SE THE M IN THE NESS
EEKING METHOD E MAD- Written By Matthew Quito
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Copyright Š 2020 Matthew Quito, All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without permission of copy right holder.
Published By: Abbeville Press 655 Third Avenue, Suite 2520 New York, NY 10017 abbeville@abbeville.com Phone +1 (212 )366-5585
TO EVERY WHO WANT TO DO MORE, SAY MORE, & CONTRIBUTE MORE.
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“Whether we can do something with design that makes a difference in the world. Changes are not where the money is and are not what design has usually been called upon to do. I discovered that design is just language and the real issue is what you use that language to do. Now I’m at a point where I’m tired of talking about what kind of accents to use. I want to talk about the words that are being said.“ —Tibor Kalman
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MARKETING ADVERTISIN A HUGE ROL SHAPING OU SOCIETY — T WE SEE, THI DERSTAND A
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With over $180 billion spent on US advertising last year, the average American is exposed to over an hour of TV commercials, and as many 5,000 ads every day.
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VISUAL CULTURE
Where these activities have been discussed, the emphasis has been overwhelmingly on their textual manifestations (graphics, commercials) and, occasionally, on their reception. In the interest of working towards a fuller account of the overall circulation and reproduction of increasingly commercial contemporary culture, then, this turns to the generative source of these ephemeral artifacts and, in particular, professional graphic design practice. By paying especial attention to the framing of current debates about accountability and social responsibility within this profession, this seeks to explore the constraining and enabling effects of commercial practice. Advertising and design are readily distinguishable from other economic institutions because of their expertise in creating cultural forms of communication.
ECONOMY Advertising has long been recognized as an important cultural force by media and cultural studies scholars. Graphic design, despite its comparable ubiquity, has rarely been the subject of this kind of critique.
Further, these practices rely on the skills of cultural intermediaries: individuals whose job it is to develop these forms to mediate between, or more properly, articulate, the realms of production and consumption. Graphic designers, it seems, enjoy much greater latitude for personal expression than ad creatives – or at least enjoy a professional culture, or habitus, that supports debate and dissent through a variety of activities, and recognizes non-commercial design projects as legitimate forms of expression. While the designers interviewed here may claim that advertising is a creative practice entirely subsumed by commercial constraints, they also recognize that their own professional activities involve only a limited degree of subjective control. Those projects of personal and non-commerical needs, often indirectly funded by income from business clients, appear to provide more reliable means to creative fulfillment.
Graphic designers and advertising creatives (art directors and copywriters) fit squarely within this last category. Indeed, their working lives depend for their efficacy and ultimate success on a specific attunement to the swirl of values and tastes within culture.
This concerns the contemporary culture of graphic design practice in the USA and, to a lesser degree, that of its close relative, advertising. It is a response to both the general absence of critical approaches to the study of graphic design and to the dominance of textual approach to the critical study of advertising. More than that, they play an important role in lending traction to the contemporary routines of capital accumulation by articulating these values and tastes to the promotion of ideas, services and products.
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At the heart of this analysis is a short, polemical document called the ‘First Things First Manifesto’, which calls, in part, for a ‘reversal of priorities in favor of more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication – a mindshift away from product marketing’.
It continues as following: ‘Consumerism is running uncontested; it must be challenged by other perspectives expressed, in part, through the visual languages and resource of design’. Concurrently, the last decade has seen an escalation in the promotion of ‘culture jamming’ as a viable form of populist, anti-commercial critique. For many people this is most closely associated with the insistent editorial stance of the Canadian magazine Adbusters, perhaps known for its spoof ads deriding a whole range of ills associated with excessive consumerism and the corporate concentration of media ownership, and the promotion of activities such as Buy Nothing Day and TV TurnOff Week. It was also intimately involved with the re-
emergence of First Things First. These two moments – the manifesto proper and Adbusters’ framing of both First Things First and culture jamming – are investigated here because they are addressed at the intermediaries of intermediaries. Most significantly, they identify designers in particular as through potent agents of positive social change. Indeed, if it were not for interventions such as these, in which cultural intermediaries have tested the priorities of the commercial fields in which they work, then these professions and their associated activities might be far less worthy of our critical attention than their textual manifestations (as currently to be the case).
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THE ADVERT WE’RE CONST CONSUMING A PICTURE OF SOCIETY, THUS SHAPIN VIEW OURSEL WHAT MANY
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TISING TANTLY PAINTS It has become such a routine part of everyday life that we rarely stop to think about its significance.
