Presentation Notes:

• Building sustainable properties
• Hub ( shared office community ) launching in Portland
• What is entrepreneurial ship?
• Loosing its meaning and value because everyone is calling themselves an entrepreneur
• Ideas = come to life
• How does someone that doesn’t create something be known as an entrepreneur ?
• “bringing ideas to live is hard”
• It takes a lot of people for an entrepreneur to be successful
• It takes a community of entrepreneurs to bring ideas to life
• It requires a community of support to make things happen
• It’s about community!
• Space is given a higher purpose because the community finds value in it
• 10 principles of Edlen
• 1. Build community or build for community
  • Force people to bump into each other, have conversations
• 2. Create inviting spaces
• 3. Minimize carbon footprint
  • Build for the long term
• 4. Connect buildings to people and nature
• 5. Encourage use of public transit
• 6. Craft the first 30 feet
• 7. Inspirt communities with art and design
• 8. Make 20 minute living real
  • You should be able to work, live and play within 20 minutes
• 9. Integrate schools and neighborhoods
• 10. Protect symbols that matter
  • Recognize that people and communities already exist
• “factory 63″ Boston
• Create an incubation lifestyle
• Changing the notion of the suburb

As we move foreword with the idea of social media it is important to think about how it will affect our future identity as well as the ways it will change people’s perceptions of current ideologies and culture. We are migrating towards an Internet that encourages discourse and sharing while also creating new connections and relationships from that sharing. But in a platform that makes it easy to be false with identity and reality, is it okay that we use this social data as the gospel for what is really happening? Many people use social networking to gripe, vent and share very contemporary news. Because this is done in a digital environment this communication is documented for eternity. Humans have a hard time thinking back to things they were mad about ten years ago, but through this archiving your gripe can and will exist forever.

Because of our off the cuff responses to moments in our lives and the increased amount of sharing that is taking place, it will make documenting out culture easier then it ever has before. Recently it was announced that the Library of Congress will start archiving all tweets from all of Twitter.com’s millions of users. (NPR) Currently Twitter default settings allow for an automatic saving of a users last three thousand two hundred tweets. (NPR) This means that if you have tweeted 3,201 times, the first tweet you ever posted is gone, and it is gone forever. Upon recognizing this fact users have begun to panic, realizing that large amounts of their historical digital existence is ending up in the trash bin. One possible solution is to manually go back and edit your own tweets. By doing this you would be taking on a mammoth task where you would need to choose what is and is not necessary for your twitter existence. But with such a plethora of impulse statements that have been restricted to one hundred and forty characters, isn’t it possible for at least some of what you have said to be taken out of context, or to have been laughable in a greater sense of time and place? Upon noticing this we can see how our culture and history could be increasingly well documented, but at the same time less accurate then it has ever been before.

This data however does have an opportunity to be flipped on us. Everyone has always wondered, many times after being yelled at by their parents, what mom and dad were like when they were my age? Up until recently this question was slated to old photos that are packed away in basements, buried under fifty pounds of other photos and many times nearly unviewable. But now the current digital presence of a younger generation could reduce this task to a simple Google search. Children will soon be able to cite their parents on issues related to dating, partying and drinking by simply pulling digital information from their parents on-line profiles. This access will change the way that we need to filter and edit the information that we are
currently sharing.

This brings up the problem that what platforms will we be using in the future? As of right now, the current internet market is working towards cloud-based memory storage. But that is not the best way for users to access their information under all circumstances. We need to understand that as users of products or services on-line we need to tread lightly. We share massive amounts of information that we are not archiving in our own ways. We depend on the stability of these networks to keep contacts close. If you had to write down all of your Facebook contacts in one sitting could you do it? Most likely not, and this is because you we have all grown to trust platforms like Facebook to always be there for us when we need it. Instead of working in a direction where we can take the information that we store on these site and move it where we need it to be we have began in integrate this information into touch points. Now a days we can access this information from out smart phones, our iPads and our laptop computers. But as we are dependent on that information being there and being able to access it at any time, what happens five hundred years from now when the newest iPhone is no longer usable because it is no longer supported on the networks we then use. It is imperative that we be aware that our information is not safe off in a server somewhere that we have to pay, even if it is merely a data charge on our phone plan, to be able to access it.

