Design & Ethics: Honesty Wins
Damjan Obal
In a workshop led by Professor Michael Hardt (Icograda Vice President, 1995-1997) at the University of Lapland (Finland), students came together to discuss design and ethics, and the role played by designers in creating and solving some of the issues faced by consumers today. This case study, compiled by Damjan Obal, looks at how the students' projects challenge many of the common approaches to marketing and consumption, and how their proposed solutions and ways of thinking encourage designers to hold true to their ethics and design honestly.
Starting with a statement as strong and idealistic as "Honesty wins" is bold, is it not? It is provocative and yearning for attention or at least some kind of feed-back. Exchange student Angela Pavuk, started her presentation for the Design Ethics workshop that took place at the University of Lapland (Finland) with that exact statement and... it sure was bold and thought-provoking.
Starting by defining unethical behavior we were able to progress closer towards the main goal - defining propositions or a manifesto for behaving ethical as a designer. Did we succeed? Perhaps not entirely, but first steps are made and by realising the wrongs we are able to make things right again. Creatives and designers have the power to design ourselves out of this crisis of unethical behavior we are stuck in at the moment. Designers have the wit to persuade their clients that behaving ethical is the way to be successful in the future.
One thing stood out again and again when talking about design ethics was this before-mentioned honesty. 25 students' projects presenting unethical designs were the starting point for 25 potential solutions or better, upgrades. Honesty was the common factor and the following examples will try to show (and hopefully prove) that the future trend is honesty. And that good design is ethical, as Hardt stated.
There was a clear dispute about the media, producers and designers that are being dishonest about their products, either by not telling the truth, hiding important facts (i.e., side effects) or deceiving the public. The dispute is omnipresent in general because it is so much more convenient to blame others for our consumerist way of living and our unethical behavior. But in the workshop students not only exposed the unethical designs, but they also proposed solutions.
A German student exposed the problem with baby milk formula products that are being used throughout the world. The problem occurs when mothers in less developed countries prepare the milk with contaminated water and without proper sanitation just because they lack the knowledge to know otherwise, but on the other hand they have trust in the products that is derived from medical prescriptions, advertising and other approaches. The results are sometimes devastating, even deaths occurred. Of course not directly because of the product itself, but the producer could have done more by just behaving a bit more ethical. The student proposed a solution with bottles already containing sterile milk.
Two girls, also German, were exposing similar unethical approaches with products labeled as healthy, light and appropriate for children. Packaging, product placements and advertising campaigns tell us that those products are better and healthier than others. With the use of images like women practicing yoga or children having fun at sport activities they create a positive brand. Customers buy their products because they are misled with the thought that they will become healthier, sportier, happier when consuming those.
It is obvious that the producers will continue producing these products, but the girls suggested they should be more honest and stop deceiving their customers with blind hopes. Part of unethical behavior is also the product itself. In the case of chocolate bars, ingredients such as vanilla are known to cause addiction. The solution could be to stop adding it and putting greater stress on exposing the fact in a "The honest snack. Without vanilla." way. Why not use the product as a platform to communicate something as important as that to your peer community.
When talking about the platform to influence the masses, the print media is still one of the dominant ones. It creates images and projects them onto its readers. As we have said before, it is in our human nature that we always want what we don't have. Lukas, a student from Slovakia, showed an interesting project about women's magazines that are quoted as lifestyle-leading, educational and even sophisticated. Since its beginning, humankind has honored its idols. In history they were gods, saints and rulers, nowadays our idols are movie stars and other celebrities. From magazine covers they look down on us with despise for us, "ordinary" folks. But are our idols even real?
The images looking at us from covers are retouched in Photoshop, weight reduced and certain parts enlarged. And what they are communicating is a simple message: "Don't you want to be like me?" Of course the answer is yes, but is it even possible to look as good as a model retouched for two weeks by seven graphic designers? Is it even real? In any case it is not ethical. Not even aesthetic.
The old Greeks have already known that perfection comes with the balance of body and mind. What we witness in these magazines has nothing to do with it and it is also proven that the projected images of our "idols" are driving us to the never-ending self-changing process. The question is, why is such unethical design even needed. We survived centuries surrounded with "ordinary" people, some even led happy lives with just being themselves (Can you imagine that?).
