Design as Manipulation. Design as Emancipation
Communication design is used to sell products – but even when it is not explicitly engaged in manufacturing consumer desire, design can function to conceal the impacts of conspicuous consumption and the socio-political-economic system through a process known as symbolic violence. While communication design can be used to reveal consequences, illustrate systemic dynamics and facilitate public processes – capitalism needs designers to promote consumption not to critique consumption! The values embedded in capitalism are reproduced by the design industry. Communication design serves not only to whitewash the destructive practices of corporate entities but to perpetuate the point of view of the culturally, politically and economically powerful. While there is some vague anti-consumerist and anti-corporate rhetoric in design circles – a cynical stance, on its own, will not transform the dysfunctional political systems. What is urgently needed in design is new form of politically, socially and ecologically engaged design practice. The work of building new social relations that can resist and transform political and economic institutions requires transparent, truthful and participatory communication systems. Designers must engage with social movements who have a legacy of creating agency and developing the means to see through oppressive cultural practices. In this way design can become a force for emancipation rather than manipulation. Presentation at Occupy Design launch January 2012
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Design as Manipulation. Design as Emancipation
- 1. Symbolic Violence: Design as Manipulation / Design as Emancipation Jody Boehnert EcoLabs - www.eco-labs.org @OccupyDesignUK Launch January 2012
- 2. THE STEADY STATE ECONOMY A Totem of Real Happiness
- 3. reas sur an c e fast climate Change Slow climate change £220 £220 £260 £280 £280 £300 BROWN ‘Green’ TECH African bush Canadian Beaver sparrows Honey bee Tech elephant Fig Trees Starfish bowhead tropical cameron whale forest £200 £340 Slow oil deplesion Tasmanian Slow oil deplesion Coral reef Amazon Forest £180 £340 Yangtze so ci al learni n g Boreal Forest River £360 £180 tech n o -fix E conopoly Enviropig £160 Hydrophere cereal hybrid £140 £380 Fast oil depletion Fast oil depletion Descent Energy Local Plan Atmosphere terminator gene £140 £400 Local Energy Lake Gulf of Descent ARAL Kalahari Kayapo Madagascan Victoria Mexico Plan Sea Devil’s Claw people Periwinkle Coll apse Transition £120 £100 £100 £80 £60 £60 fast climate Change slow climate change cr isis ori ent ed
- 4. £220 £260 £280 £280 Canadian Beaver sparrows Fig Trees Starfish E conop oly Ecology GAmes 2012
- 5. Design as Manipulation The UK advertising industry, worth £17,318M in 2008 (1.2% of GDP), has plentiful resources to communicate a view of nature that suits the needs of industry and convince the public that new products and business as usual are sustainable.
- 6. Design skills are harnessed to help advertisers communicate attitudes and values supporting consumer capitalism. Advertising offers highly paid work for graphic designers but a recent report by the new economics foundation found that ‘for every £1 of value created by an advertising executive, £11.50 is destroyed’ (nef 2009).
- 8. Symbolic violence is perpetuated through design. The design industry manipulates tastes, desire and identity to maintain the seductive power of consumer capitalism. Design serves the needs the capitalism system that is dependent on both the exploitation of nature and the invisibility and remoteness of this dynamic.
- 9. This visibility of corporate advertising marginalizes environmental concerns to the point of obscurity. Truthful information on the state of Earth’s systems cannot compete with the information overload by advertisers characterizing nature as infinitely exploitable.
- 11. Design as Emanicipation • Visualizing ecological literacy & sustainability • Supporting social movements (such as Occupy) • Politically, socially & ecologically engaged design practice
- 12. Visualising ecological literacy & sustainability Graphic by PIRC
- 14. Recent temperature changes GLOBAL STEP 2 Temperature Choice Models vs. Scenarios Bars show the range in year 2100 produced by several scenarios. 6.0 5.5 5.0 A1FI - Rapid growth, fossil fuel intensive. Temperature Rise, degrees Celsius 4.5 Temperature Rise, degrees Celsius. A2 - High energy consumption, rapid population growth. 4.0 A1B - Rapid growth, balanced energy sources. 3.5 B2 - Environmental preservation and local solutions. 3.0 A1T - Rapid growth, new, non-carbon, technology. 2.5 IS92a - "Business as usual" IPCC. 2.0 B1 - Environmentally and socially conscious global approach. 1.5 1.0 0.5 Scenarios A1B 0.0 A1T A1FI -0.5 A2 B1 -1.0 B2 IS92a 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 Year "The Game Plan" slideset release 1.0, March 13 2008 43
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- 18. The Oil Age. Information design by Dave Menninger. 2006
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- 20. Living Planet Report WWF
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- 22. EcoLabs www.eco-labs.org http://visecology.wordpress.com http://ecolabs.posterous.com/