With all of this information coming from a cloud based server there is a question of how we will access and maintain this information if the servers were to somehow crash. If you think back even ten years to how we accessed information you would be thinking about floppy disks and ms dos. If you needed to get this information currently you would have a rather hard time trying to update it to a more current file format or medium, and this data was controlled by the end user. Now we have cloud-based data that is not controlled by us, so how can we assure that this information gets maintained and routinely updated. What would you do if you lost all the data on your Facebook profile? Or what if one day Twitter just didn’t exist anymore.

In a recent keynote address Facebook founder and CEO announced that it a new web version of profiles they will be rolling out an update that allows users to manually back-up and download their profile information to their local hard disk. (Carr) With this capability the Facebook user is allowed to maintain and update this information however they see fit. Doing this has allowed for a more reliable and self assuring system to be developed, a system that puts the power back into the hands of the end user. Even with the presence of the Library of Congress users or Twitter have enjoyed new ways of archiving theirs and the tweets of their friends. (NPR) Applications such as Backup My Tweets allows users to modify settings that allow for daily archiving of their daily tweets. From this resource files may be downloaded into .doc as well as excel spreadsheets that allow for easy updating and archiving. (Trapani)

In contrast there are sites that have not gotten on board enough to allow for full end user data acquisition. The site LinkedIn is a good example of a platform that does not allow users to keep all of their shared information into a desirable downloadable format. Other then printing a PDF, the user has no way to keep and accurately maintain this information. Currently LinkedIn offers a service that permits users to export their formed contacts from the system into a localized address book.

I’m not sure that we as a society are aware of the fine line we are walking between sharing public information because we want our network of connections to see what we are sharing and just being careless with this information. Now that we are migrating away from social media as a way for amateur bloging of opinion to a more serious businesses sensibility where we work to serve brands and our own community of friends as a sort of economic empowerment. As a society it is important that we are aware of what we are doing and what is becoming the status quo. The information that we are sharing is not adequately backed up and we are relying more and more heavily on information that we are not in control of. Families now store singular copies of baby photos on their Facebook that makes them compress these files to low resolution and unprintable formats, but at the same time make this their only storage device. Social media has pushed us to share increasing amounts of information, that once created is not easy to get rid of. We support celebrities and business through the resources that social media can empower, but it is imperative that we as a society realize how this information is being archived, distributed and changed through the course of time. Because once you tweet something or post to your wall, it is out there to be interpreted forever, or is it?

Works Cited
Carr, Austin, and Stephen J. Dubner. “Facebook’s New Groups, Dashboards, and Downloads Explained [Video].” FastCompany.com – Where ideas and people meet | Fast Company. Version 1. Fast Company, 6 Oct. 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2010. (Carr)

Staff, NPR . “The Library Of Congress Is Archiving Your Tweets.” NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. Version 1. NPR, 18 Apr. 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2010. . (NPR)

Trapani, Gina, and Stephen J. Dubner. “How to Backup Your Social Media Life.” FastCompany.com – Where ideas and people meet | Fast Company. Version 1. Fast Company, 19 Oct. 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2010. . (Trapani)

Abstract

The graphic design industry is efficiently connected through platforms in new media. This connectivity perpetuates a dense community of sharing, critique and discourse that actively defines the contemporary graphic design zeitgeist. With the connectivity that the internet provides, discussions have become seemingly democratic, giving all participants a voice. However, new network systems that facilitate inequality have begun to grow in popularity. These networks decrease the democracy that the internet was built upon, reducing the voice of the graphic design community to a select few. By engaging with graphic design discourse on-line, the field can move from monologue to dialogue as it evolves in practice.

Introduction

This thesis centrally concerns itself with the ways ideas, concepts and decisions are being presented in the environment of Web 2.0. Assuming that graphic design must continue to rapidly evolve, the discipline must redefine itself. The current platform architecture in place is taking away the rights, freedoms and democracy that the web was originally built upon, leaving important decisions to a privileged set of individuals. An uneven playing field is being established in the types of relationships that are developing on-line, leading to a graphic design monologue.

Graphic designers across all levels of experience are failing to actively engage with this discourse. The on-line community is populated by a majority of non-professionals, who come to graphic design with little to no formal training. The presence of professional graphic designers with years of experience is missing from the community, causing the identity of the field to be overrun by tutorials, spam and image gazing. Conversations need to be shifted away from discussions about the aesthetic and technical qualities of objects to a meaningful and truly engaging dialogue about the progression and capabilities of the discipline. An increased presence in on-line discussion from working professionals will shift the conversation to one grounded in insightful discourse. This shift will allow the field of graphic design, as it evolves over time, to be defined by a diverse group, where all participants’ voices have equality.

