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What is socially responsible design in web and print communication and how does this philosophy manifest itself throughout the design community and in the work its members have created since 2001?
History of social responsibility in design
In 1964, Ken Garland, a professional designer working in the UK, wrote “First
Things First: a Manifesto.” This manifesto was distributed in the form
of pamphlets and its message was broadcasted on live television. Garland addressed
the issue of being a socially responsible designer, and although it is not
the first mention of social responsibility in design, it is a milestone in
design history. He wrote that designers should not focus all their efforts
working in a way “which contributes little or nothing to our national
prosperity,” but should do work that would “promote our trade,
our education, our culture, and our greater awareness.” Twenty-two designers
signed the manifesto.
In 2003, Garland wrote an essay entitled “Responsible to whom, I’d like to know?” for the book Citizen Designer. In it he writes, “I continued to work in the same way after ‘First things first’ as I had done before.” Meaning that he worked in exactly the same manner as he had asked others not to in his manifesto: contributing little or nothing to national prosperity. Garland’s dilemma became a representation of how numerous other designers felt: desiring to use their influence on society in a positive way, but not yet taking action in that direction.
However, in 1999 Garland’s manifesto of 1964 was rewritten. It was named “First Things First 2000,” and was signed by 33 designers. In this manifesto, a new appeal was made to designers to consider their influence on society, and to morally question the intent of their work. The writers renewed the manifesto “in expectation that no more decades will pass before it is taken to heart.”
What is social responsibility in design?
Social responsibility is defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary as “acting
with concern and sensitivity and being aware of the impact of your actions
on others.” There are degrees of social responsibility in design. Many
design firms perform pro-bono work for nonprofit organizations, a socially
responsible act, but in many cases the firms also represent clients whose business
practices are not socially responsible. Contrarily, there are design firms
that are fully dedicated to the ideal of social responsibility. How does this
ideology manifest in their print and online work?
Social responsibility through clients.
For a design firm, one aspect of social responsibility is being conscientious
of what the firm’s clients produce and how they operate. Designing
can become a type of activism. By only accepting clients that practice fair
business tactics, as well as sell what the designer considers to be an honest
product, a designer can promote what he or she feels is the “right
thing.” This activism most often manifests itself in work for nonprofits,
for cultural and educational institutions, or for brands that employ honest
business practices.
A design firm based in California called The Change Brand Strategy and Design
(a.k.a. The Change), is a perfect representation of a firm that practices this
type of social responsibility. The firm believes in working with “honest
brands.” They support and promote these brands through their design work.
They are wary of supporting non-socially responsible brands, and therefore
must be selective with their clientele, often sacrificing large profit in order
to do what they see as aiding in the betterment of society.
Social responsibility through green practices
Another form of social responsibility in design is being environmentally cautious.
Designers are responsible for a large amount of paper waste (the paper industry
is the third largest industrial polluter in the United States). Being environmentally
aware can influence what materials a designer uses, but it also influences
how they approach their designs.
Another Limited Rebellion (a.k.a. ALR), a design firm in Richmond Virginia, is a strong example of a group of designers who are socially responsible through environmental awareness. Like The Change, this firm believes in only representing honest clients, but they also strive to create products that generate a minimum amount of waste and do as little harm to the environment as possible. They work strictly in adherence to the “Three R’s”: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Regardless of the hurdles this method of design introduces, they feel that greater good comes from the end result.
Social responsibility through education
Another way designers are showing social responsibility is by giving to the
community in a more direct manner. The Public Design Center (a.k.a. PDC),
a nonprofit organization based in Mississippi, offers free design workshops
and consultation sessions to small business owners in underserved areas as
well as to nonprofits that serve those communities. The purpose of the center
is to educate local residents on how to best promote themselves and to provide
them with the skills to improve their communication materials.
The importance of socially responsible design
The most powerful tool at the disposal of a designer is effective visual communication.
It seems that the convention of the design industry is to use this tool to
gain the highest profit with disregard as to how it affects the world socially
and environmentally. Incorporating social responsibility into the work of
a designer allows him or her to promote better values, empower people of
lesser means, and increase care for the environment. This project explores
socially responsible design through interviews conducted with three designers
who changed their lives in order to practice it. By consulting the
founders of The Change, ALR, and PDC, a more clear conception of their intent
and philosophy will be unearthed, paving the road to an understanding of
how and why these designers decided to sacrifice the presumed security of
convention for something that they believed was better.
ABOUT
The Office
Another Limited Rebellion is a design and marketing firm in Richmond, Virginia,
which strives to provide environmentally friendly design solutions for clients
whose work benefits their own community. Noah Scalin, president and art director,
founded ALR in 2001. ALR has three people working for them. Mica Scalin is
responsible for social marketing; Kristin Murray, is the assistant, and Jo
Lord, is the copywriter. It is a relatively small firm offering many services
to their clients that help to establish or improve brand image development.
