Do the Green Thing

Do the Green Thing is an organization dedicated to making films, posters, walkcasts, and everyday things to inspire people to live more sustainably.Working with a collection of creatives from around the globe, Do the Green Thing publishes every couple of months on topics that affect our everyday lives.Last October they took on the cosmetics industry and how the elevation of global beauty standards and harmful psychological effects involving self-image, there has been little debate about how our pursuit of beauty affects the environment. Besides the overconsumption and waste generated by the cumulative use over time, there are also the ingredients themselves. Microbeads that bypass filtration systems are ending up in the sea. Preservatives in moisturizers have been linked to genetic mutations in frogs. In addition to offering facts, the article discusses the differences between generations of consumers and solutions.This year as we celebrate Earth Day, do the green thing, and sign up to get their latest issue.Sources:http://dothegreenthing.com/issue-4http://www.designindaba.com/news-features/showcases/do-green-thing-creativity-vs-climate-change

Women in Graphic Design

There's much to celebrate for Women's History Month, and women in graphic design are definitely part of the conversation.Ethel Reed is considered the first American woman to achieve notoriety in graphic design. Self-taught, Reed received critical acclaim for her work at an early age when she was a highly prolific member of Boston's artistic community. Posters Reed created during a short, two-year window, earned her international recognition and were widely popular then, and still are now. They feature wonderful examples of Art Nouveau in the cultural context of early twentieth-century Boston. Unfortunately, Reed's commercial success was short, as she fell prey to issues of alcohol and drug abuse after her marriage crumbled and she spent her final years in poverty before her death in her mid-30sDesign Observer featured "Women in Design History" on their blog this month, celebrating women over the past century who are pioneers, having made significant contributions in the male-dominated field. Designers like Elaine Lustig Cohen, wife of the legendary Alvin Lustig, who took over his studio after his death, and Lucia Eames, the only child of Charles Eames, are featured. Lucia, an artist and designer, also became the preserver of the Eames legacy.This month's Design History Society article, "Where are the Women? Gender Disparities in Graphic Design History" discusses how understanding design history is a way to better understand wider gender disparities, including gender pay gap, small numbers of women in senior positions, and talking on stage at industry events. Author Ruth Sykes contends that graphic design history leaves the contribution of female graphic designers under-examined. She thinks that if this were revised, it would be a step in the process of achieving equal industry status for female graphic designers.The long-standing gender gap rises amid the data revealed in a publication by Lucienne Roberts and Rebecca Wright released last year, "Graphic Designers Surveyed." The authors found that while women designers are generally better educated than their male counterparts, they are still paid less.As we celebrate women  in history this month, consider how you can help change the legacy of women in graphic design.Sources:http://designobserver.com/feature/women-in-design-history/39516/http://www.designhistorysociety.org/blog/view/feature-where-are-the-women-gender-disparities-in-graphic-design-historyhttp://artanddesigninspiration.com/celebration-womens-history-month-ethel-reed-art-nouveau-graphic-designer/https://www.fastcodesign.com/3057540/infographic-of-the-day/who-are-graphic-designers-anywayshttp://www.wallpaper.com/design/lucienne-roberts-and-rebecca-wright-graphic-designers-surveyed-book#146709