On-line discourse is becoming the primary mode of discussion in graphic design. As the popularity and access of virtual content is becoming prevalent, the roles/tasks of graphic designers must evolve. My hope is that the execution of this thesis will illustrate the need for graphic designers across all experience levels to engage with and curate meaningful discussions. To do this, I will showcase the value in engaging with these conversations, explain the platforms in which discourse takes place and propose ways that designers can subvert the system to promote themselves and their ideas at large.

Graphic Design Discourse 1.0

Rewind the dial back twenty years to when the discipline of graphic design was discussed in very different ways. Periodicals, conferences and groups such as the AIGA were responsible for facilitating discourse relating to design. With this system the topical areas in relation to the discipline were chosen in a very top down manner. Periodicals such as Print Magazine, Communication Arts and Graphis were looked to for coverage in evolving design roles and media. Though the articles written for these iconic publications were developed by pinnacle figures in the field, they represented a singular voice. When a periodical took a stance on a topic there was no conversation, leaving readers to either accept or reject their position.

Problems arise in this system when one possesses an opposing or different viewpoint on an author’s or publication’s stance on a subject. The only real way to express divergent ideas in these platforms is to write letters to the editor, with hope that future conversations emerge. Through this process, participants are subject to approval of the magazine to print diverse or divergent opinions, to allow the conversation to expand. This system does not permit exchange, but is monologue, where readers are expected to listen without rebuttal.

Conferences are another platform that encourage active discourse. These events may allow conversation, but at the same time there is little opportunity for new ideas to be pushed outward. Privileged individuals are likely conference attendees, who need to have the professional recognition to speak up when they disagree. However, the human to human, face to face discourse may allow ideas to percolate outwards through word of mouth growth.

From these conferences and articles, the water cooler became an integral element for new discourse within the discipline. Though items like the AIGA Journals did pick up on design related inspiration and discussions from various sources, it was the in-person conversations that progressed the discipline. The only change that can occur is from the interior of a company or word of mouth. Because of this, progress in the design industry was slow. It was hard for designers to communicate and act as a broad and diverse community.

Graphic designers could not share their opinions or insights to participate as active members in the design community. Conversations were hard to establish or add to. These closed systems of information do not allow for active contributors or divergent viewpoints. A way to open up the conversation, allowing for everyone to have their voice heard, was needed.

Web 2.0 – Comments, Connectivity & Conversations

In the early nineties the internet was in its infancy, but the possibilities and potential were quickly developing. The number of people on the internet worldwide exploded from 57 million in the late nineties to well over 100 million by mid-two thousand (VanderLans). In these times, graphic design was going through monumental changes in workflow. Though the release of the the Apple III was in the early 1980’s it took time for the device to take control, evolve and become standard in the industry (Foljanty). Designers felt that this new medium would mark the end of print design and again forced them to understand new forms of design execution. Now, less then twenty years later, many believe that this same medium may be the platform to aid in defining the value of design in society, helping our discipline diversify and evolve into increasingly important roles both for commercial and social benefit.

The internet, of course, did not mark the end of print design; rather, it created a unique platform for communication. The web has grown from a simple network of computers, showcasing small amounts of static content, to a rich and dynamic means of communication. This communication exist with text, image, video and sound, all while being human-centric. The internet has become social and interactive. Charlene Li writes in the book Groundswell:

The internet has grown to become people-aware – with people connecting all the time, applications like Facebook and MSN Messenger can connect people directly with each other. This new class of software is so different that internet observer Tim O’Reilly has dubbed it ‘Web 2.0.’ But as powerful as it is, the technology is just an enabler. It’s the technology in the hands of almost-always-connected people that makes it so powerful. (Li 10)

As the internet evolved into the Web 2.0 model, many systems of communication were developed with discourse as a foundation. Advancements in technology have allowed for motion, video and complex interactivity to be built into these models creating a richer experience; venues like forums and blogs have made it possible for designers to more easily express their ideas and engage with indepth dialogue.

