Last week Prisca asked us to read and think about “A designer’s code of ethics” by Mike Monteiro.

When it came to discussing the article in class I think Prisca was really keen for us to grasp the responsibility we have as designers, it is important to understand what a client might be asking of us and whether what our design is being used for is actually ethical.

I liked the principle of this, and it excited me to think about how important design is, and that we have a power we can use to make a positive impact on our society.

However, I did discuss with Prisca how my experience working in politics for the last 6 years has made me think cynically. In my political environment all of the energy of what we are trying to achieve is sucked up by political factions, and having not ever been in a position to ever be able to navigate that (no one trusts those not “in the group”) I have been more pragmatic and thought about making an impact in any small way is better than nothing. Doing that thing I think is unethical because later on I can use my position to do something better. I always thought that it was better to keep my head down, gain trust, bide my time, and then, and only then would I feel the power to say no.

In hindsight that has been pointless, I know that there are times when I have made a positive impact but I doubt those instances were sustainable.

After class I started to think more about why I work in this way, and why I have never been able to be honest about what I am willing and not willing to do and I think it is a feminist issue. Would being a designer really means that I would be able to tell someone else, who might be older than me, with a lot more experience that I think there is another way to do something. In a field which is mostly men? In my experience it will only lead to me being labelled “too bossy”…..

The day after I was listening to a podcast where the hosts were talking about how they had friends who work for the daily mail. They were surprised to hear from their friends that most of their journalist colleagues were a lot younger and far more liberal than you would expect. The reason for this was that in order for them to achieve their aspirations to write for a national newspaper they had to have experience working for a national paper. It is also the case that a lot of our national media is itself tabloid, and therefore journalists who categorically disagree with the output of their newspaper will keep their head down and get on with it. It is scary to think if they are not willing to do that, then what type of talent could end up in the broadsheets.

I think that explains my experience better, but…… I am here to learn web design not just because I love design but because Tim Berners Lee’s statement “This is for everyone” gives me tingles down my spine. And I strongly believe in equality and more important equity, and if I am asked to make a website for an organisation that is harmful to those views I will not be able to do that. And those journalist might see their experience as only experience, however the freedom of speech is not freedom from the consequences, so they might try and distance themselves from their work – but every single word they right can arguably have real world consequences, and if they were somewhere they could see the consequences would they feel the same, and more importantly are they free from the responsibility themselves?

I don’t think so.

Take this post as a note on my record, I will endeavour to always ensure my work is for everyone, and I will not stay quiet if something needs to be made better, especially when it is for everyone’s sake.

Kerning

In applied art for the web we all completed this test on kerning. And I was really surprised to get 94%! I have no background in graphic design, however I enjoy moving things around until “I feel that they look right” and so that is what I did here – I just moved things around until they felt balanced, or to describe this process more accurately, I move things around until it looked pleasing to me. I guess I have an eye for it, who knew?