Their clientele ranges from start-up businesses to established companies that
want to redefine their image.
The Services
ALR offers what they call design therapy, where they work closely with clients
to ensure satisfaction from the design produced. Therefore each approach
to each client is uniquely based on their own needs. They offer branding
and re-branding, P.R. and marketing services, believing that “a consistent,
powerful graphic presence is essential to getting your message heard in our
increasingly oversaturated world.” ALR also teaches workshops on how
to practice marketing, branding and design in an environmentally and socially
responsible style.
Green Businesses
The newest service ALR offers is socially responsible business consulting.
The intent of this service is to educate businesses on how to be sustainable,
and environmentally friendly. ALR is well equipped to perform this service
as they have conducted their business while practicing these values for eight
years. This is what sets ALR apart from so many of the other design firms
that offer branding, marketing and P.R. services: they have been able to
provide these services while being environmentally responsible.
HISTORY
Before ALR
Before starting ALR, Scalin worked full-time as an art director at Troma Entertainment,
an independent film company, and then at Avirex, an international clothing
company. During this time as an art director, he also worked freelance as a
graphic designer, which allowed him to do the design work that he enjoyed for
causes that he believed in.
The transition
In order to make the transition into starting a business, Scalin told himself
that he would have to spend 51% of his time doing freelance work and then
he could quit his day job. It took him six years of working nights and weekends,
but in the end his hard work paid off. He moved from NYC back to his hometown
in Richmond, requiring less overhead to run his business, which enabled him
to be more selective when accepting clients on an environmentally friendly
basis. He said, “I think a lot of people assume you have to make compromises
when starting out, and I didn’t want to. I want to do things my way.
I want to enjoy the work I do, and I’ll find a way to do that.”
The Idea
According to Scalin, the whole point of the ALR venture was to create an example
of an environmentally friendly business for other entrepreneurs to follow.
He grew up as an activist and believes the way to change the world is to
live the way you want it to be, thus showing people that authentic change
is viable. “People had been taught for too long that they had to hang
up their beliefs when they got to work because you have to make money, and
money is made by doing horrible things. I just couldn’t accept it.
There was no way I was going to spend my days doing something horrendous
and then spend my nights and weekends trying to make up for it. I'd never
get out of the red. I didn’t want to try to balance the scale. I wanted
to tip the scale to good if I could.”
The two things that he wanted for ALR were to work creatively, and to be fully comfortable with the type of work he was producing. His experiment was to show that you don’t have to sacrifice one thing for another. The only thing you may have to sacrifice is money, but after eight years, Scalin feels that he has not sacrificed much.
How it took off
When ALR first started, Scalin advertised his business solely through word
of mouth. He began talking to people about being socially responsible and
how his business was so. Although onlookers were initially skeptical of his
unorthodox approach, he maintains that simply talking about it confidently,
and delivering high quality results is what made the business successful.
Scalin used the environmentally friendly work that he created as a marketing
tool. It showcased the type of work he could and would do for prospective
clients. As is turns out, Scalin’s method of business caused little
sacrifice in terms of quantity of work, as ALR rarely turns down clients;
it generally attracts clientele that share similar beliefs.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Social responsibility principles
For eight years ALR has been functioning successfully under a socially responsible
model, which has seven principles. First, they provide designs for people and
companies that benefit the community around them. Second, ALR will not work
with clients who are involved with the creation of cigarettes, alcohol or weapons.
Third, ALR will not work with clients that have been involved in labor disputes
or disputes of environmental practices. Fourth, they attempt to make designs
that create a minimum amount of waste and do as little harm to the environment
as possible, believing strongly in reducing, reusing, and recycling, in exactly
that order. Fifth, ALR encourages clients and printers to use only environmentally
sensitive printing processes and materials. Sixth, ALR does pro bono work for
nonprofits with limited resources. Last, ALR donates 10% of their profits to
nonprofit organizations.
How to be socially responsible
When considering whether or not a prospective client benefits their community,
ALR prefers to keep this criteria loosely defined so that it is not restricted
to green businesses and nonprofits. They simply ask themselves, “Are
people doing something that is good for the community?” It can
be theater, activities, even a dating service, so long as it has a positive
effect, it is viable for ALR.
The three r’s
ALR would rather reduce the materials they use than cause the production of
more recycled materials. If reducing is not possible, they try to reuse.
And, if the first two aren’t options, then ALR will use recycled materials.
Each job has to be determined on its individual merits; there is no green
template for clients. It’s about working with the client and the project,
then finding what is the greenest possibility. Technology and materials keep
changing, so they believe it’s not about being perfect, but about doing
the best they can do. Most importantly, they want to make informed choices.