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/

Citizen Designer

Throughout history graphic designers have written design manifestos and taken action to focus their energy on designing for good. Whether it’s a call to action to use our skills to create things like PSAs rather than products for planned obsolescence, to motivate designers to use environmentally friendly materials rather than toxic ones, or to create materials that support social justice efforts, there is a group of dedicated graphic designers who believe that design is meant for something bigger and better than simply contributing to the cycle of consumer consumption.In Ken Garland’s 1964 “First Things First” Manifesto, he states: “By far the greatest effort of those working in the advertising industry are wasted on these trivial purposes, which contribute little or nothing to our national prosperity.”In David Berman’s book “Do Good Design,” he asks designers to consider their core values and mission and pledge to:1. Be true to their profession2. Be true to themselves3. Use 10% of their professional time to create a better place“Citizen Designer: Perspectives on Design Responsibility,” written by Steven Heller and Veronique Vienne, includes more than 70 essays that look to answer what it means to be a citizen designer.The recent U.S. election has created a groundswell of activism against our newly elected leader, and graphic designers are among them. Resist is a free 40-page tabloid newspaper featuring political comics and graphics that was distributed at Women’s Marches across the country on January 21. The Smudge is a new monthly newspaper created in the spirit of the underground and alternative presses of the 60's and 70's to offer a unique voice and perspective on current political issues.The Citizen Designer Pledge from AIGA NY asks individuals to vote, choose at least one cause to champion, meet with fellow citizen designers, and attend a local governance session once a quarter. The pledge goes on to outline commitments for companies as well as the newly formed organization's commitments and their dedication to solving larger problems.If you want to get involved and merge your personal values with your work, take the pledge today.Sources:http://backspace.com/notes/2009/07/design-manifestos.phphttps://medium.com/aigany/the-2017-citizen-designer-pledge-38e236e26199#.10xmnanvshttp://aigany.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=e990059e83&id=b83ab08179

Design Activism

In Steven Heller's recent essay featured on Design Observer, "America's Big Design Problem," he discusses how now, more than ever, designers must be progressive thinkers and makers. While some feel design should not politicize, many feel that taking a stand for one's point of view is exactly what design is meant to do."RESIST!" is a publication on the theme of political resistance to the forces of intolerance. It will be published as a special issue of Gabe Fowler's tabloid newspaper, Smoke Signal. 30,000 copies will be distributed for free on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2017, in Washington D.C. Further distribution will occur at the Women's March on January 21st and throughout the United States. They are still accepting submissions for the newspaper on the theme of NOT OUR PRESIDENT. The deadline looms close though. You can still submit and view others' submissions online.In the video, "What is art for?" philosopher Alain de Botton gives his top five reasons why art is such a vital force for humanity—a force that stands up for the best side of human nature. The last one on his list is propaganda. Designers are born propagandists, trained in the art of persuasion. As Heller asserts, now is the time to dig even deeper—designing alternative streams for credible information—and making propaganda designed to bring out the best side of human nature.As our President-elect continues to build his new administration and choose cabinet members like Scott Pruitt—a climate change denialist for the E.P.A—it is more important now than ever to take a stand. As Heller states, before these political transformations become locked in stone.Sources:http://www.resistsubmission.com/http://designobserver.com/feature/americas-big-design-problem/39439https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/08/scott-pruitt-trumps-pick-for-the-epa-has-been-obamas-worst-nightmare/

Symbolizing Despair and Inspiring Hope

I overheard one of my students talking recently about how he has a friend who only contacts him through memes. In fact, he questioned whether this person even exists, since they don't ever actually speak, they only converse through memes.Once a topic of copyright discussion and image usage rights, memes have spread too fast to control them; they've become a language in our contemporary culture. As close to half of us in the U.S. (half of those who voted) celebrate our recent election—the other half is expressing their despair. Whatever you're feeling, there's sure to be a meme to express it.There are plenty of other ways to express yourself too.Wear a pin:Post a note:Be a nasty woman and support a cause:Just do something—and next time you get the chance, vote.Sources:https://www.facebook.com/OccupyDemocrats/https://twitter.com/luckytran/status/796809929847963648/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttp://gothamist.com/2016/11/10/subway_therapy_messages.php#photo-1https://www.omaze.com/made/nasty-woman?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=paid&utm_content&utm_campaign=made.nasty-woman&utm_term=Omaze_WomensRights_F_DT&oa_h=96q8ce

