile timebanking app. Its goal is to help neighbors share services and build supportive relationships. During the design process the team found that transportation was high on the list of services requested. With that in mind they focused on designing a new feature, TransportShare, which would help connect users and drivers. Early prototypes focused on honesty and the team decided that showing one specific route would not be honest as drivers would likely be running other errands along the way and the route would not be direct. As a result no connecting Start and End points were shown, but initial testing did not show high marks for usability. Once a line that showed Start and End points was included, regardless of whether or not it was accurate, testing showed that users were comforted and usability marks increased. It appeared that in this case the white lie helped the user and increased adoption and satisfaction with the app, “good” design.Turner is asking for feedback and wants to open the conversation. He is asking for a framework that we can use to judge when design decisions are ethical. It’s an excellent question, and one that is at the core of our professional practice.Join the conversation and read the full article here:http://alistapart.com/article/design-white-lies-ethics 

Women! Learn to ask for more

The gender gap in compensation and the lack of women in leadership are issues that all women face. AIGA’s Women’s Leadership Initiative celebrates and fosters women’s achievements in design. As part of their commitment to empowering women designers they have sponsored a series of webcasts on the topic of negotiation.Graphic designers are visual communicators and problem-solvers. Negotiation is a communication discipline—it’s not a battle—just a conversation. Negotiation has roots in improvisation and all improvisation adds information. It’s about bringing information to the conversation in order to problem-solve your way to agreement. Yet despite this fundamental relationship between problem-solving and negotiation, women in design often struggle with negotiation. Many have the opposite experience—they cringe at the prospect. Fears of being thought of as being too bossy, too emotional, or not being taken seriously, hold many women back. As shown above, women are four times less likely to negotiate then men. 20% of women refuse to negotiate at all and women ask for 3-32% less when they do negotiate.In the first webcast, AIGA Women’s Leadership Initiative, that aired last November, Lisa Gates, co-founder of She Negotiates, talks about how women need to understand their natural way of operating, and change the conversation to match their style, not feel the need to match someone else’s style. Women need to add communication and negotiation skills to their toolbox, use them in their own way, and practice every day. Gates talks about assessing your market value and takes us through the steps to find out how. The webcast has been archived and is available for viewing through AIGA’s site.The second webcast which aired in January, Blueprint for Everyday Workplace Negotiation, is also available for viewing.The third, Set and Get Your True Market Value, takes place on March 19, 2015. As you celebrate this month’s Women’s History Month, tune in to learn more—it will be well worth your time.Sources:http://www.aiga.org/webcast-advancing-leadership-negotiation/http://www.aiga.org/womens-leadership/http://www.shenegotiates.com/

Je suis Charlie

“Je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie) has become the mantra for many across the world who are gathering to protest the slaughter of Charlie Hebdo’s editor and cartoonists.Provocation, satire, and commentary are some of the sharpest tools that graphic designers possess. Our ability to pair words and images to create a dialogue—however controversial it may be—is at the core of what we do. Cartoonists across the world are standing up to terrorism by drawing their outrage at this attack on freedom of speech.Others, like Bill Donohue, president of the US Catholic League, have angered many when he issued a statement saying that the Muslims have a right to be angry. Donohue also said the killing should be condemned, but that we should not tolerate the actions that provoked the attack.How about you? Are you willing to say, “Je suis Charlie?”See more, #jesuischarlie, #charliehebdo.Sources:http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/01/07/cartoonists-react-to-charlie-hebdo-massacre-in-paris/?hpid=z2http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/heartbreaking-cartoons-from-artists-in-response-to-the-ch#.qmyrvywBDhttps://twitter.com/jean_jullien/status/552829637215408128/photo/1http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/01/07/after-charlie-hebdo-attack-u-s-catholic-group-says-cartoonists-provoked-slaughter/

Mad men (and women), how do they fare today?