Social responsibility through awareness
Scalin says, “I think once you understand the issues you do your best
to make it better. It’s never going to be perfect and I think that’s
important for people to understand. I think people give up when they think
they can’t do it perfectly and then they don’t do it at all.” ALR
knows that environmental design is not a perfect science by any measure, but
they do their best to try to use materials that are recyclable, to discourage
clients from using things that are going to create unnecessary waste. It is
important for them to keep in mind that the work they print will quickly become
trash. In order to avoid that outcome they aim to create beautiful designs
in hopes of increased product longevity.
Environmentally friendly materials
In terms of the materials they use, ALR tries to never use plastics. Scalin
suggests recycled and uncoated papers as they can be recycled more efficiently.
They refuse to work with PBC, which is commonly used for banners and signage.
It is reported to be extremely toxic, so when ALR works with a client who
wants banners or in-store signage, they work hard to replace that with other
options. Scalin says that the end results have been things that were interesting
and that the challenge of finding materials to work with has been fun. For
example, ALR worked with Ellwood Thompson’s Local Market, a local grocery
store in Richmond, Virginia, to make in-store signage that would promote
local farmers. There solution was to print directly onto FSC certified plywood,
and use water based coating sealant. The client was extremely happy with
the creative solution.
The complex equation
In order to be environmentally conscious, ALR must also be aware of material
production and transportation. Transportation of materials is important to
consider because of the energy it requires. Trying to determine the most environmentally
friendly solution can become very complicated. The questions include "is
it better to use a slightly more toxic locally sourced material or non-toxic
geo source from halfway around the world?" ALR believes the answer to
these questions come from awareness.
The printing process
With new technology, there are very little fossil fuels currently used in inks.
Manufacturers use other oils, such as soy, in a popular ink called Zoink. This
illustrates that, overtime, choosing to work in an environmentally responsible
manner has become easier. However, when it comes to printing materials, there
really is no best choice. One can only work in a way that reduces waste, but
never eliminate waste. ALR works with printers who print gang runs (printing
many orders at once, on the same sheet of paper), this is a much more energy
and material efficient.
Working with a printer that tries to avoid pre-consumer waste is important. Sometimes simply changing the size of something can help reduce a lot of paper waste. There are standard paper sizes for things, but not for any specific reason or necessity, so it helps to move beyond those norms to be efficient.
Green is good for clients
According to ALR’s philosophy, every aspect of environmental design benefits
the client. By being more efficient with fewer materials, the client saves
money, and therefore can make more profit on a product. Working this way also
allows ALR's clients to market themselves as green, which is positive for their
image.
Awareness
Scalin says, “The most important thing one can do in trying to be an
environmentally conscious business is to be aware that there is an issue, and
then try one's best to not contribute to the problem. It helps to talk to clients
about the choices they can make, and about the impact their choices can have
on the environment. “ Scalin says that it is hard to see tangible effects
of his work, but he does know for certain that some clients have made different
choices because he asked them consider different options.
Tangible positive effects
ALR has written a blog and newsletters for years. People told Scalin that they
read his words and made different choices because of them. But, he says,
he can only assume that he has contributed to a larger shift in environmental
consciousness. When Scalin began ALR and began talking about socially responsible
businesses, people did not know what he was referring to. Over the course
of those eight years, society has changed, and people are beginning to understand
his business practices.
Intangible positive effects
Scalin believes that he has helped sustain an interest in environmentally friendly
business practices and helped show people that there is potential for success.
He says, “I am sure that people have at least been holstered by that
fact. You can only effect what you can effect, so I try to influence positively
the people I come in contact with by the way I live, the way I work, the
things I do. I can only hope that that little bit of positive energy coming
out of here slowly works its way to others who take from that, and influence
people that they encounter and then from there, things incrementally get
better.” Scalin remarked that he was happily surprised to have seen
a positive shift towards environmentalism in his lifetime. He envisioned
a much slower change, but feels he’s been fortunate to witness a change
in his lifetime.
ADVICE
Words of Wisdom from Noah Scalin
During an interview on May, 05, 2008 Scalin offered advice to aspiring designers
who want to be more socially responsible.
“Because this is becoming mainstream and because there is more interest books are coming out about. There are two books about green design specifically that are coming out in the near future which will serve as handbooks to highlight the best practices designers can use right now. But these best practices change so the best thing a designer can do is educate themselves and stay educated and keep researching because it does change. Read blogs like www.treehugger.com. There is a lot of information specifically for graphic design but one can extrapolate the information from industrial design and architectural green sites and apply it to their own work.”