Lukas was even sharper when he pointed out that such magazines make its readers less intelligent instead of more educated, prepared for life, the latter being the slogan in most of those magazines. In any case, should they reconsider their strategies as, for example, Dove did with their campaign with more "ordinary" women posing? They should, and we are not talking just front covers and images inside. But will they? Nobody wants to make the first step, though that could be, as with the chocolate bar example, their competitive advantage.
In France, the movement against false representation and imagery has succeeded and the French Parliament is considering introducing a law that would require retouched images to sport a warning making it clear that viewers are looking at a retouched image. Perhaps that could be one way to move towards the humanistic basics, where the human as such is a perfect, unique creation.
One student's project exposed another ethical dilemma that arose because of new technologies replacing humans. She researched the recent and gradual replacement of clerks in stores by automatic cashier machines. The latter could mean not only job loss, but could also severely change the whole shopping experience.
Even if we know how to and have the means to shop via Internet, we sometimes like to go to the store just for the sake of being there. Clerks and other employees are just as an important part of it as the products we are looking for. The student had a couple of propositions how to design the experience and keep the automated cashiers. The stores could go through a simple redesign process and introduce "interaction corners" where customers meet with employees, receive advice, help or simply a kind word.
Kindness, happiness, warmth, peace and family. Words that could depict Christmas, one of the oldest and without doubt one of most known celebrations there is. Hanna, a Finish student from Rovaniemi - the place where "modern" Santa Claus is supposed to live - presented an ethical dilemma concerning Christmas.
The symbol of peace and family celebration has been transformed into a profitable product and therefore lost its core meaning. The Christmas season is stretched from October (somewhere even from August) until end of December and there are a lot of commercial activities connected with it (especially in places like Rovaniemi, Finland). People consume and spend much more during those weeks, because we are being misled to believe the expression of love for our family and friends corresponds with the amount and value of the gifts received.
Hanna's project concerned what the designer can do to help transform Christmas back into what it is supposed to be - a family holiday. Designers can help by promoting less consumerism and promoting Christmas through activities that strengthen family ties. Because designers have the power to influence people's wants and needs they can help make a difference and help promote true Christmas values.
Corporations are now well aware that humanity is (or will be) facing serious challenges. But instead of trying to prevent the worse, most of them are using ideas such as sustainability and ecological thinking as buzz words to promote themselves as "doers," as those who are thinking about our common future. They are simply playing us. While they put pressure on exposing us to those (real) problems they offer us on the other hand a solution, a way we can contribute, by of course using (or buying) their products and services.
Oli exposed an example, where from every purchase of a water bottle, 10 cents is donated for cleaning the Baltic Sea. The designers usually play an important role in designing products that are supposedly ecological or sustainable and, of course, appealing. Consumers usually fall for the traps like recycled packaging, or text that tells us we are contributing to a common cause.
Last but not least, because the product is ecological or sustainable (production costs) and because with the purchase you are supporting a good cause, the price is higher. Well, at least that is what they tell us. As simple as that.
And it works both ways. Corporations make profit and you feel better because by simply purchasing a product you did something good. Or at least that is what you were supposed to think. But only a few consumers are asking themselves if consuming more and living a life in abundance with things you don't really need is actually helping make the world a better place.
Oli made a witty connection between this and the behavior back in the times when people were paying money to purge their sins. Back then people were afraid of the resulting afterlife if they didn't get rid of their sins, today the situation is similar. We feel bad about certain things and therefore we try to contribute to at least some good cause. And what better way than contributing while consuming. While we think we are doing something good, we could actually be contributing to an even bitterer outcome.
Campaigns for products mentioned before, like water bottles, are welcome, but the corporates should first be honest and second try to actually contribute to a greater good. The role of designers is perhaps the most important, because they have the chance to bring products and services that can't afford the big budget marketing campaigns to the masses. Products that are truly ecological or sustainable are usually from small-scale producers, even from developing countries. The designers could work as one of the links between both sides. We can help most by supporting fair trade and getting products directly from the source - then we also fully support the local community.