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When advertising promotes unhealthy behaviors it can have very real, very negative effects. It has hurt our children, the American Psychological Association concluded, as finding a link between increased unhealthy food advertisements and rising childhood obesity, also in the connection between tobacco and alcohol advertisements with underage smoking and drinking.
Even more profound than influencing our consumption behavior, advertising has the ability to shape our aspirations. A great deal of damage can be done in setting unhealthy or unattainable expectations. Mainstream advertising often depicts women as over-sexualized, underweight, and photoshopped to ‘perfection’. Studies have found that exposure to this unrealistic, thin, sexualized ideal is linked to disordered eating attitudes, lower self-esteem, negative mood and depressive symptoms among many of young girls and women. Given all this, it’s no wonder advertising is generally seen as a negative influence. But it doesn’t have to be. While unrealistic, unhealthy images can have very real, harmful effects, advertising with positive messages, depicting an inclusive picture of society can also impact us for good. This isn’t the beginning of a naive tangent calling for altruistic corporations to overhaul the capitalist system as we waltz into the sunset. We look at how the evolution of the advertising industry — and our relationship with it — has created an environment where inclusive portrayals of society actually benefit companies’ bottom line. In identifying these places where ‘for good’ and ‘for profit’ overlap, we can unlock the powerful engines for positive change.
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THE INTEGRITY OF INFORMATION IS AT RISK. 14
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A simple Google search can tell you all about where to find the best sandwich in the lower east side, or who won the Battle of Bunker Hill, or connect you with the day’s news from all around the world.
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We live in the information age. Never before have we had this ease of access to massive amounts of information. The internet has made that possible. Information integrity is exactly what it sounds like: it is the trustworthiness and dependability of information. It heavily relies on the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of the content, processes and systems to maintain the ecosystem for consumers and makers. Disinformation is the false or fraudulent material spread deliberately and often covertly in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth. The influence is shifting to target more areas, and rapidly attacking all angles of the information ecosystem. Around 54% of the consumers expressed they have seen disinformation surrounding the brands they follow. Organizations and businesses play a large role as creators and gatekeepers of information. However with accessibility comes responsibility. For years social responsibility for brands has been synonymous with supporting a cause or creating a designated charity that a percentage of their proceeds go to. However, what it means to be socially responsible is evolving to adhere to what today’s consumers value. The customer of today is an emotional buyer and decision maker. They consider more than physical products on shelves. They take brand reputation and trust into account before deciding to who to shop or do business with. With social media and a 24-7 news cycle, the brands at the center of false or amplified controversies can be major headlines and socialized publicly in a matter of hours. Narratives, both authentic and manufactured, have the ability to be virally spread and further influence how someone feels about a brand. According to a 2019 Brand Disinformation Impact Study, 66% of consumers say that brands should be held responsible for defending consumers against disinformation.
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The truth is that something is wrong on the platform, but there’s hope. The time to fight to protect information integrity is now. Social movements, like the anti-vaccine movement, brand boycotts, and false trending topics have all gained momentum and large followings as a result of narrative hijacking. It’s largely up to brands to ensure that they are taking the right measures to ensure that the information and narratives surrounding their brands are honest and accurate. In the highly digital and connected age that we live in, information integrity is the next expected progression of corporate and brand social responsibility. Disinformation threatens our information ecosystem in more ways than just putting false narratives and fake content on certain webpages. It can alter reputation, disrupt public discourse, and erode the trust that we have with organizations, individuals, institutions, and our govern-ment. The New Knowledge is taking a stand. We are working with responsible brands and organizations and providing them with the first information integrity solution, to protect their own brands and loyal consumers from harmful damaging disinformation. The truth is that something is wrong on the platform, but there’s hope. The time to fight to protect information integrity is now. Brands, organizations, technology solutions, and consumers should be held accountable in fighting this problem. How will the integrity of the ecosystem be protected?
What will be important from now on? As we’ve seen in the past, disinformation can play a dangerous role in influencing audiences.
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THE EVOLUTION
The advertising industry has come a long way over the past century. Initially, things were simple and straightforward; advertisements told us about products and features. We begin with this early day automobile advertisement. With a revolutionary product, and very little competition for their customer’s attention, the makers of the Winton Motor Carriage only needed to list the straight facts and features to be successful. But as the world evolved, so did many of the competition. Billboards, radio, TV all compete for potential customers’ attention, and more companies started making similar products, vying to fix the same problems and meet the same needs. To stand out, advertisers had to adjust their focus from the ‘what’ to the ‘why.’ Crafting stories behind their goods to connect on an emotional level, it became all about how the product makes us feel. In 1984, Coca Cola famously invited us to ‘have a Coke and smile’ with Mean Joe Green.