Forums were an early addition to the internet and still remain as a comprehensive way for many users to view and comment on a subject matter. They allow for posts to fall under a blanket of subject matter and often times give users the opportunity to link out to exterior web pages. The forum was succeeded by the blog, or web log, a tool for personal and professional journalism. This evolution took place because users were interested in having a place for their voices to be heard. A blog gives publishers an opportunity to place everything they or their company do under one web page. This centralizes the information that would otherwise be spread throughout the internet. Blogs add focus to content and can be found on almost any subject matter

Blogs work through posts, similar to journal entries, where users can easily see updates. These posts allow for commenting and questioning of the related material. Also, with this system is the opportunity to share the article through various forms of media such as E-mail, Twitter and Facebook. By allowing for these articles to be pushed outwards and shared with the individual users network, new connections can be made. This basis of sharing articles is creating new means for discourse to happen in an off-line setting. Instead of water cooler talk relating to the most recent conference or article in a magazine, it now has the opportunity to revolve around the latest blog article by your favorite designer, not Print Magazine’s favorite designer, not the conferences’ favorite designer, but your own personal designer of choice.

Twitter, a micro-blogging platform, allows users to quickly publish updates one hundred and forty characters at a time. As web technology has improved, platforms like Twitter have grown to travel with us, on our phones, laptops and electronic devices. Twitter’s versatility has made it the go-to platform to share findings and resources from all over the world. The Twitter feed has become a repository of interesting content, populated by one’s personal network.

Many blogs are picking up where the periodical left off. Because of increased cost and lack of quality material, most print magazines are in a failing industry (Milliot). In a slumping economy, why would you buy the latest issue of Communication Arts or Print Magazine when you can find the articles in that magazine, or ones very similar to it, on-line and for free? In fact, many mainstream journalists have begun to take part in blog sites and publish on-line what their own periodicals wouldn’t allow to be published (Jamison).

As the web expanded, the abundance of web pages grew. A growing network of photo sharing platforms, as well as an over abundance of portfolio websites for every discipline, has made it impossible to experience all that the internet has to offer. Because of this, websites like FFFFound and Image Spark have added another level of discourse to the equation. These sites, referred to as ‘image aggregation,’ allow users to save images that they like or find interesting from all over the internet, into one common stream (Nelson). This stream gives viewers a sort of best-of-the-best style of image viewing, creating an up to the minute reference to the current design zeitgeist.

The idea of best-of-the-best image sharing is not new, however, Print Magazine has been turning out design annuals for many years. Featured in these annuals are the best works in the graphic design field from the past year. What FFFFound does is replicate this model, but in a much faster way. FFFFound has become a source of inspiration for designers. It sets trends and facilitates interesting appropriation models.

One of the major differences is that FFFFound provides this content for free, while also linking out to the sources of their content. FFFFound content is curated by individuals within the network. The work featured in Print Magazine goes through a selection process with the publication’s producer making the final selections of the featured work. This process is not as selective on FFFFound because users, many more than are employed by a publication, are not limited to that amount or quality of content they can add into the FFFFound network.

The zeitgeist itself has developed into a new medium of conversations and discourse. The up to the minute style of information was never available before the internet. Now it is possible to see what is happening in design discourse, allowing designers to hold conversations through various media. Often when a particular design is created that is inspiring or creative, it facilitates a rebuttal from the design community. We can see this happening many times around a context of comedy because it is easier for this subject matter to attract attention and spread (Lessig).

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

This phenomenon is known as a groundswell. Authors Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff note, “a groundswell is a spontaneous movement of people using online tools to connect, take change of their own experience, and get what is needed – information, support, ideas, products, and bargaining power – from each other. (26).” We see this type of phenomenon happening when designers have conversations with each other through various platforms and media. To reference a recent example of this, we can examine the ‘keep calm and carry on’ posters developed by the British government in 1993. (Figure 1)

When doing research for a new project designer Olly Moss stumbled upon the poster series and decided to drop it into his FFFFound account, allowing the community to see it. A few weeks later, after noticing that many FFFFound users were reposting the now somewhat iconic keep calm and carry on posters, Moss decided to design his own humorous version. By turning the crown up side down and changing the background color to blue, the new Olly Moss coined poster read now panic and freak out. (Figure 2)

Moss admits that these posters “were a silly little response to the popular ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ Print” (Moss). This comedic approach took off and created an explosion in the design community. His poster was tweeted and discussed. Most of all there were new objects created with similar slogans relating to the previous poster. His design found its way onto t-shirts, mugs, hats, pens and notepads, all because of his simple rebuttal to an old British advertisement. (Figure 3)

This type of sharing lives in a system that never existed before. It is possible to pull reference from a mass audience and then push your rebuttal back into the system for the community to view. With the equality that the internet brings, anyone and everyone can participate in these conversations, inside or outside the discipline. This type of occurrence is really a conversation between designers. It may not in the previous example be pushing the discipline forward, but it is however fostering a community for designers to work and be comfortable within.