Graphic Designers Get Political

As Americans await the second debate this weekend with less than a month to go to election day, there are some graphic designers who are taking a stand.Iconic graphic designer Milton Glaser, known for the iconic and ubiquitous I Love NY Logo, wants to get the message out about voting. In this interview with Tina Roth Eisenberg of Swissmiss, he asserts, "not voting is selfish and stupid."Glaser has been passionate about this election. Last spring he created an election poster that is an echo of Descartes' "I think, therefore I am,"—"To vote is to exist"—challenging people to vote. Glaser makes it clear he's not trying to advocate for one side or the other, but emphasizing how critical it is for people to cast their vote for whom they believe in.Other designers, like Jessica Walsh and Stefan Saigmeister, are taking a more aggressive stand, and asking them to reject Trump and vote for Hillary with their latest project, "Pins Won't Save the World."We can only hope they do.Sources:http://www.timegoesby.net/weblog/2016/09/interesting-stuff-10-september-2016.htmlhttps://www.swiss-miss.com/2016/08/milton-glaser-wants-your-vote.htmlhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-06/milton-glaser-wants-you-to-prove-you-existhttp://adcglobal.org/pins-wont-save-the-world-jessica-walsh/

Fashion Week: When Does It Become Dangerous?

Fashion week is here again. It's fun, it's festive, often ludicrous, but is it also dangerous?During her presentation this summer at "Here London 2016," visual artist Yolanda Domínguez talks about how we define ourselves by the images we see. Domínguez points to the abundance of images that are young, white, and female and asks what happened to everyone else? She goes on to point out the ridiculous poses that we see in fashion advertising and the adjectives that go with them: docile, submissive, available, and violated. Advertising as shown in the image above serves to reinforce a society where violence against women is perpetuated and accepted. It's not just ludicrous, it's dangerous.In 2015 Domínguez decided to show fashion brand launch images to a group of 8 year-olds with her project, "Children vs. Fashion." The results were very revealing. The children decoded the images and exposed the differences in how women and men are portrayed. They thought the women were scared, sick or drunk and many wanted to help them. Men on the contrary were seen as happy and heroic.In other projects, Yolanda Domínguez engages her audience to participate and asking for volunteers to take part in staging events to raise awareness. Her current project is called "Little Black Dress." She is looking for volunteers; she asks participants to pose in this classic fashion icon—regardless of their size and ethnicity. Domínguez calls upon us to shatter the existing fashion tropes, and create new images that are representative of actual women.As you catch a glimpse of the beautiful, amazing, and ridiculous outfits that are revealed this week, also consider the dangerous side effects of consuming these images.Contact Yolanda Domínguez if you'd like to participate in "Little Black Dress" and watch the full "Here London 2016" presentation here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNnR2aQoefk 

Subverting the Narrative

It won't come as news to most of us that Photoshop and the multitude of photo apps that alter images have led to unrealistic views of ourselves. Women and men alike face body image issues in an era when taking selfies at every possible moment has become the norm. The objectification of women in advertising is a serious problem that has been hotly debated for years. Showing flawless and anatomically impossible bodies is harmful on many levels, and unfortunately it has become even more ubiquitous.Many of us consider it a welcome sight when advertisers challenge this narrative. The Dove Real Beauty campaign was among these. Their efforts to show women as they are were widely praised, though some critics felt that ad campaigns for products like Axe and Slimfast should be altered or cancelled as well if Unilever (the owner of these brands) was genuinely concerned.Justin Dingwall is a commercial photographer from South Africa who is using his skills to make work that subverts the standard narrative of what beauty is. In his fine art series Albus, Dingwall tackles the stigma associated with albinism. Worldwide, it's estimated that 1 in 20,000 people are born with albinism; in South Africa, the estimate is 1 in 4000. Those who live with albinism in Africa are often discriminated against and subjected superstition and violence.In a series of over 40 portraits featuring Thando Hopa and Sanele Xaba, Dingwall uses lighting and styling to question traditional ideas of femininity and masculinity and accepted standards of beauty. He includes religious symbolism; butterflies to convey transformation and The Madonna to convey comfort, acceptance, provision, and compassion. His beautiful portraits set a new standard, while also challenging us to consider how we perceive beauty.What have you seen that subverts the stereotypical narrative of beauty?Sources:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/21/dove-real-beauty-campaign-turns-10_n_4575940.htmlhttp://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/albus-photo-series-challenging-established-standards-beautyhttp://www.justindingwall.com/https://www.thebalance.com/advertising-women-and-objectification-38754

