SH We coined the term and published the book Citizen Designer: Perspectives on Design Responsibility in 2003. It seems like yesterday, but a lot has happened in the world since that time. Designers, I can safely argue, have become more engaged as citizens and more conscious of the roles they play in culture, politics, and society, both serving and creating. I think we’ll discuss how this is playing out in terms of overall impact as we continue this introductory conversation. But as a way of introducing the introduction, how do you feel the worlds of design and human existence have changed since the first volume?
VV So much has happened since 2003, my head is spinning: wars, elections, environmental disasters, social upheavals, technical revolutions, scandals, and so on.
It’s daunting to think about it all. You and I aren’t going to dwell on the past—our challenge is to focus on what’s happening now—yet, looking back offers occasional lessons. One such lesson for me was the 2003 media performance of US Secretary of State Colin Powell addressing the UN Security Council. His job was to convince the American public that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. It was probably not the first time in history an administration shamelessly and publicly resorted to fake news to justify its policy, but we were naive. We could tell it was a bunch of lies—fabricated evidence? deception by omission? pure fiction?—however we didn’t have the words to describe what we were witnessing. So we just sat there, in front of our television, dumbfounded and powerless.
This is what I hope this book can do: give our readers the verbal tools they will need to articulate their thoughts and express their doubts and objections whenever necessary. One needs the right vocabulary in order to be able to make a difference as a citizen, as a communication designer, as a visual journalist, or as media developer. Do you agree with me that designers can no longer afford to remain silent?
SH No doubt about it. Designers have a responsibility to help instigate, investigate, and ingratiate. By this I mean designers made action happen but only after doing their homework, because with facts presented in accessible, enticing, and believable ways, we can help people understand and make change.
I worry that I’m using buzzwords. But even buzzwords and buzz images and buzz typographic treatments have meaning. Being a citizen designer means being ready to marshal out skills, talents, and know-how to energize others.
But what I’ve just said is generalizing too much. The new glossary that leads off this new edition is designed to provide the vocabulary that you are talking about. Words have consequences, and I’m all for making those consequences be significant. But it leads me to ask the question that our readers are bound to ask. Why, since a major part of our language is visual, have we decided quite deliberately not to use any visuals or, for that matter, show any actual design in our second edition?
VV Nowadays, readers who are interested in a particular topic will search online to find corresponding images and additional information. We are careful to provide the proper references to facilitate the search process. Considering that images are available just clicks away, we agreed that we didn’t need to reproduce them, thus saving paper pulping, bleaching and sizing, water, pigments, and ink.
However, we hope that a well-designed book, with a smart typographical approach and an intelligent layout, is as pleasurable to peruse as an illustrated one. Reading our book, we hope, will be a compelling visual experience. But there are also pointed philosophical reasons for thinking that an all-text book would be illuminating for readers. Don’t we want this book to perform based on ideas?
SH The experience is measured not by how much there is to see but how much value a reader gets from the content. The first edition of Citizen Designer gave our designer audience more to consider than what makes good design. It asked them to consider what makes design good for the people who experience (and use) it.
For many the concept of Citizen Designer is a nebulous one. Do no harm. Help others through clarity. Raise issues and solve problems. These are real concerns for us. How do you feel this book can make a substantial contribution?
VV Our goal was to write the kind of book we’d like to read: more inspiring than edifying. The topic of political, environmental, and social responsibility can be off-putting unless it’s rooted in practical, real-life experience. So the book is easy to thumb through, with lively essays by designers who tells their stories—what worked and what didn’t work, what they would do differently if they had a chance, the lessons they learned from their successes and their failures.
I believe that it would be a substantial contribution to make grassroots activism more accessible to people who are new to the political scene. Our readers don’t necessarily want to save the world, but I assume that they would like to make their job as designers more meaningful. They may not use terms like advocacy, co-design, or open source in current conversations, but they are curious about them. They are confronted on a daily basis with challenging technical innovations and high-pressure competitive practices, but have very little time to reflect on it all. They must “do well”—economically—and “do good”—their social conscience demands it.
SH Doing good takes effort. And it would be useful to have a kit of tools that helps designers engage and disengage when necessary. Most people who are truly committed to a cause find their gateways. But along those lines, I was responding to the surge in right wing (alt-right, white supremacist, and racist) activities going on today, wondering where do they get their inspiration, philosophy, and the physical tools of their perfidy. I looked online, and aside from the disgusting websites that spew bile and vile hate speech, there must be another way they learn to think as one and arm themselves with the same weapons.
How important is it for citizen designers to combat their organization and develop visual countermeasures? Or by doing so, do we become simply the polar opposite of them, no more and no less? Isn’t jargon on our side as pernicious as jargon on theirs? What are the parameters of citizen design? I know that’s a lot to ask, but these are times that make the mind swim.
VV I agree with you that simply reacting to the violence of alt-right militants is playing into their hand. And they know that. They taunt us by escalating the provocations. By mocking our values. By turning hostilities into a spectacle. What I find most alarming is the fact that they know how to feed what I call “The Beast”—the news media that thrives on their visual pageantry: their flags, their shields, their costumes, and their torchlight marches illuminating the night sky. Should we designers counterattack with our own visual vocabulary? Should we attempt to brand our own causes with logos, graphic symbols, great slogans, posters, T-shirts, badges, and stickers?
Of course not. I don’t think that we should engage in a war of symbols. What we should do, though, is define the values that matter to us. But we have been serving the interests of our clients too long. We forgot to defend our own. For instance, should we defend our interests by taking a collective stand against crowdsourcing design—in my opinion one of the greatest threats to the profession? Should we lobby to establish a well-respected graphic design accreditation? Should we grapple with the pervasive influence of marketing? Should we get together to draft a joint code of ethics? Should we make fighting disinformation a priority? Should we refuse to work for “bad” clients?
I admit, this is a long list of “shoulds.” In your opinion, what are the most important issues for citizen designers today? I cannot pinpoint which one could—or should—galvanize our profession.
SH I think the less obvious issues are the most important. Of course the citizen designer will work for social justice and environmental advocacy. But I’m fascinated by those designers who see other problems and try in some way to rectify or enlighten. Medicine and medical care are issues that designers will not solve alone but will contribute to the collective actions. Education is another important concern that citizen designers can engage with very actively. As the population gets older, citizen designers can do things to make lives more comfortable and issues more visible.
The old citizen designer was concerned with the predictable. The new citizen designer must look for the unpredictable. Do you think our book is predictable, unpredictable, or somewhere in between? What should we urge the reader to look for in this volume that will surprise them and lead to new action?
VV I like your definition of the citizen designer as someone who should be concerned with the unpredictable. At the same time, being concerned with the unpredictable doesn’t mean that the response to it will be spur of the moment. In my opinion, that’s where graphic designers can really make a difference. They know how to organize information and make it understandable. Enhance content with credible visuals. Engage stakeholders and consumers. Get things approved. Solve last-minute problems. Meet deadlines. All along deriving the greatest satisfaction from a job well done. As citizen, as developers, as planners, as coordinators, as administrators, and as communicators, they are uniquely skilled to help activists organize their action.
We could simply say that citizen designers are people who put their talent and savoir faire at the service of worthy pursuits and worthy causes. Is this statement an oversimplification, in your opinion?
SH I would add just one obvious (in contrast to our interest in the unpredictable) last word. Citizen Design is first and foremost getting off our butts and doing something that will make even the smallest of differences. It’s one thing to edit a book, or write an essay, or shout a catchphrase. It’s another to act.