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Hi David and all While ritual is an important part of much use of design, it is helpful to observe the governmental motivations behind the ritual, too. You write: --- Katherine Hepworth PhD Candidate National Institute of Design Research Swinburne University of Technology 144 High Street Prahran Victoria 3181 Australia Telephone +61 9214 6096 Facsimilie +61 3 9521 2665 www.swinburne.edu.au/design >>> David Sless <[log in to unmask]> 4/10/2010 2:56 PM >>> > Put simply, governments and other organisations want us to see that they care > about something, obviously in the hope that we too will care about it, or be > shamed into doing something about it. Governments and organisations are not motivated to 'show they care' without functional outcomes. There are definite governance advantages to the implementation of government brands and to public information campaigns, irrespective of how superfluous they may appear to the public or even the design community. Government activity tends to be directed toward maintaining the legitimacy of its rule, ensuring the security of its territory and ensuring the appropriate conduct of its citizens; government funded design activity is no exception. Politically motivated use of design in everyday situations (as opposed to heralded avant garde and national socialism-inspired design) is seldom discussed by design researchers, but is nevertheless a significant aspect of design use and practise. My phd is in this area. Warmly Katherine