Ethics in the Design Industry
What are Ethics in the design industry, who is affected by it, and
who should be following these codes.
Is it being
adhered to. The answer is yes, and no. From the public market to the designer
to the clients and design industry businesses. Ethics regarding advertising and
business conduct is a minefield of destruction and mayhem.
A
very influential lecturer made me aware of a very relevant point. As
an individual working within the process of the design industry you have the
power to delegate your standards, but you can never delegate your ethics.
As we grow up we
are taught that being creative and designing is a means of expressing yourself,
your individual style.
Yet when we go and
do work in the design industry we are obligated and governed by
our employer or client to create what they want us to,
because it is after all, their money and final say.
What happened to
our powers of expression. Has our job description changed from designer
to manipulators. Is that ethically fair towards us as designers to change the way we create.
A great design can
change the world, and everyone who sees it will be sold on your idea. You can
say 'I designed that', but it was never mine. It belongs to the company
I work for.
The design is
great and it makes the public believe they really need that product,
even if they don't. Is that clever design. Or is it deceitful marketing to
make someone else money. Who gets to say it is ethically right.
Should we put the
audience needs first, after that of the client (money driven). Do we forgo our
design talent (recognition driven) as we all want to be recognized. No,
instead we deceive the public, because they will buy the product and make the
industry money.
AIGAS code of
ethics gives useful guidelines regarding ethics for clients and
other designers, but it says nothing regarding the biggest crowd, the
audience. Who governs ethics regarding what is
acceptable towards them. They are after all our biggest springboard.
Hours of hard work
later, the first time designer hands in his work to a new client. All the boxes
have been ticked, the designer has kept in contact with the client and he has
been fine with the standard of work and the direction the project has gone. The
client says don't worry about the contract, we are on the same page.
Payday comes for
the designer, but he finds he has not been paid to the amount of hours
he has put in, nor to the level of his qualifications. The client coldly
states that he has worked too slow, and that he never pays new designers more
than minimum wage.
It can be argued
that the designer was inexperienced and that the client has taken advantage of his lack of experience. Or has the clients
ethics gone out of the window, because he saw a chance to get away with it.
What about free
pitching. It is a term used to describe to designer being sourced through
competitions, with the allure of prizes, their work being displayed or even a
promise that if that persons design wins, then it will be a foot into the door.
All the avid designers that enter the contest with hopes of maybe winning, do not know that the
company already has a paid designer,and designers that work for them.
The competition is 'drawn' and 'winners' selected.But the paid designers works are selected to
win, and all the entrants works, are kept and re-used, for the
companies benefit that is now their property.
Where does the
industry draw the line on what is acceptable and just morally wrong. Or is it just another big, ugly machine, spinning out of control.
Supporting articles :
www.aiga.org/in-search-of-ethics-in-graphic-design/
www.dia.org.au/index.cfm?id=245
www.howdesign.com/how-magazine/how-may-2012/crowdsourcing/
