Study Task 2 - Ethics

Discuss different perspectives on how Ethics impacts on the practice of Graphic Design.

How ethics impacts on the practice of graphic design:
Ethics can be defined by 'moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity' or by 'the moral correctness of a specified conduct'. Ethics impacts graphic designers, with having to acknowledge the consequences of the work that is produced and the relationships that are had with the client. (Glaser, 2016) argues that 'designers can give something their best shot but they can't guarantee their ideas will work, so they are in an unethical position to start off with when It comes to the client'. Roberts states that being ethical requires us to 'recognise the rights of others to have an opinion, even if it is contrary to our own' to which will help build better relationships with clients. In present day it is stated that 'who you work for is still the major ethical issue for a designer but in a less-engaged way' (Abrahams, 2016). Designers can refuse to work with some companies due to their morals not matching up, 'we won't work for petrol companies, cigarette companies, or drinks companies'. (Brody)

'ethical design in some sense is a response to a sense of political powerlessness: designers are urged to get off the fence and act'- Alex cameron (2000) a greater awareness of the world around design-politics, business, economics, science and technology- can only be a good thing, but the reality of the new design ethics shouldn't be taken at face value. 'we won't work for petrol companies, cigarette companies, or drinks companies' is it okay to be happy 'Being ethical requires us to recognise the rights of others to have an opinion, even if it is contrary to our own. This involves holding some tensions between self-fulfilment and the effect we have on others- compromising our desires is sometimes appropriate and inevitable.

Glaser’s argument is that graphic designers are engaged in risk and this is an unprofessional position. Designers can give their best shot but they can’t guarantee their ideas will work, so they are in an unethical position to start off with when it comes to the client If we leap forward to the present day, we see that who you work for is still the major ethical issue for a designer but in a less-engaged way.