OF THE ADVERTISING INDUSTRY
As the battle for consumer dollars and attention intensified, advertising has become more focused on the brand than the product. Michael Jordan dares us to be legendary, and Google shows us how inspirational we are through our communal
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search. Neither of these ads mention a single feature or benefit of the product, because it’s not about the fit of the shoe, or the speed of the search. It’s about building our connection with the brand, and what it says about us. It’s about how the brand makes us feel. With social media, the entire scene changed. It prompted companies to shift from delivering monologues to engaging in conversation, transforming the relationship between brand and buyer. This new dynamic has made brands more human in the process, as they focus on creating conversations around shared values. Take the Always’ #LikeAGirl campaign, which went viral before being featured during the SuperBowl, and currently has over 55 million views. Never referencing feminine hygiene, Always focuses purely on the issue of female empowerment, using the ad to begin “an epic battle” for young girls everywhere by “showing them that doing it #LikeAGirl is an awesome thing.” Always goes beyond what a brand says about you; it’s about identifying shared goals and contributing to a higher purpose. You care about empowering girls? Great! You can share their ad to ‘inspire girls everywhere’, tweet the ‘amazing things you do’ with #LikeAGirl, and ‘stand up for girls’ confidence at Always.com. Now it’s a conversation, and that’s exactly what Always, and the other companies joining in this form of values-based advertising, are looking for. Very few people care about tampons, but equality and female empowerment? Now that’s topic people get excited about. Or more accurately, that’s a topic Always’ target audience gets excited about. And this is why it works; Always is able to use the shared values to create a bond with their consumers and the community at-large, thereby advertising both for-profit and for-good. The ‘Fem-vertising’ continues to gain steam because it makes business sense. Commercial motivations don’t diminish the benefits of feeding
In the case of sell boosts gained from fem-vertising, Dove sales have jumped to $4 billion from $2.5 billion when its campaign for Real Beauty initially launched.
our children more empowering messages, and less underweight, oversexualized ideals. As a matter of fact, they amplify the amount of manpower and resources corporations are willing to spend on such positive causes. It is at this point, where for-profit and for-good overlap, where we can impact the greatest change. In this case, fem-vertising is a pretty safe bet. Everyone has a mother, daughter, sister or female friend they care about, and people aren’t out protesting the idea of girls and women having more confidence. Most people either agree with the cause or are apathetic to it altogether. But values-based advertising isn’t confined to issues as clear cut as female empowerment, and it is in this gray area that it has the greatest potential impact.
WHEN ADVER FOCUSES ON ERING AND A GROUPS THA RELATABLE O ACCEPTED, T BOTH GREAT AND GREATE
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RTISING EMPOWACCEPTING AT ARE LESS OR LESS THERE IS TER RISK, ER REWARD.
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America has long prided itself in being a melting pot, where people from all countries, races and religions are welcome to come pursue a better life. But in reality, the welcome hasn’t always been so warm for those who fall outside the norm. This has been true for just about every major immigrant group to come to the United States, beginning with the Irish in the 19th Century. We see resistance to homegrown difference as well, as illustrated by the prejudice interracial and same-sex couples continue to face on a regular basis. As much America prides itself on our melting pot mentality, social acceptance and inclusion of ‘new’ groups is a slow, and often painful process. But this is where the battle for brand identity and consumer loyalty can actually play a positive role in the process. Cheerios didn’t realize what they were getting themselves into when they first featured an interracial family to promote the heart-healthy cereal during the summer of 2013. The racist backlash to the ad was so intense that Cheerios disabled their comments section on their YouTube channel — offering the public a glimpse into the prejudice mixed race families have to contend with, and sparking a national conversation. Cheerios also saw an outpouring of support from consumers applauding the commercial, and a passionate defense against the backlash with people standing up for interracial families everywhere. Journalists and bloggers continued the conversation, over eight million people watched kids reactions to the commercial’s controversy, and it even inspired an online community of interracial families dedicated to publicly reflecting the changing face of the American family.