Trump-Pen-an-ce

I know the man's name is Pence, but I can't help seeing "Penance," and wondering what we've done wrong as a nation that was so bad to deserve this.As critics and comics alike discussed the pros and cons of the newly revealed logo before social media prompted them to revise it a day after its release and take away the charming monogram, it's wise to keep our minds on the essence of logo design—it stands for a brand. Along with the obvious sexual associations of the "T" penetrating the "P," it may also be prophetic in predicting what may be about to happen to our country.What can graphic designers do about the impending penance? Making signs and posters is one way we can use our skills as they did this past March when they protested outside of Trump Tower holding 40-inch-by-60-inch signs of bold, graphic letters that together spelled "Build Kindness Not Walls."They may also want to take some ideas from the "Black Lives Matter" movement and see how graphic designers have been helping to fight racial injustice. Using data from news reports, some are creating shareable data viz, while others are creating memes to help get the word out.As the GOP Convention launches into full swing today, it's fun to analyze branding in terms of its design qualities and symbolism—but it's even more important for us to look at our social responsibility and see where we can help to combat the impending penance looming in our nation's future.Sources:http://www.wired.com/2016/07/ins-outs-new-trump-pence-logo/http://www.fastcodesign.com/3057904/how-graphic-designers-are-protesting-trumphttp://www.fastcodesign.com/3061779/how-designers-can-help-the-black-lives-matter-movement

Celebrating African Activists

Nigerian artist Fred Martins is making a name for himself as a graphic design advocate.In this series, Martins celebrates African activists with the clever use of the afro comb to create visual metaphors for each, creating their silhouette with the help of the comb. The high contrast of elements along with the use of space enhances the powerful impact that each of his subjects have had. The afro comb emulates the black fist, symbolizing freedom and power against the bold orange background which is associated with the incarceration each of them faced during their lifetime.In past projects, Martins has used graphic design to evoke emotion and raise awareness about important issues like climate change with a goal toward creating global stewards.View the entire Afro Comb series to see how Martins portrays important activists like Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Patrice Lumumba and Fela Kuti and learn about his inspiration for the series.Sources:http://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/afro-comb-used-nigerian-artist-celebrate-african-consciousness?utm_source=Design+Indaba+mailing+list&utm_campaign=503d47f716-Weekly_Newsletter_18_May_20165_18_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_eb8e2b1d91-503d47f716-429312541http://www.okayafrica.com/culture-2/nigerian-artist-using-afrocombs-revere-righteous-african-activists/ 

Battling Visual Plagiarism

As a graphic design educator or practitioner, battling against visual plagiarism can be frustrating and daunting.I typically begin each semester with the mantra, “Art is work.” This is reinforced by showing students Ira Glass,’ “The Gap,” where he talks about the creative process and the importance of continuing to make work. I follow this up by showing Kirby Ferguson’s, “Everything is a Remix.” This usually leads to a lively discussion about visual plagiarism, appropriation, fair use, and copyright.Visual plagiarism is a complex issue at best. Most design educators require students to do visual research, just like most designers do. If a students doesn’t do research, they often say it is because they didn't want to be influenced by someone else’s work. In my experience, this is a euphemism for not wanting to put the time and energy into doing the research. We spend our time reinforcing the value of research and how important it is in the design process.After stressing the importance of looking at other people’s work, it’s necessary to follow this up with a discussion about visual plagiarism. My battle against it typically begins by reading our college’s plagiarism policy as stated in the course syllabus:Plagiarism, i.e.: the use of words or ideas of others, whether borrowed, purchased or otherwise obtained, without crediting the source…I next discuss in detail how this relates to visual plagiarism and show examples. I explain that penalties may include failure and further action if the incident is reported to the Dean of Students. I discuss reverse image finding sites like tineye.com and let them know that I will be checking their work here and they should be pro-active and take a look at their own work here to prevent inadvertently taking someone else’s work.Despite these efforts, every semester work is submitted where the “remix” looks more like a “rip-off.” This happened a few months ago when the offending student didn’t bother to look past the screen of the student sitting right next to him and proceeded to present a design that looked very familiar to his classmate. Of course, it presents an excellent teachable moment. In this case, I waited to see if the students themselves would bring it up, which I was happy to see that they did. It’s important to note, that I honestly don't think the student even realized that he was doing anything wrong. We assume when we say that visual plagiarism will not be tolerated, students know what that means.Earlier this week I participated in a workshop about collaborative learning where an English professor discussed using memes as a required assignment. Meme’s are all about the remix and the rip-off. Memes have become a ubiquitous part of our culture. When students grow up in an environment where memes are part of our dialogue, visual plagiarism becomes more complex.It happens all the time and our tools make it easy. The ability to outline fonts, image trace raster images and then make slight alterations to the vector art makes it simple. A few high profile cases include John Williams and his company Logo Garden and Modern Dog’s fight against Disney. William’s position was that he was within his rights to create many of the logos offered on the site because the logos were new vector drawing with slight alterations. In Modern Dog’s case, Disney claimed that the drawings were technical and not creative, so the issue of copyright infringement did not apply.Don’t even get me started on appropriation…In Mark Johnson’s book, Moral Imagination, he discusses how important our imagination is in our ethical deliberation. This makes sense to me and I try to incorporate it into my lectures on visual plagiarism by using the “walk in another man’s shoes” proverb. As much as we would like to believe we are wired to be good and have impeccable ethics, most of us aren’t born that way, but rather develop into ethical people with imagination playing a key role.I’m looking for ideas; as designers and design educators, what works best for you in making sure you, and those you employ or instruct, avoid visual plagiarism?

