HOPE—inspired by the past, needed more than ever

HOPE is a large-scale typographic installation installed in Durham, England to commemorate and honor the centenary of WWI. The installation evokes powerful emotions by sharing memories from local men and women about their experiences with war and conflict.This past March, Oxfam invited Yemeni artists from all over the country to submit work that shows how the current war is affecting women and girls. The work is powerful and illustrates the human impact of the past three years of this US supported Saudi Arabian military offensive in Yemen which has caused death, starvation, and the largest cholera crisis on record.Recently, NY Times photographer Tyler Hick's image of seven-year-old Amal Hussein brought attention once again to the horrible plight of Yemeni civilians and the toll this war is taking.As graphic designers, we have the power to engage people through their senses—evoking hope, empathy, and hopefully action. Let's hope that their emotions are evoked enough now to create change, rather 100 years from now.Sources:https://www.dexigner.com/news/31650https://www.a-n.co.uk/events/hope-installation/https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/yemen-art-gallery/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/podcasts/the-daily/yemen-saudi-arabia-amal-hussain-photo.html

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

Keeping UX Design Human

UX (User Experience) Design is one of the fastest growing fields in graphic design. The change in growth was more than 15% from 2010 to 2016, close to double the national average. The field is exciting, new, and still emerging. In 2016, UX/UI job postings comprised 28% of the list.Roles on a UX team change and overlap. It's also a place where today's graphic designers are likely to find work and a career. Eventually their role may fall under the category of visual designer, however the field is so new that we don't know yet what other job titles will emerge. The State of UX in 2018 by UX Trends discusses what some of the associated areas that designers are venturing into. AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), motion design, prototyping, and product design are just some of the places. No matter what the job title, all involve engaging the end user and ultimately, creating their experience.Creating a user's experience is exciting, and full of responsibility. The line between authentic persuasion and manipulation is not a strong one. Ethical issues come into play in every aspect. How often a user waits, the imagery and colors used to engage them, the size of the elements along their path, are all design decisions that have ethical implications.In his Podcast, How Technology is Hijacking Your Mind, former Google ethicist Tristan Harris, discusses the ways in which tech designers use techniques like intermittent variable rewards, the number one psychological ingredient in slot machines. In the 1950s BF Skinner researched this concept and how effective unpredictable rewards are in keeping behavior going. FOMS (Fear of Missing Something) is another technique used by designers along with social Approval and social Reciprocity.Human-centered design expert Don Norman recently wrote an article for Fast Company, The Myth of Human-Centered Design, where he says that we design for "technology first" rather than putting the user first. Studies show us that users will adapt to these conditions and their behavior will be formed by technological advances, rather than a human-centered approach. Norman raises many questions about how experiences are created, including what defines the truth if anything can be simulated. Norman states that it's now time to produce a more sophisticated view of human-centered design, not just responding to what technology can do and what users crave.Graphic designers need to include what is in the best interest of the human race, rather than responding to technological advances. In this way, they will truly be participating in human-centered design.Sources:https://www.fastcompany.com/90208681/the-myth-of-human-centered-designhttps://medium.muz.li/2018s-ux-designer-salary-forecast-32ccc1dfcd5fhttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/home.htmhttps://designation.io/blog/now-is-the-time-for-ux-uihttps://trends.uxdesign.cc/https://medium.com/thrive-global/how-technology-hijacks-peoples-minds-from-a-magician-and-google-s-design-ethicist-56d62ef5edf3

Advocating for Accessibility

Ryan Seslow is a visual artist, educator, and accessibility advocate. He's using social media and his artistic practice this month to raise awareness and asking others to join him. Follow him on instagram and also take up the challenge to create art that raises awareness for the deaf this month.https://www.instagram.com/p/BnQ_iLlH-q_/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1q5g0dn5y5bvk

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/

Documenting the Undocumented

A Paper Monument for the Paperless is a graphic design advocacy project started by Himmelsbach®, a social artist from Amsterdam.The project consists of a series of sixty woodcut portraits created by 19 different artists that features the faces of undocumented refugees. The street is mobilized as citizens (illegally) distribute and paste the posters throughout city streets.  Himmelsbach started the project in Amsterdam and it has spread across Europe. The image above was found in a street passage in Krakow.Himmelsbach created the project to raise awareness about the refugee crisis and to put a face on the undocumented. During a time when anti-refugee sentiment is spreading across the globe, he is one of the artists who are fighting back to change the narrative and help those in need.Contact Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries if you would like to participate and spread the posters throughout your city.Sources:https://www.himmelsbach.nl/?page_id=373https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-art-of-documenting-the-undocumented/