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WHAT BEGAN HEARTWARMI CEREAL COMM ENDED UP LEA TO A NATIONA DISCUSSION O RELATIONS. It also contributed to Cheerios’ bottom line. In the weeks following the commercial’s release, brand exposure went up 77% and Cheerios CEO Ken Powell highlighted a boost to sales from new advertising (though not citing this ad specifically). In fact, Cheerios liked the results of the commercial so much, they brought the fictitious interracial family back together, shelling out $4 million for 30-second spot in the 2014 Super Bowl — this time expanding the family. Since Cheerios’ ad came out, we have seen a number of the most traditionally American brands embracing the ‘new’ American family. They are making a statement: this is the American dream,
N AS A ING MERCIAL ADING AL ON RACE
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and it includes you. Featuring families often overlooked and ignored by the media, Honey Maid put single dads, biracial couples, LGBT families and tattoos at the front and center of its “This is Wholesome” campaign.
resonating.” And resonate it did. After the commercial aired in March, sales jumped 7% in June and July, the online content had 12 million views and Google searches for the name Honey Maid rocketed 400%.
With this, Honey Maid is reaching out to the rising number of interracial households (one in 12 American marriages), 20 million single-parent families and over 100,000 samesex couples raising children in America. They know this message resonates with the halo of support surrounding these groups — their families and friends, as well as the growing portion of the population with socially liberal views. “We’re holding a mirror up to America and celebrating all-American families,” further explained Gary Osifchin, senior marketing director who launched this campaign: “We’re on a journey here where we are very much showing America who they are…and that’s
Chevrolet embraced the changing face of the all-American family with an inclusive ad promoting the Chevy Traverse “for whatever shape your family takes.” Coca Cola ruffled feathers in featuring a multi-lingual, diverse SuperBowl ad and claiming that this is why #AmericaIsBeautiful. Yet again, we rewarded companies for their inclusion, as Chevy saw a boost in positive sentiment towards the car company among consumers, and young people ages 19 to 24 bought Coca-Cola products 20% more often than they did the month before.
CODES OF
ETHICS
Sure, designers can be co-creators of life enhancing projects—but they are also often accomplices in creating evil inventions and products with pernicious consequences. Realizing the potency of their creative output, a group of designers have banded together to craft their own version of an ethical code, like medical practitioners’, with the widespread principle to ”first, do no harm.”
But the challenge is to live by it, not to simply illustrate it. How had we evolved in the contemporary time?
In 2015, Initiated by Samantha Dempsey and Ciara Taylor from the New Hampshire-based design agency Mad*Pow, the so-called “Designer’s Hippocratic Oath” is an attempt to reassert an ethical dimension into the design decision process, similar to the ancient code of conduct for doctors named after Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine. “Designers are responsible for creating more than ever before—not only designing services, but also experiences, environments, products and systems for millions of people,” Dempsey and Taylor explain. “With this increased influence, we must take a step back and recognize the responsibility we have to those we design for.”
A tempting box for a sugary cereal designed to bait kids. Hip sneakers produced in sweatshops. Convincingly forged diplomas. The 3D-printed gun.
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The “Designer’s Hippocratic Oath” is certainly not the first time designers have had a call to conscience. For several design specializations, there have been similar attempts at a customized code. A 10-point pledge was proposed by product designer Laura Javier, who now works for Facebook. There is even a unique Hippocratic Oath for landscape architects. For graphic designers, the British designer Ken Garland initiated the First Things First manifesto in 1964, a polemical corrective to the overly commercialized climate of the design industry in the UK during that time. In 2000, First Things First was resurrected, with renewed zeal from an international cadre of designers and writers including Eye magazine founder Rick Poynor, German typographer Erik Spiekermann, Dutch book designer Irma Boom, and legendary graphic designer Tibor Kalman. Echoing the sentiment of its predecessor, First Things First 2000 stated:
“Designers then apply their skill and imagination to sell dog biscuits, designer coffee, diamonds, detergents, hair gel, cigarettes, credit cards, sneakers, butt toners, light beer and heavy-duty recreational vehicles… Many of us have grown increasingly uncomfortable with this view of design. Designers who devote their efforts primarily to advertising, marketing and brand development are supporting, and implicitly endorsing, a mental environment so saturated with commercial messages that it is changing the very way citizen-consumers speak, think, feel, respond and interact. To some extent we are all helping draft a reductive and immeasurably harmful code of public discourse.”
CALL TO CONSCIENCE
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In Dempsey and Taylor’s “Designer’s Hippocratic Oath,” however, instead of a standardized manifesto to swear by, designers declare their commitment in their own words.
