On Nov 15, 2010, at 5:44 AM, toon wrote:
> So ethics should concern all designers, more than other people,
> because the impact of their actions are bigger.
Most of the time when I hear designers (and I mainly hear graphic designers) talking about "design ethics," I wonder how they see this as different from just regular old ethics. We shouldn't rape the environment, cheat people, or act as a smoke screen for evil. But who should?
The bigger impact point may be one legitimate area of specifically-design ethics.
Another is the political situation of a designer. Often (although far from always) a designer or a design firm is in the position of being the outsider that is involved in decisions. For instance, it's often easier for me as a graphic design consultant to bring up environmental issues regarding a project than it would be for an employee of my client. I can even inject an "outside" point of view to client concerns beyond the particular project I'm working on. This can put us in a position to help others act ethically in a way that most people cannot. In a way, it's less design ethics than consultant ethics.
For many design areas there are ethical issues (and, perhaps, issues that are not ethical per se) regarding originality and/or copying. This is a subject that particularly interests me right now since I'm in the middle of writing a book on issues relating to copying, appropriation art, copyright, etc. If anyone has related readings, issues, or directions you'd like to point me toward or if you would be willing to be an early reader of parts of the book, please get in touch with me directly at [log in to unmask]
What other ethical issues are there for various sorts of designers that are not general (i.e., non-design) ethical issues?
Gunnar
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