“Part of it is just talking to people. The ability to work with a printer or manufacturer towards your goal of practicing greener is all a result of expressing your concerns. I worked with a sign company recently, locally, that wasn’t green at all and I said I want to make some green signage what’s the best you can do and it was a challenge for them and they were able to come up with some solution. Graphic design is a puzzle. It's not about using a computer or being an artist, but being a problem solver. The problem has usually been how can I get this done with this much money and this much time and just one more piece of the puzzle is to figure out how to do it environmentally friendly.”
PUBLIC DESIGN CENTER
ABOUT
What they offer
The Public Design Center, PDC, is a nonprofit design resource center in
Starkville, Mississippi. At its most basic level, PDC is a place where
people come to receive help with their designs, whether it is in print or in
web. Most people that frequent PDC are not looking for intensive revisions
on their design projects, but just want some direction. The motivation for
the founding of PDC was to help communities that live in the poorest regions
of Northern Mississippi. PDC identifies these underserved communities using
a GIS (Geographical Information System), which gathers census data that verifies
regions that are under the poverty line. Their services are offered free of
charge to the people living in those regions.
Who they are
Clifton Burt and Kate Bingaman-Burt, founders of PDC, partially fund the center.
Burt is a freelance graphic designer and Bingaman-Burt is a tenure track
professor in graphic design at Mississippi State University. PDC is also
funded through private donations and revenues earned through their workshops.
Burt splits his time between acting director of PDC and freelance work. PDC
is not their main source of income as they feel that forcing the resource
center to be a money-generator would create pressure to make changes contrary
to thier founding ideals. However, once appropriate funding is received through
grants and official sponsorship, PDC will become self-sustaining.
The board
On the board of directors at PDC are Randy J. Hunt, a reputable socially responsible
designer, Kimberly Brown, a New York architect, and Jason Coomes, a visiting
professor at Rural Studio, a socially responsible design school, whose work
has won many prestigious awards.
HISTORY
How it began
PDC was the result of ongoing conversations between Kate and Clifton. Their
conversations began in late 2006, and were centralized around the topic of
the possibility that the power of graphic design could be a service to more
than just those clients with the largest budgets. They decided to start a nonprofit
organization as a side project to address the issues they were having with
their field. Their first step was listing what they knew: most designer/client
relationships end in frustration because time and billing systems can be skewed
severely against the un-savvy client. During this time they established their
belief system, and in January of 2007 the Public Design Center was born. In
March 2007 they received their nonprofit corporation designation from the State
of Mississippi, and in September they moved into their storefront space, becoming
a public resource.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILTY
PDC beliefs
As stated by Clifton Burt, the PDC works by a system of beliefs:
-We believe in the ordinary person.
-We believe that access to professional design should
not belong
solely
to those with the resources to afford it.
-We believe that good design solidifies purpose and
lead to
successful outcomes.
-We believe in open communities, open projects, and
open source.
-We believe in low budget, re-use, and other real-world
solutions.
-We believe that small actions have a large impact.
The goals
According to Burt the goal of the PDC is to break down barriers: class and
racial barriers, and design elitism barriers. Burt states, “The goal
is to give permission; the permission to make. Everybody in his or her life
has permission-givers or has had one. Mentors, I guess is what they are often
called and most of the time it’s not really knowledge that’s
passed down from mentor to student, it’s permission. Permission to
like a thing, hell permission to love a thing be it lettering, woodworking,
cooking, etc. It usually plays out like this: “Oh, I didn’t know
it was okay to like [insert thing here]” Permission giver “hell,
yes it’s alright. I’ve built my career on it!” And now
that kid doesn’t feel weird about liking it anymore. Priceless.”
Drop-in consulting
The PDC employs many methods to fulfill their role as a resource center, including
consultation, libraries and workshops at no charge. They believe that providing
the tools and access to them are the key components to helping people. They
offer this by operating in a storefront workspace where they are available
to help with any design questions. They are available for drop-in consulting
two hours each day, Monday through Friday. They open their doors to
anyone who is seeking input on their projects. People who make use of these
services range from nonprofits serving the community to small business owners.
Examples of these nonprofits are Europa Arts Council, the Historic Armenian
Houses, Brickfire (a local daycare for disadvantaged kids), and COCO center
(a center providing resources for the residents of the county).
Who they help
During their free drop-in consultation periods, the staff at PDC are not selective
about who they help. It doesn’t matter to them "if you’re
the mayor or a bagger at the Piggly Wiggly," if you’re working
hard on a project, they want to help. And if they don’t know the answer
to a question, they stress that they will at least help to find the next
step.