“Like those before us, we are calling on our fellow designers to consider our role and the ethics behind the work we do,” Dempsey tells Quartz. “But unlike these existing manifestos, pledges and projects, we are asking the design community to collaboratively create its own oath, instead of relying on an individual or a sub-set of designers to write one for us.” The insistence on a unique oath is Dempsey and Taylor’s attempt to make the words actually stick. While the various initiatives, like two versions of First Things First, have gained considerable publicity, the matter of ethics in the design industry has remained largely a matter for pie-in-the-sky philosophical discourse. The fervor about the ethical dimension of design seems to fizzle like any other trend.
Milton Glaser, one of the most thoughtful voices in the matter and a signatory of the First Things First 2000 manifesto, explained the conundrum for designers who usually work on commission for commercial clients. “I had complaints about the First Things First Manifesto,” Glaser has said in an interview. “It didn’t give people any place to go. It suggested that one could get out of the business or work for nonprofits. It lacked reality. Once you accept the idea that we are living in a capitalistic enterprise, and that there is a potential for the good in capitalism, you have to give people some leeway. You can’t simply say, stop working and supporting your family.”
TO STATE H GLASER DRA ROAD TO HE OF SOUL SEA QUESTION I BY DANTE’S JOURNEY IN HE ASKED D
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HIS POINT, AFTED THE ELL, A KIND ARCHING INSPIRED S DARK NFERNO. DESIGNERS:
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WOULD YOU → Design a package to look larger on the shelf? → Do an ad for a slow moving, boring film to make it seem like a lighthearted comedy? → Design a crest for a new vineyard to suggest that it’s been in business for a long time? → Design a jacket for a book whose sexual content you find personally repellent? → Design an advertising campaign for a company with a history of known discrimination in minority hiring?
<<<
→ Design a package for a cereal aimed at children, which has low nutritional value and high sugar content?
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→ Design a line of T-shirts for a manufacturer who employs child labor? → Design a brochure piece for an SUV that turned over more frequently than average in emergency conditions and caused the death of 150 people? → Design an ad for a product whose continued use might cause the user’s death?
→ Design a promotion for a diet product that you know doesn’t work? → Design an ad for a political candidate whose policies you believe would be harmful to the general public?
WHEN BRANDS AN INCLUSIVE P OF SOCIETY, TH A ROLE IN REDE WHAT IS CONSIDERED MAINSTREAM,
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PAINT PICTURE HEY PLAY EFINING It will be sparking national conversations and speeding the social acceptance of marginalized groups. “TV commercials are a culturally powerful force, shaping society and giving voice to those outside the mainstream,” CEO and Forbes contributor Avi Dan explained, arguing that “advertising can move public opinion faster, and farther, than any other influencing factor.” While the advertisers aren’t generally the ones leading the pack on social change, once there is enough public support for issues that align with companies’ core values, the risk is outweighed by reward and advertising can work as an accelerator for social progress. The advertising industry will never act as the first pioneer instigating social change-but that doesn’t mean it can’t be an important part of the process. We consume massive amounts of advertising day in and day out, and when this
content promotes an inclusive picture of society, marketing and advertising can work as an accelerator for social progress. It’s value is not in starting the fire, but in fanning the flames. Twenty years ago it was unimaginable that Hallmark would be featuring a lesbian love story in its national Valentine’s Day campaign, or more importantly, that these women would have the right to marry in 36 states, with the majority of Americans (52%) supporting it. Advertising’s cultural power stems from its ability to shape our perception and give a voice to those outside the mainstream. So what social issues will our advertising address over the next twenty years? To figure that out, we must first stop and ask ourselves — who aren’t we listening to today?
DESIGNER This book was designd by Victoria Conn. It was edited and set into type in the United States, and was printed by Plotnet and bound by California Office in San Francisco, California. The publisher and author named are for fictitious use only.
TYPEFACE The texts are set in combination of Acumin Pro, designed by Robert Slimbach, and issued in digital form by Adobe systems, Mountain View, California in 2015. Headings are set in HK Kontrast, designed by Hanken Design Co.
EQUIPMENTS Equipments used to produce this book include Dell XPS 8900, Macbook 15-inch and. Canon PIXMA iX6820. The following softwares were used: Adobe Creative Cloud, InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop
This is produced as a student project for an Academy of Art class assignment. No part of this book or any other part of the project was produced for commercial use. The written content is a complication of data and information taken from eyemagazine, quartz, medium, yonder, along with interviewsand articles written by Matthew Soar, Henry Jenkins, Moritz Fink and Marilyn DeLaure.