The Ethics of Graphic Design? Social Commitment and Visual Communication.
A public seminar with Ken Garland, Richard Hollis, Silvia Sfligiotti,
Annelies Vaneycken and Annelys de Vet. The event is free and open to
all. RSVP to [log in to unmask] More info and map at
http://bit.ly/ucldesignseminar
16 March 2011 5.30pm
Old Refectory, Wilkins Building
University College London
Gower Street
London, WC1E 6BT
The process of translating messages into images or facilitating visual
communication is an activity that involves responsibility towards the
public on the side of the author. Even when occupied with commercials,
corporate identity, or other so-called non-political goals, designers
are actually making decisions towards the preservation and
reinforcement of social and cultural assumptions. Since the days of
the Modern Movement there has been a great deal of debate on questions
as to who the actual clients are and who should take part to the
negotiation process from which design emerges. A few years ago when
the Helvetica typeface, one of the icons of the modernist search for
the standard, celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, these questions
were revived, this time without attempts to agree on a set of rules.
This seminar draws on these questions, which developed alongside the
whole history of the graphic design profession, and explores notions
as design ethics, social commitment and public role of the designer.
The seminar will feature a presentation by Silvia Sfligiotti of
Alizarina Milan on the role of the user in the design process – do
designers work with, for or against the users? Annelys de Vet of the
Sandberg Institute Amsterdam and Annelies Vaneycken of Trans-ID
Brussels will also present on their recent works, in which visual
communication is used as a tool to chart and highlight tensions and
cleavages in culture and society. The seminar will end with an open
round table discussion with the participation of Ken Garland and
Richard Hollis.
This seminar has been organised with the support of UCL Grand Challenges
www.ucl.ac.uk/grand-challenges
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