CAA Conversations Podcast: Ethics and Graphic Design

Conversations about ethics in graphic design are a big part of both professional practice as well as a graphic design student's education.My colleague Herman Botes and I were invited to discuss this important topic as part of "CAA Conversations Podcast." Listen to our thoughts on how to not only help students understand ethics in their work, but also how to create unique and skillful work.http://www.collegeart.org/news/2018/05/28/caa-conversations-podcast-eileen-macavery-kane-and-herman-botes/

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

Do the Green Thing

As scientists issue dire warnings about the state of our planet, designers across the globe are working to "Do the Green Thing."Pictured above is street art created by Portuguese artist Bordalo II who uses everything from burnt aluminum cans and old appliances to scrap wood and old tires to create life-like animal figures. In the process, he keeps this material from ending up on the streets, in the oceans, and in landfills.Other initiatives include work by photographer Benjamin Von Wong who works on issues of social responsibility and sustainability. One recent project by Von Wong is to call attention to e-waste and the fact that less than 15 percent of electronics and circuitry that we throw away each year is recycled into new products. Von Wong strives to shed light on this disturbing statistic through his elaborate hyper-realistic visual style.Founded more than 10 years ago by Andy Hobsbawm and Pentagram partner Naresh Ramchandani, "Do the Green Thing" is a public service for the planet that uses creativity to tackle climate change. They've spent the last decade making films, posters, podcasts, and products to inspire more than 45 million people to live more sustainably.As we celebrate another Earth Day, take inspiration from these photographers, artists, and designers and think about ways that you can "Do the Green Thing."http://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/6-designers-who-use-waste-inspiration-new-productshttp://99u.adobe.com/articles/58984/pentagrams-naresh-ramchandani-do-the-green-thing

Helping women tell their #MeToo stories

Women's History Month is being celebrated this year under the shadow of the #MeToo movement.The Miami Herald marked this year by speaking with women during a women's circle organized by the Miami Workers Center. The people telling the stories were not celebrities, but everyday people. The women talked about the awful memories that the #MeToo movement has triggered in them. One woman, Yuleidy González-Nieto, who has been a victim of abuse since childhood, says that she is glad people have come forward, but the stories she is hearing feel "like getting punched in the face." The movement has made it harder for her to hide from her trauma.The women's words inspired the Miami Herald to turn them into poetry and ask female artists to illustrate them. Yuleidy González-Nieto was one of the illustrators. She said creating art helps her heal, "art is a positive way of liberating negative energy. Art heals."Sources:http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article204250389.htmlhttp://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article193844849.html 

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

Are we ready for #unphotoshopped?

One of the conversations that has come up again thanks to the #metoo movement is the effect of airbrushed images. In a recent NY Times article, Vanessa Friedman reports on the stand that CVS has taken to stop "materially altering" the imagery associated with its beauty products.Altering images has gone on long before Photoshop. Composite images can be found as far back as the Civil War era where Abraham Lincoln's head was placed on John Calhoun's body. There are somewhat benign examples like Oprah's head on Ann Margret's body and then the blatantly racist examples like the darkening of OJ Simpson on Time Magazine's cover shortly after Simpson's arrest.These days you don't need a darkroom or Photoshop; there is no shortage of free apps available for altering images. While many of these effects may seem harmless, research shows that in fact it can be very damaging to self-esteem. 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.Like the topic of ethics itself, the conversation about what "materially altering" is brings up many questions. Will it be ok to remove stray hair and under-eye circles? Will crow's feet and laugh lines be off limits?Photoshop has become so ingrained in our culture that it may take our culture some time to get used to the #unphotoshopped in Advertising. There should be no doubt that it's about time that we get started.