Incorporating Earth Day into our every day practice

Happy Earth Day 2016! As scientists offer dire predictions of doom due to global warming, it’s inspiring to see how some global citizens are making changes.Whether it’s incorporating projects to raise awareness and inform into the classroom or applauding companies who are adopting green practices, there are a multitude of things we can do.Ikea has been accused of planned obsolescence in creating products; they've made a step in the right direction in their plans to use packaging made from mushrooms that will decompose in weeks.Tátil Design has made strides in bringing environmentally friendly designs and designs inspired by nature to Brazil. Creative director and founder Fred Gelli brought his background in biomimicry to the firm and has established a practice focused on sustainable design.Photographer Michael Ciaglo photographed the devastating side effects of recycling e-waste and the injuries like burns, lung problems, and other debilitating physical injuries that result.Whether you photograph it, make art out of it, create projects out of it, write about it, or talk about it—take a moment and think about how you can incorporate greener practices into your life, and, please share them here!

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/

The Devil We Live (and Die) With

Cape Mongo, a film by Francois Knoetz, was featured at the 2016 Design Indaba conference last week. Portraying our detrius as monstrous creatures, Knoetz's film is about five mythical monsters that are created from our everyday waste: glass, paper, plastic, VHS, and metal. The film offers clues about the origins of each of the creatures and the temptations we face in falling prey their contents as they revisit their imaginary pasts.Knoetz created each suit and wore them throughout the streets of Cape Town. His performances took him everywhere from upscale malls to landfills to historic sites to street markets. His goal is to call attention to our ever-present relationship with waste as well as its intersection with issues around housing, food security, inequality, and racial segregation.Several other designers at the 2016 Design Indaba presented solutions aimed at dealing with these issues. Recent graduate Billie Van Nieuwenhuyzen presented Edelplast, a range of contemporary jewelry made from e-waste. Van Nieuwenhuyzen hand weaves discarded cables and then forms them into a marble-like material to create fine art pieces.The infinity burial suit by Jae Rhim Lee provides an alternative to the toxic chemicals that are currently used to preserve dead bodies. Lee contends that current practices deny death, poison the living, and harm the environment. As an alternative, she has designed a "mushroom death suit," a wearable suit filled with spores of a hybrid mushroom that aid in the decomposition of the body, delivering nutrients to the ground around a burial plot rather than delivering toxins.Kudos to the designers and artists at Design Indaba for giving us much to consider in how interact with the environment—in life—and in death.Sources:http://www.designindaba.com/videos/creative-work/francois-knoetzes-mythical-trash-creatures-reveal-our-terrible-treatment-wastehttp://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/e-waste-jewellery-looks-marblehttp://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/burial-suit-better-decompose-your-body 

