Pro Bono Pressure: Is a Graphic Designer Obliged to Work for Free?

No.

As a student hoping to acheive success and recognition in my field, there is no obligation for me to work Pro-Bono, there is a need. While I would not expect my peers to donate their time and energy for no payment, I would not hesitate to help an organization whose need was clearly defined. It is an excellent opportunity to give back to the community and gain recognition as a conscientious designer which is becoming more and more valuable in todays business world.

I do draw a line in terms of who I would consent to doing pro-bono work for. I would undoubtedly offer my services in full, free of payment to not-for-profit organizations whose beneficiaries are truly in need. I would not be willing to offer free services on the other hand, to companies who do stand to earn a profit from my work.

I think that there are too many not-for-profit organizations who need an extra push to be able to live up to their full potential. Often an organization will undervalue the benefit that design can bring to their overall efficiency, or else they simply cannot divert assets into design that could otherwise benefit their cause.

Looking for examples of agencies who do engage in pro-bono work, I found a website for a pro bono initiative:






The 1% is an initiative that connects not-for-profit organizations with architecture and design firms who have pledged 1% of their time to making the world a better place.












While this is a U.S. initiative, I would like to see something similar for graphic designers. Too often, people contribute to organizations based on the reputability of their brand, this restricts the number of people who would otherwise be interested in contributing to real grassroots initiatives that would improve the quality of life around us.

As designers it is not a matter of obligation, it is a matter of standing up for what we believe in, and doing what we can to help.

Designing the collapse of a moral society

What design work would I refuse?

In graphic design there are opposing views as to how a designer should approach controversial issues. Either suck it up and do the work regardless of the message, or take a stand and risk putting your neck on the line.

Where do I stand on the matter? as you may have already gathered from the title of this post, I couldn't bring myself to work on an indecent campaign if I tried. I should probably be fairly specific on this count for fear of my meaning being construed.

Now, I consider myself a progressive individual who respects the rights of people to do and (usually) say whatever they want so long as it is respectful of others. I can appreciate when a person who is true to themselves speaks their mind honestly, but what I cannot condone is advertising that has no benefit aside from selling a negative and socially destructive attitude.
















The diesel ad pictured above was part of a larger campaign which featured men in provocative scenarios which would not have been so bad if not for the medium; these ads were regularly featured on outdoor billboards. These ad's(above and below) shared a billboard on the side of a building looming over Yonge street for nearly a year.



















While I would not consider myself a prude, I could not condone building a brand that presented a glorified image of perversity. Yes, I understand that this campaign was likely intended for a European market, but I feel too strongly that this sort of advertising further undermines the positive values and self respect that we no longer embody.

It is fairly naive to think that I could get by as a graphic designer if I refused to work on any account that offended my values. I understand that extremes must be explored if a brand is to be differentiated. I disagree with placing an ad like this on a billboard, it seems more intended to push peoples boundaries than simply creating awareness.

Advertising and Design: Driving Sales or Experience?

Not only is Graphic Design and Advertising moving towards providing an experience for the consumer, one design firm, Blast Radius specializes in what they call EXD or experience design.









I recently visited Blast Radius during this year's Emerging Designer's Conference, and while they have appropriated the acronym EXD to represent their process(which is almost entirely web-related) I think that it is indicative of the environment which we are training to participate within.

Modern businesses are built on cohesive brands that consumers can identify with. Thus developing products and services that play into an overriding user 'experience' is part of almost any modern business model. When we create an identity for a company or brand a product, this is ultimately what we are establishing.

At blast radius and throughout all of the tours at headstart, the common theme was to look at the end user, and reverse engineer the ideal user experience to ensure that people will respond to the media they are presented.

AIGA Conference - Command X

As a young designer, I know that designing for an audience would be a heartstopping trauma. For this reason, I am sympathetic to the designers featured on Command X during this year's AIGA conference.







The 7 designers who attempted the challenge were (in no particular order) Ryan, Matt, Elaine, Mike, Scott, Kelly, and Nichelle.

The challenge for part one was to redesign the Denver Bronco's logo. Alas I don't think these
guys were really sports enthusiasts, but their designs were at least founded in some amount of research.