If you haven't seen the poster design for the final season of Mad Men by Milton Glaser yet, I'm sure you will consider it a treat. The poster not only references Glaser's signature Bob Dylan poster, but also loops back to Glaser’s career with Push Pin Studios, one of the biggest New York design firms to serve the advertising world during the real Mad Men era. Glaser was a founding member of Push Pin Studios along with Seymour Chwast, Edward Sorel, and Reynold Ruffins. Together, they helped shape, define, and set the direction of modern visual style.So besides this season’s poster design, how else does this critically acclaimed show—now in its seventh and final season—mirror the world of advertising on Madison Avenue? Some say some things have changed dramatically, while others adhere to the adage, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”Though technology has altered everyone’s lives dramatically, advertisers and the graphic designers that work with them have gained access to tons of data that helps them target, test, and monitor campaigns much more accurately. Designers still scramble to produce comps or prototypes that will win accounts, they just use much more technology to do it and face even tighter deadlines.Many argue that woman have it considerably better today and don’t face the sexism that Joan and Peggy have encountered throughout the show's run. However many others feel there is still a long way to go—including President Obama, who just last week called for equal pay for women. In terms of how woman are portrayed in advertising, an article for Business Insider in 2012 showed how many modern ads are even more sexist than their Mad Men counterparts.The three martini lunch is now (thankfully) gone, but the business of selling products and services by gaining an edge against your competitors is still the name of the game. Graphic designers who work in advertising are still charged with creating work that sells. In that role, they still face the same questions that Milton Glaser asks in the article he wrote in 2002, “The Road to Hell.” Glaser asks designers to examine their own personal ethics and establish their own level of discomfort. He starts off with a question that may seem a bit innocuous, asking designers if they have ever designed a package to look bigger on the shelf. The questions then get progressively more difficult, ending with the question, “have you ever designed an ad for a product whose frequent use might cause the user’s death? Glaser admits that he personally has taken a number of them during his long and illustrious career.Those of us who wait in great anticipation for the next Mad Men episode can’t help but notice parallels between the past and the present, and wonder at how “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”Sources:http://www.fastcocreate.com/3027412/image-of-the-day/milton-glasers-psychedelic-poster-for-final-season-of-mad-menhttp://www.wtop.com/41/3601295/Advertising-after-Mad-Men-How-the-show-compares-to-real-lifehttp://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/obama-reiterates-call-equal-pay-women-23301061http://www.designlessbetter.com/blogless/posts/the-road-to-hellhttp://www.businessinsider.com/these-modern-ads-are-even-more-sexist-than-their-mad-men-era-counterparts-2012-4#this-old-ad-took-the-whole-walking-all-over-women-thing-to-the-next-level-1

Celebrating “The Boss”

This Google doodle for International Women’s Day shows how women around the globe are being celebrated all month long for Women’s History Month. There are also a number of efforts underway to not only celebrate women, but to empower them.In the U.S. the design community is on par statistically with other industry sectors in terms of women in leadership positions. Unfortunately, these numbers are not very high with only 18% of design leadership positions held by women. In her article for Communication Arts, “Designing Women: Mothers of the Earth unite,” DK Holland writes about why women are not well represented in leadership roles in the creative profession. Holland asserts that women are shaped by cultural norms that make them strive for harmony and sublimate their own needs for the greater good. Cheryl Heller, AIGA medalist and founder of the School of Visual Art’s Design for Social Innovation MFA program, says, “Women are good at relationships and seeing the world from perspectives other than their own. These are critical skills, and now we have to figure out how to maintain them while introducing the kind of disruption that leads to a healthier reality.”Equality for women also manifests itself in how women are featured in design history books. The blog Women of Graphic Design is dedicated to exhibiting design work by women in graphic design. It was started by Tori Hinn at the Rhode Island School of Design when it was discovered that despite the fact that 71% of the Graphic Design department were women, only 6% of the designers students were learning about were women. The blog showcases some of the best work in graphic design in the world that has been created by women.See Jane is an organization founded by actress Geena Davis with a mission to change how women are portrayed in the media. Their research shows that in family programming there is only one female character for every three male characters; in group scenes only 17% of characters are female. The Institute is working hard to create gender balance, reduce stereotypes, and create female characters starting with entertainment that targets children 11 and under. Their goal is to become a blueprint for a gender-balanced media landscape. The effort is succinctly summed up with their tagline, “If she can see it, she can be it.”The Representation Project is another effort that uses film and media to expose the injustices created by gender stereotypes. The film Miss Representation pulls back the curtain on how mainstream media contributes to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence.The Ban Bossy campaign founded by Lean In and The Girls Scouts is aimed at changing the perception of women as being bossy. The campaign aims to change the negative connotation of bossy, to one of empowerment, where women are admired and revered for their leadership skills. Beyonce delivers the message perfectly in the newly released PSA for the campaign, where she proudly declares she’s not bossy, she IS “The Boss.”Girl Rising is a global campaign for girls’ education and also the title of the documentary film produced by the organization. Around the world millions of girls are met with barriers to education that boys do not face. The Girl Rising campaign asserts that educated girls are able to stand up for their rights, and subsequently grow up and educate their children, families, and communities. Educated girls will not only transform their own lives, but societies as well.In addition to changing perceptions of women in leadership roles and how they are portrayed in the media, we need to change how they are valued economically. The AAUW report, “The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (2014),” states that in the United States women were paid 77 percent of what men were paid. The gap exists in nearly every occupation, grows with age, and is worse for women of color. The gap persists outside of the U.S. and is worse in some countries. The Times of India reported in 2013 that the pay gap for women ranges from 25% to 44%.What have you see this month that celebrates women? Share it with your both your sons and daughters. Celebrate women—and empower them.Sources:http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/http://www.commarts.com/columns/designing-women-part-one.htmlhttp://www.commarts.com/columns/designing-women-part-two.htmlhttp://film.missrepresentation.org/synopsishttp://girlrising.com/http://www.missrepresentation.org/about-us/resources/leadership/http://seejane.org/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/08/international-womens-day-google-doodle-yousafzaihttp://therepresentationproject.org/about/mission/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Single-or-married-women-get-paid-less-than-men-IIM-survey/articleshow/22240925.cmshttp://womenofgraphicdesign.org/abouthttp://womenshistorymonth.gov/

