Liz has a great article today on why graphic design is *not* essentially harmless.
All too often, technological/graphical designers have come to believe that they are working towards the *best* interface, as though there is a universal good. They fail to remember that design is culturally and politically situated. [If this is a foreign idea to you, check out some of the materials from Nancy Van House’s course – social construction of technology, configuring the user, bias…]
Graphic Design is NOT essentially harmless
Graphic Design is NOT essentially harmless (via zephoria)…
Edward Tufte, in his books, details the role graphic design has played in shaping history. Two examples that he goes into detail about – the cholera epidemic in London 1853 and the Challenger disaster of 1987. In the first case, good graphic design saves the lives of thousands by ending the epidemic, in the second case, bad graphic design causes the death of 7 astronaughts and the self-esteem of a nation.
More recently, a striking example of graphic designs role in shaping history arose in the election of 2000, where Florida’s very confusing “butterfly ballot” caused 6,000 Jewish senior citizens to vote for the well-known anti-semite, Patrick Buchanan. The Jewish senior citizens meant to vote for Gore, and had they done so it would have swung Florida to Gore, and therefore Gore would have been elected President.
adbusters is one of the worst offenders! its a dogmatic and nearsighted publication that successfully turned its originally great, well intended, subversive meaning to a style. sure they acknowledge a cultural and political context but their solution is one of black and white which is just as bad.
adbusters is one of the worst offenders! its a dogmatic and nearsighted publication that successfully turned its originally great, well intended, subversive meaning to a style. sure they acknowledge a cultural and political context but their solution is one of black and white which is just as bad.
Zak – this is interesting to hear. My association with Adbusters is from when it first came out. I’d love to hear more about why you feel it is an offender of this. Could you expand on this in a grounded way?