People are slowly getting fed up with the lies, they are loosing trust in the corporate world and in organisations in general. Therefore, honesty could really prove itself as the future trend. The workshops demonstrated that honesty should start with every individual. And with honesty, ethical behavior follows. Design should not be an exception, with the role of designers being the flag carriers of this new trend. Their role is to convince the clients that behaving honestly with the peer community could be beneficial for both sides.
As this article started with the student Angela, it shall conclude with her thoughts.
"It is a much easier task to lie, bash, and market in an unethical way. However, designing truthfully takes patience, research, and skill. Not only will this make you a successful designer, but also help to rid the world of distasteful, misleading, unnecessary design. Most importantly, it's black and white; you have ethics or you do not."
This article has been republished with permission from Damjan Obal,
In a workshop led by Professor Michael Hardt (Icograda Vice President, 1995-1997) at the University of Lapland (Finland), students came together to discuss design and ethics, and the role played by designers in creating and solving some of the issues faced by consumers today. This case study, compiled by Damjan Obal, looks at how the students' projects challenge many of the common approaches to marketing and consumption, and how their proposed solutions and ways of thinking encourage designers to hold true to their ethics and design honestly.
Starting with a statement as strong and idealistic as "Honesty wins" is bold, is it not? It is provocative and yearning for attention or at least some kind of feed-back. Exchange student Angela Pavuk, started her presentation for the Design Ethics workshop that took place at the University of Lapland (Finland) with that exact statement and... it sure was bold and thought-provoking.
The challenge
A multi-cultural group of international students, diverse in every possible way, gathered at the University to discuss topics related to design ethics that were introduced by professor Michael Hardt. They discussed the philosophy of ethics, with such questions as: What is ethical? How can we as designers behave ethical?Starting by defining unethical behavior we were able to progress closer towards the main goal - defining propositions or a manifesto for behaving ethical as a designer. Did we succeed? Perhaps not entirely, but first steps are made and by realising the wrongs we are able to make things right again. Creatives and designers have the power to design ourselves out of this crisis of unethical behavior we are stuck in at the moment. Designers have the wit to persuade their clients that behaving ethical is the way to be successful in the future.
One thing stood out again and again when talking about design ethics was this before-mentioned honesty. 25 students' projects presenting unethical designs were the starting point for 25 potential solutions or better, upgrades. Honesty was the common factor and the following examples will try to show (and hopefully prove) that the future trend is honesty. And that good design is ethical, as Hardt stated.
The projects
Honesty should start within yourself as the project from another student showed. She exposed the fact that we are not satisfied with what we have and are therefore always yearning for something else. The grass is always greener on the other side, as the saying goes. Of course this desire is being used by various companies and we are being offered an instant remedy. The circle is never-ending and from a marketing point of view you could say "... and everybody lived happily ever after." But why couldn't we be satisfied with just the way we are, as unique and special beings? If we can be honest with and happy about ourselves, then we could break that circle (of satisfying needs that are nothing more than a marketing creation) and start behaving ethically.There was a clear dispute about the media, producers and designers that are being dishonest about their products, either by not telling the truth, hiding important facts (i.e., side effects) or deceiving the public. The dispute is omnipresent in general because it is so much more convenient to blame others for our consumerist way of living and our unethical behavior. But in the workshop students not only exposed the unethical designs, but they also proposed solutions.
A German student exposed the problem with baby milk formula products that are being used throughout the world. The problem occurs when mothers in less developed countries prepare the milk with contaminated water and without proper sanitation just because they lack the knowledge to know otherwise, but on the other hand they have trust in the products that is derived from medical prescriptions, advertising and other approaches. The results are sometimes devastating, even deaths occurred. Of course not directly because of the product itself, but the producer could have done more by just behaving a bit more ethical. The student proposed a solution with bottles already containing sterile milk.
Two girls, also German, were exposing similar unethical approaches with products labeled as healthy, light and appropriate for children. Packaging, product placements and advertising campaigns tell us that those products are better and healthier than others. With the use of images like women practicing yoga or children having fun at sport activities they create a positive brand. Customers buy their products because they are misled with the thought that they will become healthier, sportier, happier when consuming those.