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 

Branding the Olympics—“worst practices” in design

While the Olympic games themselves are steeped in excellence and “best practices” in athletics—the design of the 2020 Olympic logo has spiraled into an example “worst practices” in graphic design.This past September the 2020 Tokyo Olympic logo that was designed by Kenjiro Sano was scrapped when he was accused of design plagiarism. Sano’s design has characteristics of a logo designed by Belgian designer Olivier Debie for the Theatre de Liege.Initially, organizers defended Sano, but then changed their minds, asserting that using a logo that is not supported by the public is not in their best interests and the success of the Olympics. Instead, they decided to crowdsource the logo design, opening it up to anyone. The organizers received nearly 15,000 entries from people competing for $8,250 and tickets to the opening ceremonies.This week AIGA firmly stated their position with an open letter to the Tokyo Olympic committee. Executive Director Ric Grefé discussed several reasons why crowdsourcing logos is damaging to designers, the highlights follow:

• Crowdsourcing takes advantage of designers, asking them to work countless hours without a guarantee of any compensation. Furthermore, the amount of the proposed award, is much lower than what the appropriate compensation would be for a brand identity that will have global value, being reproduced millions of times.
• By opening the contest to the general public, the committee demonstrates a complete lack of respect for trained and experienced professionals.
• The valuable collaboration with the client when creating a brand identity is completely ignored with crowdsourcing , compromising the ethics and global standards for professional designers.

U.S. designer Michael Raisch’s response to the controversy echoes AIGA’s stance. With over a decade of experience in sports branding, Raisch thinks that crowdsourcing brand identity devalues creative professional careers and thei contributions to the world. He decided to point to the absurdity of the committee’s decision to crowdsource the logo by opening the contest up to three-year-olds, emphasizing the point that crowdsourcing results in amateur work. Raisch created an endearing video about the experience entitled, “A 3 Year Old Explains the Olympic Logo.”The contest just closed this past week—stay tuned for the results—no doubt more controversy is in store.http://eyeondesign.aiga.org/against-crowdsourcing-logo-design-an-open-letter-from-aiga-to-the-tokyo-olympic-committee/http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/02/sport/tokyo-olympic-logo-scrapped/index.htmlhttp://www.designweek.co.uk/a-three-year-old-could-have-designed-that-the-olympic-logo-made-by-a-toddler/

Black Friday—Alternative Options for Designers

Black Friday is not an official holiday in the U.S., but California and some other states observe “The Day After Thanksgiving” as a holiday—substituting it for another official holiday, like Columbus Day. In America, it’s gotten to be almost as big as Thanksgiving Day itself. While most retailers are deeply involved in this day of unbridled consumerism, graphic designers often play an important role too; using their skills for everything from advertising to product design. Others voluntarily join the melee, spending Thanksgiving Day carefully planning their shopping strategy and making a day (or night) out of it with friends and family. Many of us may prefer to opt out. Here are some alternatives:

• Join the protest and help publicize it using your skills to spread the word:https://www.facebook.com/events/921009677936471/permalink/921010711269701/
• Use your design skills for good like this company does in giving back profits to the homeless:https://designedbygoodpeople.wordpress.com/
• Concentrate on shopping for items that enhance your skills and profitability rather than drain your pocketbook:https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/5-new-classic-games-that-help-you-play-your-way-to-becoming-a-better-designer/?utm_source=Eye+on+Design+newsletter&utm_campaign=6162ad40b6-Eye_on_Design_37&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6a9dfd84e5-6162ad40b6-25672817
• Follow California’s lead, they are offering another alternative to their residents, instead of conspicuously consuming goods on the day after conspicuously consuming food, why not go outside and commune with nature: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/49-California-parks-will-be-free-on-Black-Friday-6641298.php

What will you choose to do with your Black Friday?