Searching for the great image

When searching for that great image online it’s easy and tempting to simply right click and copy any image you find. There is no warning signal or stop sign that appears with a message asking, “Yes, you can take this image, but should you?”Finding images online, and then what you do with them, poses legal questions as well as ethical ones that touch upon issues of integrity and morality. The ease with which internet surfers can grab images encourages copyright infringement. It doesn’t necessarily take that much more time to search through resources that provide images that aren’t in violation of copyright law.Creative Commons is one place where you can start. A non-profit organization that was founded by Larry Lessig, Creative Commons offers free tools that enable the sharing of images with a variety of options. Users can give permission to use their images with options like “some rights reserved.” Those seeking images can go to Creative Commons Search and find a number of resources that provide images utilizing Creative Commons licenses.If you decide to start where most of us do, Google, go one step further to Google’s Advanced Image Search. Here you’ll find a tool that not only let’s you search by format, language, geography, and more, but also by usage rights.There are a number of sites that offer free stock images. A post by Smashing Magazine lists a directory of sites offering free images for both personal and commercial use. This is in addition to the plethora of stock photography sites that offer a wide range of purchasing and licensing options for both royalty free images as well as for rights managed images.Another option internet surfers can try are images that are in the public domain. MakeUseOf has a list of 6 Free Website For Public Domain Images & Free Stock Photos.The last thing that users should consider is asking for permission. If you find an image that’s copyright protected, you can ask for permission to use it. Depending on how and why you are using it, you just may find the copyright owner is happy to share the image along with a photo credit.  

Dog eat dog world?

Robynne Raye and her partner at Modern Dog, Michael Strassburger, have been involved in a copyright infringement lawsuit with Disney, Target, and the Jaya Apparel group for the past several years. Modern Dog filed a lawsuit against the companies when the artwork from the end papers of their 2008 Compendium showed up on T-shirts being sold by Target. Anyone that I've talked to about the case agrees that Modern Dog should win based on the evidence—as long as they can stay the course and raise enough money to stand up to the stonewalling tactics of the big dogs. The recent shenanigans by the defense makes me wonder about the dog eat dog world we live in.In a Print Magazine blog post from last week about the case, Steven Heller quotes an email from Raye and Strassburger, “After misleading us into thinking they were going to settle our case without mediation, the defense filed a surprise motion on May 14th to have our case thrown out. They no longer deny (or admit) that they copied our illustrations, instead the defense is claiming that your illustrations are not entitled to a broad copyright since the dog illustrations lack “expression” and fall into the “natural world” category.”Raye has posted some of the other comments made in court on her Facebook page. Here are a few highlights:

"Favorite quote from yesterday's Motion for Summary Judgment (said be the defense attorney): 'There's very little creativity going on here'."

"I just think this case has to be one of the most absurd in the history of copyright. They deny copying our dogs for months, then out of nowhere claim that our dogs are realistic depictions from the "natural world" so therefore not protected by a broad copyright anyway."

The image below shows the illustrations of dogs in question. The dogs on green background are Modern Dog's. The dogs in center on white are from the Target T-shirt. I've circled a few strikingly similar ones. You'll find more if you look closely.The defense is trying to claim that the dog illustrations are technical rather than creative—anyone could have done them. Raye and Strassburger dispute this claim. In fact, Raye and Strassburger think the designer used a Wacom tablet to trace the illustrations. A PhD in mathematics from Stanford was among the expert witnesses called. The witness stated that there is less than a 1 in over 2,000,0000 chance that they did not trace the dogs their book.After much time and huge expense, the trial is scheduled for September 2013. I will continue to watch this case with great interest—as well as amazement at how low people can go. I will offer as much support for Modern Dog as I can. I hope you do too.Sources:http://www.printmag.com/imprint/weekend-heller-3/https://www.facebook.com/robynne.raye?fref=ts&ref=br_tfhttp://imprint.printmag.com/buzz-poole/modern-dog-copyright-and-the-burden-of-proof/http://minesf.com/resources/cca/2012/09/10/friends-of-modern-dog/http://99designs.com/designer-blog/2013/04/19/5-famous-copyright-infringement-cases