Graphic Designers to stop Global Catastrophes?
Even the best graphic designer can’t clean up an oil spill, or save a negligent corporation.
Almost 2 months since BP’s riser pipe decided to spew millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the busted pipe continues to gush like a stuck pig.
Scientists, government officials, and various other types of experts have yet to find a solution, just as BP has failed to find a band-aid big enough to cover up this environmental (and PR) disaster. How will they fix the pipe? Who’s going to clean up the oil? Is my seafood safe to eat? With exception to special interests and lobbying groups, has anyone asked the dolphins about their feelings on this catastrophe? And how exactly does this relate to graphic design?
As graphic designers, we sometimes have clients come to us with “oil spills” in hopes that we can wave our magic wand and make the problems go away with the clone tool (that’s a photoshop pun for those who are not designers). Well, no matter how much of a rock star graphic designer you think you are, there are some messes that you can’t clean up. There are also some messes you shouldn’t even think about touching, or just like the oil clinging to our feathered Gulf victims, you’ll have a greasy mess that follows you around and drags down your career with the potential to hurt millions or billions of people.
If you haven’t followed me through the multiple oil slick metaphors, I’m talking about ethics in design. The subject is a big deal in a consumer societies, rivaling that of war time propaganda and it’s cultural effects on the lives of ordinary people.
Sometimes, we starving graphic designers have to make a decision between a paycheck and keeping our morals intact.
No one wants to have the millions of deaths caused by cigarettes on their conscience, so why would you use your graphic design skills to create ads for a cigarette company? Sure, you’re not handing that 17 year old kid a lighter, but you would be creating the ad that may entice them to pick up their first pack (which leads 50 years of puffing on those addictive tobacco products, then one day there is nasty cough followed by bad news and a hospital bed. Feeling guilty yet?). I’m sure you can think of at least a dozen industries within 60 seconds that have a major global impact on people, in a not-so-good fashion.
BP currently has its site redirecting at the time of this commentary to a “Gulf of Mexico Response” page that shows updates on how they are dealing with the already out-of-control situation. There are even detailed illustrations of their various efforts to plug the hole that have magically changed week to week, deadline to deadline ( I am assuming modified by a very frustrated graphic designer ).
But you know what?
When this is finally over, and the leak has stopped, and the sea animals are no longer being poisoned after 200 years… people are not going to say, “Remember when BP put up that nice website page that showed us how they were fixing the worst oil leak ever? That was wonderful!” Oh no, it’s much too late for that. If BP even survives the mess they’ve made, people will forever remember them as the jerks who put a smile on while protecting their own special interests ( to put that nicely ) with the monstrous oil leak that hurt the cute dolphins and messed up their precious beaches. You can’t fix that. So if you’re a graphic designer, consider carefully the next client you take on and the consequences of the part you play. Graphic design in modern culture is the front-line catalyst providing for access to the visual and emotional human experience.
Chose your clients carefully. Are they BP, Hugh Hefner or even the Marlborough Man? Don’t be a dolphin killer….
Are they someone you can truly create a message for that inspires positive change in the world, or are they asking you to clean up their oil spill? Self sacrifice does pay off when you can sleep at night and live your life with compassion and thoughtfulness!
Entertain this: The problem is not that the government did not have enough regulation in place. Any government east or west cannot do everything and should not be expected to in my opinion – specifically a government run by the people, as flawed as we all are. The problem is not that good people do not exist within the BP corporation that did not fight for what is right ( maybe just not enough of them ).
Perhaps the problem is that there are too many people within a global bureaucracy basing decisions on what may NOT be ethical or righteous, but because of the status quo and their own “bubble” of special interest. The consequences have been for decades denied, but can no longer be obviously ignored!
Long story short, we are now 40+ days out on any significant resolution. BP is not a new company, trillions have invested into drilling and discovery technology for decades industry wide. Compare the R&D funding for safety and response vs. discovery and production – it does not appear very ethical.
This commentary is dedicated to the lives lost in the explosion, their family and friends ( we have chosen to NOT talk about them within this conversation out of respect until now ). This commentary is dedicated to the lives that will be lost in the coming years due to this catastrophic event, both physically, indirectly and economically.
Ron is a notable designer within the music industry, and has worked for a full line-up of Grammy-winning artists and indie artists including Taj Mahal, Johnny Winter, Leon Russell, Derek Trucks, Gregg Allman and many others. Visit the website, click here.
Ron pursues a specialized agenda within the creative services sector, collaborating with his clients to maintain aggressive branding efforts. With the resources to execute corporate campaigns to imaginative logo design, he is personally involved in all stages of the process, click here.
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