OUGD501 CoP2 Essay

How can graphic design publications be used as a force for social/political development and change?

Graphic design has a powerful influence over consumer culture and the way people think and feel about certain issues. It can be the face of political parties and presidential campaigns, promote health and social issues or be used to encourage consumerism. This idea that the basic function of design being to serve its audience, is an interesting topic, as many people are now of the opinion that graphic design has lost its direction and that in many senses it does not stand to serve its audience any more. Rather, they feel it exists only to fuel the overconsumption of our modern day consumer culture and to generate profits for corporations. This essay will demonstrate the different roles and responsibilities graphic design can take as a force for social/ political development and the individual voices of the designers involved.

The rise of the internet and new forms of media in the 1990s brought about a new wave of social criticism and awareness fronted by anti-globalisation. The idea of anti-globalisation, at the time, was to stop the growing number of countries that were becoming involved in a global economy through trade investment and corporate brands. McQunistion has defined anti-globalisation in her book Graphic Agitation as “people power vs. corporate power… grown out of concerns over the years for the imbalance of wealth that places much of the world’s land and wealth in the hands of the very few” (McQuinston, 2004). Maud Lavin in his book ‘Clean New World’ believes designers that do work for corporate clients are not given an opportunity to have their own voice. Many are instructed to design on merely an aesthetic level so companies can have the look they feel reflects them and that there is no in-depth design that can be extended beyond this.

The notion that designers who are employed by large corporate clients are unable to have a say beyond the basic visual communication such as the colours/shape of the logo, how it is packaged and the overall image the company is wanting to communicate to its market relies on the individual social and political responsibilities and choices of the graphic designer. This raises the question, does the designer want to continue to promote the production of unnecessary products through working with companies that rely on consumer culture or focus on creating long lasting design that benefits society? Lavin continues to suggest that there are multiple types of work a designer could do; one suggestion is that designers can work on corporate graphics for the financial aspect and the other being self-generated projects where they have the freedom to speak their own voice and indulge in creating design that reflects their own position and ideas. Artist/designer Barbara Kruger, for example, has managed to give her own voice to the design she creates. Through the political statements and social commentary that surround her work, Kruger has managed to influence design on a global scale through mass-media distribution using similar techniques as the large commercial advertisers whom she is critiquing.

In a lecture on ‘The Social Role of the Graphic Designer’ Pierre Bernard, co-founder of the design collective Grapus, talks about the designers and clients as co-authors. As with designing for a client’s specific needs or working with content for a publication that has already been determined, it is difficult for the designer to expand beyond the limitations the client has put in place ‘the client tends to consider communication as strictly instrumental, and the graphic designer as a neutral transmitter of his message’ (Bernard, 2015). This relates to Lavin’s idea of a designer producing work for a number of reasons, be it financial, to express personal views or social and political commentary amongst other things. Bernard believes in finding a balance between client and designer so both become authors, which will allow the designer to have a greater input into the client’s creative direction stating “If this important notion does not operate in the client-graphic designer relationship, then it becomes a service relationship only. And under these conditions, professional responsibility becomes a delusion.” (Bernard, 2015).

There have been many publications where graphic designers h­­­ave been able to directly comment on political issues, pressure for social change and challenge social taboos, most recently in the press was the French publication ‘Charlie Hebdo’. The magazine’s predecessor ‘Hara-Kiri Ebdo was banned in 1970 for its parody of the very deferential coverage of the death of President Charles de Gaulle.  To get round the ban they republished the magazine under the title ‘Charlie Hebdo’ using Charlie as a reference to Charles de Gaulle and the cartoon character ‘Charlie Brown’.  Since then it has become a national institution in France as witnessed by the recent public support for the magazine following the recent attack on its office in Paris. ‘Charlie Hebdo’, has in fact become so much of a national institution, the support for the magazine and what people in France, and throughout the world, saw as the right for freedom of speech was reflected in a comment made by the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy who said:

This attack is a national tragedy. This is a direct, savage attack on one of our most cherished republican principles: freedom of expression. Our democracy has been attacked. We must defend it without any weakness. Absolute resoluteness is the only possible response. Our nation is in mourning, struck in the heart; the Republic must gather assemble together. I call on all French people to reject the temptation of stereotyping. (Goldstein, 2015).