Workshops
A big part of what the PDC offers is workshops. They are offered three nights
a week on different subjects, split 50-50 with print and web topics. Some
of their most recent workshop topics include Hands-On Screen-printing, Basic
CSS, and a Logo & Identity Workshop. They decide what to offer based
on usefulness. When creating a workshop, they ask themselves, “what
is really and truly useful to people?” and reflect on the questions
they are asked most often. The workshops cost fifteen dollars for the general
public, but if you come in with a wooden nickel, then it is free.
The wooden nickel
Simply put, the wooden nickel is a token for a free workshop. It is a way to
invite people that PDC has targeted through GIS. So far PDC has handed out
550 nickels, the majority of them going to nonprofits that are serving the
community and the rest to small businesses, especially those owned by emerging
members of the community. The idea of the nickel itself came from wanting
to hand out something tangible, not just verbal, and not just a “crummy
piece of paper”, said Burt. Burt had seen them before at Mardi Gras,
and thought they would be perfect for this cause. For Burt, the wooden nickel
is representational of PDC's overall intent: to help people.
Lab and library
The PDC is currently developing a computer lab, with Macintosh computers and
Adobe software that the public will be able to access if they do not have
their own equipment. They also offer free server space for people who they
invite to be on their server; these people include the nonprofit organizations
they have been working with. The PDC also offers a free library for people
to reference, which is open to anyone at anytime.
New features
The PDC is always looking to change and improve their work. One of their upcoming
improvements is PDC.net. It will be a web design resource center on the internet.
The intended audience for the site will be people who work to serve others.
The site will present one simple idea every two weeks on how one could use
web skills in a charitable way. It will provide checklists, tools, code ideas,
and templates. Burt says that everybody who is a web coder knows plenty of
people who need help, but it is often overwhelming to try and meet all of
those in need. PDC.net will have the potential to help a massive number of
people at one time through the new topic presented each week and through
the archives of previous topics.
Plans for the move
Another new edition, as Burt puts it, is PDC 2.0. In September of this year
the
PDC is moving to Portland, Oregon, where Kate Bingaman-Burt will be teaching. They
see this move as a time to revamp PDC, and a time during which they can eliminate
any aspects of PDC that do not work. The goal is to create a much more cohesive
and focused organization. PDC wants to start what they are calling CityStudio.
The idea is to gather all artists in Portland into one large community by having
them teach workshops, in their own workspaces. The workshops would be organized
and funded by PDC. The workshops in Mississippi have served as a trial run
for their next step in Portland. They expect to be in a 1500 to 2000 sq. ft.
space within 1 year, which will be their new headquarters for workshops, demos,
tools, the PDC libraries, etc. The PDC as a whole plans to reduce in quantity
and increase in quality. For example, instead of offering workshops three
times each week, they will only offer two each week and make them much more
efficient. According to Burt, their “core belief is ‘do less, better’ or ‘do
one thing, but do it extremely well’.”
A client’s view
Words from the Europa Arts Council, a client of the PDC.
Being current President of Eupora Arts Inc., with a limited time left in my
tenure, I wanted to begin thinking about our image, not only in our town and
county, but within the state and region. Visibility is an enormous concern
with everything cultural: How do we begin to compete with home entertainment?
How do we break down stereotypes of cultural, racial, and economic divides?
Many towns in rural areas have energetic people and affordable properties in
towns and cities that yearn for rejuvenation and revitalization. How can we
be a strengthening aspect within the community? How might we provide an example
to other small towns and other struggling arts development councils to provide
ideas, guidance, and support? How might we align ourselves with our state arts
organization?
How they helped
These are some of the questions asked in a session with the PDC. Some of these
are not specific to the PDC mission, but the general experience extends well
beyond any one mission but can give guidance to drive conversation in the
most profitable direction. The PDC offered web hosting and secured a domain
for Eupora Arts and has kick started our online presence. My experiences
with the Public Design Center, though somewhat brief, have all been extremely
energizing. I’ve appreciated the casual grass-roots approach to empowerment
through education...though that puts an elitist spin on the very approachable “here’s
what we do, or have done, and this is how we might be of service.” The
PDC listened to our situation, our mission, and our vision of the future
and both provided direct service and prepared recommendations for the future.
Faithfully and sincerely submitted, Dylan Karges
Positive effects of the PDC
When asked if he had seen positive change from his efforts with PDC, Burt said, “Definitely.
Excitement. And in this place, [Mississippi], that’s not easy to come
by. Excitement from the people who come into the PDC, whether they are young
or older, or students or community members. They are excited to make things.
Good things. One thing that is often said in here is ‘doesn’t that
just make you want to make stuff?’ And it does.”
Words of Wisdom from Clifton Burt
During an interview on May, 07, 2008, Clifton Burt offered advice to aspiring
designers who want to be more socially responsible.
1) Love the craft of communicating through proposals. Talk is nothing. Specific details written in proposals are everything.