It is obvious that the producers will continue producing these products, but the girls suggested they should be more honest and stop deceiving their customers with blind hopes. Part of unethical behavior is also the product itself. In the case of chocolate bars, ingredients such as vanilla are known to cause addiction. The solution could be to stop adding it and putting greater stress on exposing the fact in a "The honest snack. Without vanilla." way. Why not use the product as a platform to communicate something as important as that to your peer community.
When talking about the platform to influence the masses, the print media is still one of the dominant ones. It creates images and projects them onto its readers. As we have said before, it is in our human nature that we always want what we don't have. Lukas, a student from Slovakia, showed an interesting project about women's magazines that are quoted as lifestyle-leading, educational and even sophisticated. Since its beginning, humankind has honored its idols. In history they were gods, saints and rulers, nowadays our idols are movie stars and other celebrities. From magazine covers they look down on us with despise for us, "ordinary" folks. But are our idols even real?
The images looking at us from covers are retouched in Photoshop, weight reduced and certain parts enlarged. And what they are communicating is a simple message: "Don't you want to be like me?" Of course the answer is yes, but is it even possible to look as good as a model retouched for two weeks by seven graphic designers? Is it even real? In any case it is not ethical. Not even aesthetic.
The old Greeks have already known that perfection comes with the balance of body and mind. What we witness in these magazines has nothing to do with it and it is also proven that the projected images of our "idols" are driving us to the never-ending self-changing process. The question is, why is such unethical design even needed. We survived centuries surrounded with "ordinary" people, some even led happy lives with just being themselves (Can you imagine that?).
Lukas was even sharper when he pointed out that such magazines make its readers less intelligent instead of more educated, prepared for life, the latter being the slogan in most of those magazines. In any case, should they reconsider their strategies as, for example, Dove did with their campaign with more "ordinary" women posing? They should, and we are not talking just front covers and images inside. But will they? Nobody wants to make the first step, though that could be, as with the chocolate bar example, their competitive advantage.
In France, the movement against false representation and imagery has succeeded and the French Parliament is considering introducing a law that would require retouched images to sport a warning making it clear that viewers are looking at a retouched image. Perhaps that could be one way to move towards the humanistic basics, where the human as such is a perfect, unique creation.
Losing touch
Human beings are a species that has mastered communication and interaction skills above all. Especially with new media and information technology, the communication is ubiquitous. Always on, always connected to our peers. Designers have provided seamless interactions that are supposed to mimic real-life interactions. It has become easier to stay in touch with your friends, no matter the distance. But we have reached the point where individuals count their friends in dozens, even hundreds. Is such design really ethical? Favoring virtual communication instead of nurturing real, pristine interactions. Questions arose whether this design is bringing us closer or pushing us further apart with almost eliminating the human component out of interpersonal communication.One student's project exposed another ethical dilemma that arose because of new technologies replacing humans. She researched the recent and gradual replacement of clerks in stores by automatic cashier machines. The latter could mean not only job loss, but could also severely change the whole shopping experience.
Even if we know how to and have the means to shop via Internet, we sometimes like to go to the store just for the sake of being there. Clerks and other employees are just as an important part of it as the products we are looking for. The student had a couple of propositions how to design the experience and keep the automated cashiers. The stores could go through a simple redesign process and introduce "interaction corners" where customers meet with employees, receive advice, help or simply a kind word.
Kindness, happiness, warmth, peace and family. Words that could depict Christmas, one of the oldest and without doubt one of most known celebrations there is. Hanna, a Finish student from Rovaniemi - the place where "modern" Santa Claus is supposed to live - presented an ethical dilemma concerning Christmas.
The symbol of peace and family celebration has been transformed into a profitable product and therefore lost its core meaning. The Christmas season is stretched from October (somewhere even from August) until end of December and there are a lot of commercial activities connected with it (especially in places like Rovaniemi, Finland). People consume and spend much more during those weeks, because we are being misled to believe the expression of love for our family and friends corresponds with the amount and value of the gifts received.