My favorite design for this event was matt's modernist attempt at a sports logo, which came nowhere near what the clients would have wanted. For me, I liked the look of the logo, but it would not be a logo I would submit unless I had solid research that said the target market would respond to it.

We keep hearing the idea of including one revolutionary option amongst a few safer ones, when presenting concepts to a client, and this is definitely one of those logo's that was way off in left field. but given that he only had one logo, he did a damn good job creating an experience for the judges with his presentation.














I personally felt that the design that spoke best to the target was nichelles steam engine bronco. It communicated power and had an edge with the distressed linework.

I wont go so far as to pick on my least favorite designs, but I will say that I wasn't surprised with the depatures of Mike and Scott.

Design Resources: Design Float

One of the skills I think is extremely important to any designer, is being resourceful. Fortunately for me, ever since I got my Macbook Pro I can just pop in an address when it's mentioned in class and bookmark it to check out later. This has allowed me to find a ton of valuable stuff, from free stock art to tutorials, brushes, typefaces, and a ton of excellent inspiration.

Nowadays it seems that the only hobby I really invest any time in is meandering through the blogosphere. My favorite place to go on any good website is the links page. I can trace a path through 5 or 6 pages and forget where it was that I started. Today for instance I started on Design Float, followed a few links, and ended up with 3900 vector logo's that I have no idea who I downloaded them from.

I have been slowly circulating this link to a few people but here it is for the rest of ya'







Its a 'DIGG' style social media site that people contribute posts to from all over the net. theres tons of resources and inspiration posted on an hourly basis.

Fossil - packaging with true integrity

Theres something to be said for those who stay true to traditional standards of quality.








One of my favorite brands -one of the few brands which I see fit to endorse- is Fossil. The classic style and feeling that they strive to encapsulate for the consumer has hit home with me ever since I was given my first fossil watch a few years ago.







In packaging, I am a big fan of reusability. For me, the more uses something gets, the better I can justify the production of a product in the first place. With a Fossil Tin, not only have you got a work of art -a show piece if you will- I can say from experience that each tin in my ever growing collection has served a variety of functions in their own time.

I also feel that the use of their signature tins is reflective of the quality of products that they provide. I have yet to be dissappointed by the quality of fossil products each with leather trimming or a variety of other features.

Although I suppose the statement made by designing a tin for your product is that it is of a high level of quality. After all, what better way is there to imply that your new watch may still need a home in 5, 10, or 15 years.

I think this is what is missing from our consumer culture. It is remarkably rare that we would buy products that will last a lifetime. It seems Aldous Huxley knew what he was talking about in Brave New World when he supposed that our love of new products would be a driving force for industry "Ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less riches"




















My girlfriend Debbie recently gave me a book called 'Tinspiration' which is where I got these samples from. The book is a collection of tins arranged and photographed in interesting and unique ways indicative of the inspiration that went into each tin.

The Wino - er... Wine Connoisseur Speaks on Design

As I am currently in the process of branding my winery, e?nigma, I have been paying even closer attention to the packaging of wines from different regions. I personally like the cost-value relationship of Australian and South African wines, but additionally these wines tend to have some of the most interesting and diverse packaging and brands on the shelves today.

I've been long bored by the gold embossing and delicate paper textures on wine bottles from italy and france. It was said to me recently that some feel that these characteristics are iconic of quality and prestige but I think this is hogwash. I may not be wealthy enough to appreciate the value of a $50 bottle of wine, but cost seems to be the only thing indicated by so-called 'fancy' packaging on these bottles.

I like to get a sense of mood from a bottle of wine; is it fun, sombre, delicate, exuberant, sensual? I cannot tell this from a fancy gold swash or an off-white label.

I prefer wines who attempt to create a sense of play or experimentation in the consumer, here are a few examples of 'fun' wine packaging:

Red Knot:

Kelly's Revenge:

South African wine - Obikwa:

My desire to create a mood for the consumer will be translated through the batch name where each batch will feature a dynamic and unusual name that when interpereted will indicate the qualities of the wine itself. eg. 'Glacial Sandstorm' (A dry wine best served chilled) etc.