2) Think a year ahead. It takes time to develop projects and programs and to line up the funding.
3) Release early and often
4) Make rad stuff
THE CHANGE STRATEGY
ABOUT
The office
In 2004 Jerry Stifelman founded The Change with the idea of promoting companies
that he defined as “good”. These “good companies” work
towards the betterment of the world with every action they take. Working along
side Stifelman are Chelsea Bay, the design director, Tracey Oliveto, director
of blogging and copy editor, Sami Grover, director of sustainability, Mary
Wible-Brennan, director of client services, and Racheal Wussow, designer. Feeling
that creating an image of what the company represents is the most effective
way to send a message, The Change focuses on brand development.
The services
In the context of brand building, The Change offers the design of logos,
hand tags, web sites, advertising, direct mail, and email promotions. Their
aim while producing any of these materials is to express the personality and
message of their client’s brand. The Change works to educate the consumer
on the product or message that the client wants to send out, keeping in mind
that the consumer may not be aware of these companies good business practices.
The goal
“Our overarching mission is to grow demand for positive change in the
world,” says Stifelman. The Change believes that the world’s most
successful brands are ones that are authentic and purposeful; they believe
that the truth is everyone’s best tool, and through truth The Change
tries to increase sales growth and raise a perceived value for these good-for-the-world
brands.
HISTORY
The beginning
Before founding The Change Strategy in 2004, Jerry Stifelman worked for a decade
as a brand strategist, creative director and writer for major brands including
Banana Republic, Sprite, and Puma. Having reached a point of relative success
in his field, Jerry felt that he wanted to take his talents to the more sustainable
and greener side of marketing. The Change was started, as Jerry Stifelman says,
by an evolving consciousness. Stifelman had started reading more about the
world, was becoming increasingly educated on trade issues and wanted to get
involved with fair trade. In 2001, he noticed that a fair trade coffee roaster,
Larry’s Beans, had opened in his area. He approached the owner, and asked
if he could work with him to recreate his brand and help promote what that
company stood for. While working on this side project, Stifelman developed
his philosophy that would eventually be the foundation for The Change.
The foundation
Stifelman says, “The way people make choices in the world is based upon
the kind of stuff we do at The Change. It is based upon brand imagery and sophisticated
marketing techniques. If those things are going to make a difference in the
world, they should make a difference for the betterment of the world.”
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Beyond social responsibility
When asked if The Change worked in a socially responsible manner, Stifelman
responded by saying that The Change is past social responsibility. To him
the term socially responsible means being passive. The Change is beyond that,
and has moved into activism. He explained that socially responsible companies
make responsible decisions, but that is not enough. As an example, Stifelman
said that in many ways Wal-Mart is becoming a socially responsible company
in the way they treat their employees, but their overall business model,
as Stifelman sees it, makes the world worse. The mission of The Change and
that of the companies they work with is to actively make the world a better
place.
Working within the system
“Two thirds of the earth is water. Nearly all the rest is market-driven,” says
Stifelman. It is true that consumerism is a large part of the western world.
The
Change understands this fact, accepts it, and therefore works within that reality
in order to better it. They promote products, yet they make sure that these
products are having a positive effect on the world, rather than contribute
to the problems of poverty, exploitation, and labor injustices. The Change
believes that “for the world to get better, people need to buy things
that make it better.”
Positive-impact criteria
According to The Change, there are elements in a product or message that go
beyond price and quality to somehow make the world a better place. Stifelman
refers to these elements as positive-impact criteria; examples include engagement
in fair trade, organic production, nonprofit organizations, etc. The aim
of The Change is to make these positive-impact criteria not only desirable,
but also common.
Authenticity
Defined by Stifelman, authenticity is having “a genuine passion and sense
of purpose.” Stifelman believes in brands that are authentic, where the
main goal is not about making a profit, but to provide a beneficial product.
His list of criteria for what makes a brand authentic are as follows:
A. It has a sense of purpose beyond just making money. If it feels like a marketing
ploy, then it won’t work (because then it's not beyond making money).
B. Authentic brands have a personality. A personality is how you act because
that's who you are, not how you act just to please someone. It's being genuine
with someone (note how genuine and generous have the same root?)
C. Brands that enjoy who they are. It's much more fun to relate to someone
who is happily engaged with being themselves. Brands that obviously love their
purpose in life, Ben and Jerry’s, Google, Ferrari, stand out.
D. Consistency. People think politicians are inauthentic because they keep
shifting their positions. If your packaging and marketing keep changing its
tone, then how real could you be?
E. All of the above.
The story behind the product
It is alleged that some big name brands have been involved with labor disputes
and detrimental environmental practices. The Change says that these practices
apply to the production of most products, and if these practices became common
knowledge the sales of those products would be decimated due to public outrage.