Un-branding Columbus Day

For decades, communities and cities have been un-branding Columbus Day. Whether they are appalled at the atrocities committed by Christopher Columbus in his quest to conquer the Americas, or indignant at the idea that their community was “discovered,” the call for the un-branding of Columbus Day has been an angry voice pitted against many passionate supporters.Officially declared a national holiday in 1934, activists seeking to ban celebrations of the day go back as far as the 19th century because of concerns over the Knights of Columbus—an organization thought to be working toward expanding Catholic influence. The call to re-brand it “Indigenous People’s Day” goes back nearly a century ago when the Society of American Indians advocated for change. The city of Berkeley stopped celebrating Columbus day in 1992. Last year cities like Minneapolis and Seattle joined the ranks. This year, at least nine cities across the country will celebrate Indigenous People’s Day instead. In fact, over a dozen states have joined the ranks of those who do not observe it as a national holiday, and each year the number grows.Even if activists manage to convince the opposition to change the name, the bigger battle is likely to be on the consumer front. A quick search for Columbus Day yields tons of deals for shoppers. The Frugal Shopper offers advice on how to navigate the sales over the three-day weekend. There is plenty of advertising ephemera for Columbus Day sales, none for Indigenous People’s Day. Columbus Day has a strong brand identity depicted by a variety of elements: portraits of Christopher Columbus, mighty ships, American flags, stars, and stripes. Indigenous People’s Day has no brand identity, at least that I could find.Which do you think will prove harder, changing the mind-set of those determined to celebrate a famed explorer (aka pirate)? Or those determined to get the best retail deals? Perhaps what we need is a strong brand.Sources:http://digiday.com/brands/columbus-day-rebrand/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/columbus-day-now-indigenous-peoples-day-seattle-and-minneapolis-180952958/?no-isthttp://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_dayhttp://money.usnews.com/money/the-frugal-shopper/2015/10/07/how-to-navigate-columbus-day-saleshttp://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/10/11/more-cities-celebrating-indigenous-peoples-day-as-effort-to-abolish-columbus-day-grows/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/columbus-day-now-indigenous-peoples-day-seattle-and-minneapolis-180952958/?no-ist 

Fashion Week: It’s Complicated

New York Fashion Week kicked off this past Thursday, and with it some complicated topics graphic designers are very familiar with:

Design Plagiarism

High fashion brand Saint Laurent is showcasing a dress with graphic lipstick prints that retails for $3,490 - but looks a lot like a dress from Forever 21’s 2013 collection that sold for $23. Saint Laurent is most likely safe from being sued for copyright infringement because copyright law prohibits the protection of a design if it can only be depicted in a limited number of ways— tubes of lipstick may fall into this category. However, it doesn't protect them from being called out for it.

Social Awareness

As New York Fashion Week Live reports, “one of the great ironies of fashion is the disconnect between the beauty of the products, and the way the materials are often sourced.” Consumers are increasingly demanding more humane treatment of animals and people, as well as the use of more eco-friendly materials. Fashion designers are responding and young designers like Max Gengos, are embracing the concept of “responsible luxury” when deciding on which materials to use and the conditions in which their products are produced.

Sustainability

We live in a culture of disposability. This extends to “fast fashion,” where cheap garments are produced quickly to keep up with trends. America buys 20 billion garments a year, 1 item per person per week. This results in 12.7 million tons of clothing thrown away each year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that textile waste occupies nearly 5% of all landfill space and 85% of textile waste is not recycled. Ultimately this leads to overtime, overcrowding, and unsafe conditions for overseas workers employed to keep up with the demand.

Cultural Influence

Celebrities like Emma Watson and fashion designer Stella McCartney are speaking out in campaigns like this recent one for British Vogue on Fashion and Gender Equality, demanding empowerment for women and a better message for women of all ages and sizes, allowing them to feel good about who they are.As we enjoy the glamor of New York Fashion Week, we may also do well to consider the complicated relationships surrounding beauty and image.Sources:http://newyorkfashionweeklive.com/http://www.thefashionlaw.com/https://www.notjustalabel.comhttp://www.ecouterre.com/http://www.elle.com/http://www.weardonaterecycle.org/