Visual satire has been around for many years since the birth of printing and has been used as a way of sharing ideas, for commenting on political and social change and enabling that change. Towards the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century, George Cruikshank, James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson started the tradition of visceral visual satire in Britain, both political and social, that still exists today. The rapid growth of this form of communication, particularly in cartoon form was due to a number of factors including relative freedom of the press and developments in printing technology leading to cheaper methods of production. Other contributing factors were an increase in knowledge, literacy and interest in social debate among the general population, an increase in the number of street artists and the influence of people like Lavater who said the mind could be revealed by gestures and facial expressions. (Bury and Mellon). One publication that gained attention was Nozone, which tackled a number of different topics during its eight-year span ranging from air pollution, crime, poverty and the police. Nozone gained international interest because of its political critique and sarcastic view on international affairs. The zine championed an independent attitude not wanting to conform to corporate notions of identity. This influenced the design choice of making each issue vary in format, content and style, getting different artists and designers to contribute each time.

Another example of how editorial design has been at the forefront of a social movement is the punk zine ‘Sniffin’ Glue’ started by Mark Perry in 1976.  Jorge Frascara et al defined as:

Nonspecific design aimed to encompass large groups of people often doesn’t reach out to many people at all, whereas design with specific direction targeted initially at a minority helps to uncover a larger underlying cause (Frascara et al, 1997)­.

Punk rock pioneered an anti-mainstream attitude during the 70s where young people expressed rebellion through clothes, art and the music they were making through a do-it-yourself ethic. The nature of punk meant that it didn’t gain much mainstream media attention, punk could not represent itself through the mainstream media without compromising its own nature. Sniffin’ Glue fit perfectly into this newly formed anti-establishment culture as it applied the same attitudes in the content of the magazine and the way it was produced. Fletcher commented:

Sniffin' Glue was not so much badly written as barely written; grammar was non-existent, layout was haphazard, headlines were usually just written in felt tip, swearwords were often used in lieu of a reasoned argument...all of which gave Sniffin' Glue its urgency and relevance (2001).

While the success of Sniffin’ Glue was partly down to its content, it is a strong example of how the medium of a graphic publication and its production methods were used to deliver the message to a large audience.

As well as being used as a tool for positive social and political change, graphic design can also mould into existing negative social attitudes and amplify them. One of the clearest examples of graphic design reinforcing negative social attitudes can be found throughout men’s lifestyle magazines. FHM and Maxim are now global brands found in more than 32 countries that generally show the image of men and women and men’s interests in the same way, despite the varying cultures of the countries they are sold in “it’s not a conspiracy as such, but the repetition of ideas and images in diverse territories can seem rather one dimensional and disappointing” (Gauntlett, 2008). The purpose of the design in these publications is to not communicate the ideas and thoughts of the designer, but to help extend the reach and views of the clients content to a receptive audience. Men’s magazines such as these adopt a humorous tone of voice and are in some way ironic in their delivery, ‘a mental health quiz in the December 2001 issue of FHM was promoted with the cheerful cover line ‘Will You Lose Your Marbles’ (Gauntlett, 2008). The use of humour could suggest that men want to read these articles tackling serious topics about relationships, sex and health but in non-serious ways (otherwise the magazines would only provide content on men’s other stereotypical interests such as cars and sport etc.) using this humour to make it seem like they don’t seriously need this advice. In terms of design aesthetic, the magazines employ simple design strategies such as obvious type hierarchy, bold colour and images being the prominent visual aspect of the magazines. This is a direct example of how graphic design, specifically publications such as men’s magazines, ignore the proposed social responsibilities of the designer. It can be argued that these magazines dampen individuality and in turn social development by defining large groups of people into fairly unoriginal common interests. The content is the main selling point for men’s magazines such as FHM, they have effectively identified their audiences and what appeals to them so the design takes a back seat. Frascara et al suggest that design alone cannot change social and political attitudes ‘when a communication campaign proposes a change in attitude... there must be a public benefit that the public can perceive’ (Frascara et al, 1997).

Graphic design can be, when used appropriately, a key tool in fostering processes of social or political change when combined with other elements. It would be impossible introduce a new law or regulation in society for example by visual communication alone, without necessary adjustments in parliament and the cooperation of the public. Likewise a brand or business wouldn’t be successful in the long term without the product/service being satisfactory to the consumer. However a there is a method of communication where brands can change people’s attitudes through advertising being the most significant force this is what Naomi Klien refers to in her book ‘No Logo’ as a lifestyle brand. Lifestyle brands often play a part in brand brochures and publications Lifestyle brands are an attempt to sell an identity, or an image, rather than a product. Advertisers for lifestyle brands make an effort direct attention to would use this product or what ideals it represents, as opposed to what the product actually does (Klein, 2000). “Advertisers for lifestyle brands make an effort to call attention to who would use this product or what ideals it represents, as opposed to what the product actually does” (Laskowski, 2010). Brands try to present themselves as more of a culture than an individual product. Rather than making factual points about the product, brands try to change the way you think or feel to convince you that their brand represents of a set of values or aspirations that you desire. IKEA employ a ‘lifestyle’ advertising technique in its catalogues, their goal is to become another way that people could see where the product could be integrated into their lives.