They refer to business practices as a “business’s story,” and
believe that those businesses that have “good stories” - those
that practice environmentally friendly and are socially respectful to their
labor force - have a tremendous advantage because they give people more for
their money by improving the world through their business practices.
Their clients
The Change only works with companies that make the world more sustainable,
more equitable, and more authentic. This is evident when examining their
first client, Larry’s Beans. This company works with fair trade coffee,
yet they don’t stop there. First off, they work beyond what is necessary
to be classified as fair trade. They also work in a socially responsible
manner with everything else they do. Their delivery trucks are run on vegetable
oil, their warehouse is renovated to become more energy efficient, and they
offer tours of their warehouse to educate others on energy efficiency. These
are the kinds of companies The Change represents: those who are actively
trying to make the world a better place in all aspects of their business.
In taking on a client
When taking on a new client, The Change spends a lot of time evaluating whether
or not that company works by the standards of a “good company.” There
are many different elements to consider to ensure that every aspect of a
potential client is working towards a greater good. Their latest client,
Aviva Love, a jewelry company that gives a substantial amount of their profits
to orphans in India, best illustrates this idea. The Change had difficulty
deciding if they would represent this client for two reasons. First, they
were not comfortable representing a jewelry company because of all of the
social injustices and environmental problems involved in gold mining. They
felt that the problems with gold mining outweighed the benefits that orphans
could receive from this company’s donations. Secondly, they did not
completely agree with Aviva’s use of a normal business model, despite
the fact that portions of their proceeds are donated to a good cause. The
Change was skeptical because in a normal business model, not all practices
affect the world in a positive way.
The Change spent many hours in candid conversation with this company about their concerns, and discussed with them more sustainable practices, such as using recycled gold, or green gold - gold that is mined by hand, is not as destructive to the environment, and can provide people with good fair jobs. The Change also researched the foundation that received the Aviva’s donations. They wanted to see if this foundation was doing something to change the system, rather than just taking orphans in, thus treating the effect, not the cause. In the end, The Change decided they could represent this company, because they realized that the founders were working towards the same goal as The Change.
EFFECT
The effect
When asked if Stifelman had seen an effect from the type of work The Change
does he responded with a confident yes. With Larry’s Beans, he sees the
effect on a local level. He has heard people say that they have become much
more conscious of the environment because of what they have learned going to
Larry’s Beans. He believes this company works as a portal for people
to think about the consequences of what they do.
How it grows
Stifelman has also seen effects on the rival companies of Larry’s Beans.
They have begun working with fair trade coffee, and delivering their products
with alternatively fueled vehicles. Stifelman says that this is common in the
free market, if a company institutes a change that is profitable, other businesses
will adapt their policies. An example of this can be seen in the Wal-Mart model:
their method of providing inexpensive products to consumers was lucrative,
so their model became popular among rival companies (despite the negative repercussions
on the global community). But with sustainability being an important issue
for many consumers today, running a business on a sustainable model is better
for businesses, say Stifelman.
ADVICE
Words of wisdom from Jerry Stifelman
During an interview on June, 05, 2008, Jerry Stifelman offered advice to aspiring
designers who want to be more socially responsible.
In general, the most successful designers and the designers who are the happiest
do two things very well. One is, they genuinely follow their own individual
sensibilities, and they really apply their hearts in what they do so there
own personal stance is a part of everything. It’s the union of two opposites,
because on the other side, in doing so, to truly respect, and see, and listen
to who they are designing for so not only is their art represented in what
they are doing and so they are using their heart to represent the essence of
their clients. In the work that we do, it’s very simple, if you have
the kind of mentality that we do, that you want to put your talents to work
to create the world that you want to see then you owe it to that mission to
exceed your competition on all fronts. In other words you better be a really
good designer. And we say that to all our clients. To be true to your mission
you have to surpass your competition on all fronts. We don’t want to
work for a fair trade coffee company that makes mediocre coffee; we don’t
want to work for a fair trade olive oil company that just is so-so. If your
not pursing excellence for the sake of excellence along with the other pursuits
you are doing in a more conscious way then you are not doing your mission any
good.
CONCLUSION
Socially responsible design in the new millennium
While there have been designers in the past who dedicated themselves to what
they called socially responsible design, the cause was undertaken by few, and
the movement was small and unorganized. However things seem to be changing
and the “First Things First 2000” manifesto is a representation
of that change. As Noah Scalin of ALR said, when he first opened his business
in 2001 people did not know what he was talking about when saying he wanted
to run a socially conscious business, but now, people do understand, and more
and more people want to get involved. Scalin believes that with time, all businesses
will be socially responsible, designers included.