Each of these platforms encourage engagement and discourse. They are designed to give one the option of stating an opinion and participating in a conversation. When discourse in these platforms takes place, it creates a large database of thoughts, opinions and ideas. This database has the potential to spawn new ideas to move the discipline foreword. These forms of social media are based in the principle of speaking with, not “at,” people (Solis).

Types of Relationships

Internet developers have begun to build complexity into their systems. With this added complexity comes reduced freedom and equality, working away from the founding ideals of the internet. Graphic designers are being locked out of participation. Walls are being set up to add validity to a network, but in doing so the very network it’s trying to protect is destroyed.

Two-way or symmetrical relationships are the basis of many social networking sites (Wroblewski). In this type of network one builds contacts by friending them, a metaphor we are comfortable with from everyday life. When friending someone on a network such as Facebook, access is granted to a user’s content and they likewise gain access to your content. This type of communication feeds both ways. It creates a network that is holistic in nature because of joint access.

A new system was developed through the implementation of Twitter. The one-way or asymmetrical relationship pattern has begun to grow in popularity (Wroblewski). In this system the norm of friending a user is replaced with a new term of following. As the nomenclature implies, when following a user, everything that the user has to say can be seen. But in contrast to the two-way system, a one-way relationship does not require the users to mutually follow each other. This little change completely changes the dynamic of the system.

The one-way relationship model encourages the echo effect (Gillmor). When following users on this type of network, one will most likely want to get updates from users or companies that have like opinions. With that, one is not exposed to divergent viewpoints. This type of network also makes it hard for users outside one’s network to hear new opinions because users have to choose to follow participants.

Through the addition of complexity to the system, we now have open and closed network relationships. Websites that are built to be viewed by everyone are not open to everyone for participation. As an example, we can examine FFFFound. Inside FFFFound, members are only able to join by invite. Even though anyone is allowed to view this resource, its content is only coming from a select few. On the reverse of this system is Flickr. This image hosting service is free and open to the public. Anyone can view and download images within the network without activating an account. To add images and participate in commentary, a new user account can be created in a matter of moments. Anyone and everyone has access to these types of networks.

FFFFound has become a major influence over the aesthetic decisions of many young designers. One can quickly see trends being set and copied through the stream of images. This stream is added to quickly by members who are privileged enough to be part of the system. FFFFound is a closed network. Though it allows all users to look at the images that are being dropped, it does not allow all users to add their own images. What’s happening with this closed system? We are looking at the inspiration of a select few. It is not a truly democratic forum of the design zeitgeist when it is being set by a small group of individuals.

The same thing can be said about blogs that provide insights, but fail to give a valid platform to discus their positions. If a designer depends on the likes of Design Observer or Imprint to get their current graphic design news, is it coming from a diverse source? There is an opportunity to challenge ideas through these site’s commenting systems, but because blogs exist at various locations, it is hard for these comments to facilitate engaged discussion. The blogging platform is locked. Though many look at Design Observer, not many write for Design Observer. The topics of discussion, as well as the political positions that the authors take on design issues, become accepted without questioning. These topics are pinnacle in the shaping of graphic design in the future. Articles find their ways to businesses and board rooms, outside of the discipline of graphic design. Do we want the field we work in being defined by a small set of individuals?

What’s Happening?

What has the lock down of content caused? The internet was built with many people, collaborating and sharing ideas, creating an evolutionary medium. When graphic designers made their way on-line, one of the early disciplines to do so, it was about being democratic. We had a community eager to exchange. Discussion boards brought a level playing field for anyone with an internet connection. Now that the web has grown, both in mass and complexity, we are seeing trends putting potential democracy in on-line discourse at risk.

The conversations occurring in the virtual sphere are being embraced and facilitate rapid change. The quality of communication is much higher than it could have ever been twenty-five years ago. But with this higher level the voices, ideologies and opinions that may be most valid in a time of redefinition are locked out. Instead of all users having a voice, we look at blogs like Design Observer, similar to the way we look at Communication Arts, to inform us of design issues. Likewise we look to FFFFound, similar to the way we look at Print Magazine’s design annuals, for design inspiration and trends.

