- Looking ahead to our Ethic’s Assignment, I noticed that one of the options is to write about having to design a political ad campaign for a candidate that compromises your values or that appeals to a sensitive emotion in the viewer. The ethics of political campaigns is clearly on shaky ground (see Swiftboat Veterans, mudslinging ads, etc.) but does the moral burden fall to the designer his/herself?
- Certainly he or she shares the responsibility of any consequences that result from the ad, since a good designer can often turn a poor idea into an effective product. But is it the role of a designer to practice ethical policing of the content he or she is asked to design? I don’t know that I have an answer to this dilemma, but I would be interested to hear what everyone else thinks on this topic. How much should our moral sensibilities impact our work in the field? Should we be objective in our presentation of ideas? Is it even possible to be objective since our personality and world view is inseparable from our perspective as a designer?
- I think I just made my brain hurt with those questions, and I don’t want to jump all the way down the rabbit hole on this subject so I will stop there. Just some food for thought…
- On a related note, in honor of upcoming Super Tuesday I have included some links to political design theory sites as well as some current and ubiquitous political designs…
- http://www.barackobama.com/ (definitely the most design-erly site of the main candidates…)