And he is not alone in this thought. Veronique Vienne, in her 2003 essay, “In
a
Continuous State of Becoming: Design Responsibility Tomorrow” for Graphis
343 wrote, “In the near future, as a matter of course, we will take
cradle-to-grave responsibility for the objects we design. Our conscience will
demand it, our environment will require it, and - can you believe it - Our
clients will insist on it.”
Defining socially responsible design
As seen from the case studies, socially responsible design can take on many
different forms. Whether the form be environmentally friendly design, designing
only for businesses that have the best interest for the general public, or
seeking to promote design education to underserved people, the goal is the
same: to improve our world. The designers who act according to the principles
of social responsibility use their abilities of strong visual communication
as a means to this end, not only because it is what they enjoy to do, but
because they have the courage to listen to a part of themselves that asks
to improve aspects of the world that lie beyond their personal experiences.
The different designers that I spoke to all share a common mentality. In the least, they want to ensure that their work does not have a negative impact on our world. More so than avoiding having a negative impact, they want to do good through their work, to make a positive change. Their mentality is to not accept. To not accept the type of work that most designers are involved with, to not accept hanging their moral values along with their coat by the door as they enter their office. They embrace a mentality where they question the norms, and try to find a solution to better any problem that they perceive. As Clifton Burt from the PDC said, the goal is to break down social, economic and design elitism barriers.
This mentality goes hand-in-hand with strong self-awareness. Being socially responsible as a designer, and as a person, is being aware that your actions will have an impact on others. It also means keeping oneself updated on the environmental and social issues in the world, and keeping oneself educated as these issues and solutions continue to change. It is only with this education that one can truly be aware of how their actions will impact others and thus ensure that this impact will affect others in a positive way.
The future of socially responsible design
After doing my research, I believe the future of socially responsible design
in an environmental sense is hopeful. The idea of being green and being sustainable
is becoming more popular in the business and consumer world. With this shift
in thinking, we can have confidence that business practices will eventually
all become green.
But, what about social issues?
Sacrificing profit for the greater good of the world is not yet a popular idea
among all businesses. Considering that the core capitalistic purpose of a
business is to make profit, this solution becomes unlikely. However if the
heads of those businesses learn to incorporate their human instinct of compassion
into the goal of their businesses, the force of capitalism will have a real
positive effect on the world, socially and environmentally. Likewise, as
consumers become more aware of the effects in all respects of the products
that they purchase, the profits of businesses enacting socially responsible
policies will increase.
The future through recognition
The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is the largest professional association
for designers in the United States, and has an enormous amount of influence
on the design community. AIGA’s “365”, their annual competition,
is one of the most prestigious design competitions in the United States.
Although social responsibility in design is not a focus for this competition,
AIGA has run separate design competitions that are concerned with conscious
environmental practices. Still, beyond environmental issues, social responsibility
in design has yet to find a place in AIGA’s competitions. If social
issues became integrated into a category of the “365” competition,
that would send a message to all designers in the United States that those
issues are something to be aware of, and the overall mentality of the graphic
design industry could shift. The question is, will it happen?
The future through education
Socially responsible design could become integrated in such prestigious competitions
with the help of education. More and more academic socially responsible design
programs are emerging. Heidi Cies, a graduate of Syracuse University, commented “While
social responsibility is being discussed more and more frequently within
the visual communications industry and among educators today, no standards
or guidelines currently exist to aid in the implementation of these concepts
into the higher education curriculum.” As a remedy for this problem,
she made a website called “Creative for a Cause” (www.creativeforacause.org)
to serve as a resource for graphic design educators. On her site she lists
curriculums of schools that teach socially responsible design, provides a
list of successful socially responsible designers, and readings on the subject.
While this is a great resource for educators, it is also a great resource
for designers, a way for them to reach another level of awareness and to
possibly challenge and change their mentality.
A final thought
While discussing ideas for how socially responsible design has potential to
become more mainstream in the future, it is important to recognize why it
has not become a popular among graphic designers hereto. As Noah Scalin of
ALR explained when discussing how he started his business, the one part of
the equation he had to leave out was making sizable profits. He could practice
his design in a socially responsible manner, but it was not going to be extremely
lucrative. While he has always made enough to live comfortably, and to run
his business successfully for eight years, he has not made nearly as much
money as successful designers that do not concern themselves with social
responsibility. Clearly, money is one of the main reasons that socially responsible
design has not become more popular. However, Noah Scalin and other designers
have found a way work in a socially responsible manner and still live comfortably.
They act as facets of a prototype for a different type of capitalism. One
whose participants value success not only as monetary wealth, but as the
enrichment of the world through the recognition of one’s human responsibility
to act on compassion, empathy, and good will for others.