Hanna's project concerned what the designer can do to help transform Christmas back into what it is supposed to be - a family holiday. Designers can help by promoting less consumerism and promoting Christmas through activities that strengthen family ties. Because designers have the power to influence people's wants and needs they can help make a difference and help promote true Christmas values.
Stop playing us!
People are simple-minded, yet we are not fools by default, so we shouldn't be treated as such. That was the message of one of the projects shown at the end of the workshop. Oli, the student presenting it, was annoyed by the abuse of ethical ideas to boost corporate sales.Corporations are now well aware that humanity is (or will be) facing serious challenges. But instead of trying to prevent the worse, most of them are using ideas such as sustainability and ecological thinking as buzz words to promote themselves as "doers," as those who are thinking about our common future. They are simply playing us. While they put pressure on exposing us to those (real) problems they offer us on the other hand a solution, a way we can contribute, by of course using (or buying) their products and services.
Oli exposed an example, where from every purchase of a water bottle, 10 cents is donated for cleaning the Baltic Sea. The designers usually play an important role in designing products that are supposedly ecological or sustainable and, of course, appealing. Consumers usually fall for the traps like recycled packaging, or text that tells us we are contributing to a common cause.
Last but not least, because the product is ecological or sustainable (production costs) and because with the purchase you are supporting a good cause, the price is higher. Well, at least that is what they tell us. As simple as that.
And it works both ways. Corporations make profit and you feel better because by simply purchasing a product you did something good. Or at least that is what you were supposed to think. But only a few consumers are asking themselves if consuming more and living a life in abundance with things you don't really need is actually helping make the world a better place.
Oli made a witty connection between this and the behavior back in the times when people were paying money to purge their sins. Back then people were afraid of the resulting afterlife if they didn't get rid of their sins, today the situation is similar. We feel bad about certain things and therefore we try to contribute to at least some good cause. And what better way than contributing while consuming. While we think we are doing something good, we could actually be contributing to an even bitterer outcome.
Campaigns for products mentioned before, like water bottles, are welcome, but the corporates should first be honest and second try to actually contribute to a greater good. The role of designers is perhaps the most important, because they have the chance to bring products and services that can't afford the big budget marketing campaigns to the masses. Products that are truly ecological or sustainable are usually from small-scale producers, even from developing countries. The designers could work as one of the links between both sides. We can help most by supporting fair trade and getting products directly from the source - then we also fully support the local community.
The findings
These are only a few examples where ethical dilemmas arose. It is quite easy to find examples of unethical design, but on the other hand there are also solutions available if you are willing to adapt and accept them. During the workshop students found out that at the moment we live in a world where healthy, sustainability, ecological and green are used as buzz words for making huge profits. Design mainly working in favor of corporate organisations being driven by profits. But it is time for a change in behavior, perhaps designers should be the first, an example to follow. The solutions or propositions shown by the students are all showing that ethical design does not necessary mean a cut in profit. It could actually be a business opportunity yet to be exploited.People are slowly getting fed up with the lies, they are loosing trust in the corporate world and in organisations in general. Therefore, honesty could really prove itself as the future trend. The workshops demonstrated that honesty should start with every individual. And with honesty, ethical behavior follows. Design should not be an exception, with the role of designers being the flag carriers of this new trend. Their role is to convince the clients that behaving honestly with the peer community could be beneficial for both sides.
The proposal
The student workshop did not result in a manifesto though the result of it is a checklist of things every designers should have in mind, questions he/she should ask before designing. The core being honesty about one self and honesty about the product or service presented. Poetic as it might sound, every designer should work for a common good. Meaning, wishing good towards others, the environment and our future generations.As this article started with the student Angela, it shall conclude with her thoughts.
"It is a much easier task to lie, bash, and market in an unethical way. However, designing truthfully takes patience, research, and skill. Not only will this make you a successful designer, but also help to rid the world of distasteful, misleading, unnecessary design. Most importantly, it's black and white; you have ethics or you do not."
This article has been republished with permission from Damjan Obal,
About the author
Damjan is a researcher/teaching assistant at the Institute for Informatics, FERI, at the University of Mariborand, Slovenia, and a PhD student (Interaction Design) at the University of Lapland.
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