Graphic design which has a social conscious, or design with a sense of responsibility or concern for the problems and injustices of society, has begun to surface more often and many networks and organizations like Design Can Change, has now been formed to help designers understand their role within this kind of work. Graphic designer Ken Garland picked up on this issue of the responsibility of the designer and what graphic products where truly trying to communicate when he published his manifesto ‘First Things First’ in 1964. The manifesto proposed designers to re-evaluated and change the way they looked at their work. In it Garland suggested that designers diverge from consumer focused advertising and instead work towards design that has a longer lasting message (Émigré).

Maud Lavin’s view also coincides with Garland’s manifesto as she believes gradually from the rise in consumer culture ‘the designer’s voice has been relegated to the background. But the work would be empty if the soul of the designer weren’t in it’ (Lavin, 2001). Lavin believes it is still possible to take on projects and create design that aren’t self-directed and still communicate the thoughts and ideas of the designer. Often for designers their needs to be a strong emotional reason or cause to pursue – a need or design to communicate social or political change for their own voice to overflow into their design work. An example of designer’s desire for political change explored in Lavin’s book ‘Clean New World’ 1980s America during the ‘conservative revolution’. Cuts to social services were due to a radical turn towards capitalism ‘the eighties was the decade when the rich got richer and the poor got poorer’ (Lavin, 2001 pg. 95) down to a lack of government responsibility which pushed artists and designers to fill the political gap. Many activists emerged during this period one group in particular called Guerrilla Girls who focused their work to tackle the national problems in America. Guerrilla Girls used design techniques familiar from newspaper and poster propaganda to communicate their message as it was not being addressed in the media. An example is a poster created by the Guerrilla Girls in 1991 suggesting that a prisoner of war it’s treated better than a homeless person living in the US (fig.1).

In conclusion, graphic design works as a powerful tool for promoting social and political change but it is essentially down to what motivates the design to be created. When communicated appropriately examples show how graphic design can be used as a force for social change as it can drastically affect attitudes in society with the right direction and motivation. Social responsibility is a key issue that falls on to the individual role of the designer asking what they are aiming the design towards be it the audience or to fuel consumer culture and satisfy a client. For graphic design to continue as a worthwhile force for social and political change the designer must be self-aware in their own motives and ask questions surrounding the future cultural impact of their work. In this essay it has been shown that graphic design can be bland and conform to current general stereotypes where it is clear that the design has had no room or reason to voice an opinion. Using graphic design for the promotion of artificial needs in products that do not hold longevity will not encourage change. Instead it needs to be made clear from the early stages through identifying the reason or need to create design for it to move towards communication that contributes to a beneficial social or political change. It is also important for clients to establish a manifesto such as Ken Garland’s which has been successful in paving the way towards ethical design that communicates its voice effectively through equal involvement from client and designer. It is also important to realise not all areas of graphic need to promote change or impact society and politics to be successful but it has been proven through examples that it can be used for social change. 

Bibliography

Books:

McQuinston, L. (1993) Graphic Agitation: Social and Political Graphics since the Sixties. London: Phaidon Press Inc.

Lavin, M. (2001) Clean New World: Culture, Politics and Graphic Design. Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

Frascara, J. et al. (1997) User-Centred Graphic Design: Mass Communication and Social Change. London: Taylor and Francis Ltd.

 

Klein, N. (2000). No Logo. Great Britain: Flamingo.  

 

Gauntlett, D. (2008). Media, gender and identity: an introduction. London and New York: Routledge 

 

Websites:

K. Laskowski (2010), Lifestyle Brands: Selling people a constructed dream, [Online],http://www.visionofearth.org/social-change/lifestyle-brands-selling-people-a-constructed-dream/ [18 April 2015]

Bury, J. Mellon, A. (2015) British Visual Satire, 18th–20th Centuries. [Online] http://www.oxfordartonline.com/public/page/benz/themes/BritishSatire  [16 April 2015]

Goldstein, J. (2015). The Controversial Cartoons That Are Said To Have Inspired The Terrorist Attack Against Charlie Hebdo. [Online] http://thinkprogress.org/culture/2015/01/07/3608780/charlie-hebdo/  [16 April 2015]

Émigré. First Things First Manifesto 2000. [Online] http://www.emigre.com/Editorial.php?sect=1&id=14 [17 May 2015]

Garland, K. First Things First. [Online] http://kengarland.co.uk/KG-published-writing/first-things-first/ [17 May 2015]