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

Inspiring Ethical Graphic Designers Across the Globe

When RCC (Rockland Community College) student Sunday Oluwasomi met someone from his hometown during an online collaborative Graphic Design class, we were all excited. The distance between Suffern, NY and Pretoria, South Africa suddenly become infinitely smaller. It was truly a moment that shows how we are all connected.The ongoing classroom collaboration that I've had the pleasure of participating in with Herman Botes from TUT (Tshwane University of Technology) Pretoria, South Africa is focused on inspiring and teaching future designers to work ethically in our industry and primarily focuses on issues of Graphic Design Advocacy. Herman and I met in 2013 when I was invited to TUT to lecture on topics from my book, Ethics: A Graphic Designer's Field Guide. As a result of our meeting, we've been building bridges between our two cultures through student projects with the support of COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) ever since.Recent events include Liz Resnick's Graphic Design Advocacy exhibit at TUT, our COIL presentation in Chicago, and a podcast for CAA (College Art Association) about ethics in graphic design last month. Upcoming events include the release Educating Citizen Designers in South Africa, co-authored by Herman Botes.As our ongoing collaboration continues to grow, so does our belief in how important it is for both students and educators, as well as our gratitude for the opportunity.

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

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

To Post or Not to Post?

Artists don't work in a vacuum, we are social creatures, we make work to show it. Fans and critics alike are necessary to the process of making art. These days showing your art almost always involves posting it online through social media. But how can you prevent getting ripped off? While it may take an artist a hundred hours to produce a single piece, it only takes thieves a matter of seconds to profit off of someone else's' work. Just as important as producing the work itself is learning how to protect it. Following are some options to do so:

Circle C

The first step is the simplest: add ©, the year, and your name to anything you create. This is your declaration of copyright and marks the art as yours. The © is important because it tells the viewer the work is protected by copyright. The © can be added digitally or drawn on by hand, the technique is not important, just the mark itself.

Watermark

Some artists choose to watermark their work. This is a visible branding that overlays your images. It is usually transparent and fairly large. Experts in digital imaging can remove it with Photoshop or other image editing software, however, it's usually not that easy to do. You can add watermarks to your images with Photoshop or similar image editing programs, some of which feature batch processing to make it easy and efficient. The downside besides the time it takes to do it is that it also compromises the viewing experience as it visibly alters the image.

Creative Commons

Founded by Harvard Law Professor Larry Lessig, Creative Commons is an organization dedicated to making it easier to share work without the sometimes arduous process of copyright registration and without the same restrictions. Creative Commons offers a wide range of options to allow people to share their work on their terms. All have some level of sharing, the most restrictive being "Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs." Licenses are in effect immediately upon implementation and there is no required fee. Creative Commons is a non-profit organization and donations are gladly accepted.

Copyright Registration

You can register your copyright with the Federal Copyright Office. Online registration fees start at $35 for a single registration. There is a wait time that can be up to 5 months. It's also important to know that while many international laws closely follow copyright laws in the U.S., they do not automatically apply internationally—you'll need to check those if you are selling your work internationally or find that your work has been used elsewhere in the world.

Following Up

You can check on your images to see if they turn up anywhere unauthorized by uploading your image to a reverse image site like TinEye or Google Reverse Image Search. This isn't full proof, but can certainly help you take a cursory look.The answer "to post or not to post" is complicated, and as with most ethical issues, it depends—on your circumstances.Sources:http://www.finearttips.com/2010/07/how-i-stopped-a-copycat-artist-on-facebook/https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-watermark-1701744https://www.copyright.gov/https://creativecommons.org/http://copyrightregistry-online-form.com/

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

Celebrating Mother's Day

Mother’s Day is a celebration that honors our mothers and the influence of mothers in society. It's usually celebrated with flowers and gifts. The truth is the horrors and atrocities that exist in our world and flies in the face of these rituals."Women's Rights are Human Rights: International Posters on Gender-based Inequality, Violence, and Discrimination,” is an exhibit organized and curated by Elizabeth Resnick, professor of graphic design at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. The 84 posters presented challenge viewers to acknowledge the challenges women face around the world.The exhibit opened at Mass Art last Fall and is traveling internationally with events already hosted in Taipei, Seoul, Greece, and Mexico. The posters are currently installed in the B2 Gallery of the Warsaw Poster Museum.The unframed exhibition is available to travel internationally for a small rental fee. Please contact Elizabeth Resnick (Elizabeth.Resnick@massart.edu) if you are interested.This year as we celebrate Mother's Day, let's give some thought to how mothers throughout the world are treated and consider ways to help.Sources:http://posterpage.ch/exhib/ex350wom/ex350wom.htmhttps://news.northeastern.edu/2017/03/new-poster-exhibit-reinforces-that-womens-rights-are-human-rights/http://www.graphicart-news.com/womens-rights-are-human-rights/#.WRBCBFPyvBVhttp://www.printmag.com/daily-heller/womens-rights-posters/http://eyemagazine.com/blog/post/human-rights-by-any-other-name