The author Politics of Design, a book that I found very inspiring and influential at the start of my MA has a new book coming out in July
Rubens new book, CAPS LOCK retraces the relations between graphic design and capitalism, and features strategies and practices of graphic design that challenge capitalism.
Ruben promoted he was presenting a talk for the Design Academy Eindhoven lecture series which I attended.
Notes from the talk...
Better design of products would lead to more consumers.
Design schools were made to create the products but also to up the consumer usage.
Ken garland first things first. More public design and less consumerism and capitalism.
550 pages. Needed to be larger to be complete in story as such.
First large agricultural society when at a larger level with a bigger society needed documents to make agreements as couldn't have a local trust community level.
1500s design was a working class profession often learnt by families. When printing developed the designer and printers role separated more and designers didn't know as much about the printing process itself.
The process now in which we have the designer who has money study and then made by individuals in China etc but not mentioned in the making of the item. The labour isn't mentioned and is ignored in the narrative.
Overwork and working hard is now seen as being ok and is in case exploitative. They then suffer from depression and work too long. We demand a lot from design students, where should be based on care not competition.
Within design its important to not work to have a healthy relationship and do it in a more enjoyable manner.
Neoliberal ideas starting in 70s then disconnected the hourly wage and production so that we produced as much but wage wasn't as high..unions were broken up etc.
Question how the economic model is to value one hour of one person very differently to an hour of someone else's time or work.
Speculative design.
If we are only answering the briefs of our clients we are not going to get away from our consumerist output. Started to create speculative scenarios and design and then were given money to develop this. Need to think about how these ideas can then impact ethically.
Shell speculating about how they will develop cleaner technologies but are at present doing the complete opposite.
Victor Papanec an obligation as a privileged person to help people not as privileged.
What design can do good idea but can become a situation where a charity is full of designers from a privileged background pushing how they think best to help on poorer individuals and groups. Cannot be an equal relationship.
Mutual aid. I help you we help each other. Social design at present is a designer pushing design out to others less fortunate.
Important thing to understand, think about immediate community instead of looking foe somewhere on the other side of the world or a community that you don't have any knowledge about.
Pandemic has helped with community aid/help and connections.
To end capitalism isn't a left and right argument it's a point in which we need to push for the survival of the planet and our species.
Activism is more than a gesture. Not making a poster whilst on the other hand exploiting individuals.
Google workers are unionising. Design is a collective project. Move away from individual designer and in the benefit of all our us to create a more healthy relationship and workspace.
Rubens work has influenced me greatly in DESM13. The way he discusses ethics of the designer and structures the different ideas and issues within design is really inspiring. This book comes out in July and I hope it will help me to work the ideas into my work and essay towards December.
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