One cannot write for Design Observer or add images to FFFFound unless invited to be inside these networks. Though it is possible to comment on a blog’s site, it is hard for one to take divergent thoughts or opinions from these sites and project them outwards because of the one-way communication that takes place on Twitter or similar related platforms.

Where did all that community spirit go? It’s been run out, overpowered, by content that devalues our discipline and promotes the object. An abundance of free display fonts, Photoshop grunge brushes, poorly scanned textures and badly written tutorials now run the community. The system has locked out engaged discourse, made it hard for one to communicate with people outside their network an shunned divergent viewpoints. Once this communication slowed down, it was easy for the world of design spam to take over, only further pushing out critical discourse.

This is not to say that there is no value of the content being shared, or that there is no graphic design community on-line. Non-professionals are very engaged with this content because it has a high level of value to them. Limited knowledge makes them ineligible to engage with critical discourse, but it also does not exclude them from being graphic designers. If one thinks about learning any discipline in an on-line setting, the first thing one does is watch tutorials and get a feel for the tasks at hand.

Due to the lack of critical discourse and over abundance of amateur based material, we have lost many of the professional members of the graphic design community. The professional members that I am referring to are practicing in the field, have established their careers and learned first hand what makes up their ideologies and opinions. Unfortunately, these designers are also the busiest members in our discipline. They are the designers who have families, homes and heavy work loads, all pulling them away from an on-line discourse format.

These designers, with their minimal free time, see no value in the conversations that are currently defining graphic design in the on-line space. Because of this, the presence of a diverse on-line community is non-existent. This is not to say that conversations are not happening or that there are no examples of our community on-line, but rather that the graphic design community is not representing itself in a holistic way. The lack of holistic community is creating a disconnect in the way conversations are shaped and how these decisions can be implemented.

The conversation has also grown to live on an unidentifiable amount of platforms and networks. Anyone has the possibility to create a blog through free tools like WordPress and Tumblr. By simply buying hosting space a designers have a venue to share their thoughts or opinions. The problem with this is when a new blog is created, the amount of places where these conversations take place increases. This system does lead to a democracy of content but makes the network and related conversations very hard to follow or in many cases even know about.

Designers Need To Participate

As virtual forms of communication have grown to be the standard, we see drastic changes in the ways we consume mass amounts of information. Never before in history have users been as connected, allowing one to see the various types of information that can be seen on the internet (Gilmor). This overwhelming database of information makes us less critical of the things we see. We view resources like Wikipedia, which can be edited and changed for better or worse by the masses, as factual information instead of looking at it with a critical eye (Belk).

The same is happening with on-line discourse in the field of graphic design. When a new article comes out, we can see that the statements made are not being challenged. This is causing us all to be followers rather than leaders. The voices of only a few are dictating drastic design directions, and the small amount of community that is present is following these voices, only propagating them further.

Because of this mentality we are seeing that our E-mails and blog posts are looking and feeling more like tweets (Gilmor). This is because with the minimal impact of your voice, one is discouraged to completely state ideas, opinions or even thoughts. We have become so busy with the overwhelming amount of data that we need to listen to and follow, that there is no time left in our days to contribute.

If one looks back through the rich history of graphic design, we can see the groundswell that has been created when designers have subverted the system in which they were working. Arguably, graphic design has always been defined by a select few, but that same select few were not necessarily setting trends or evolving the discipline. In examining ways post-modernism broke down the international typographic style, one can see that the new ideologies and trends were not set by the designers most recognized during this time period. The work of designers such as Armin Hofmann and Josef Muller-Brockmann were setting the standard for graphic design aesthetic (Meggs).

This aesthetic became underwritten by designers such as Herb Lubalin, who ushered in the era of avant garde. During this period, experimentation was key. Though these designers were not well known in their early careers, their challenging of the international typographic style allowed their ideologies to eventually create new trends and standards. This fresh approach was copied, appropriated and used by the masses, which only heightened the reputations of the designers and their work. This happened through a grassroots movement of the common designer that elevated their new style and approach to the level of a new trend (Meggs).

Recent examples of this type of subversion to create trends can be found with examples of on-line presence. Though few designers over the past ten years have been able to break through the mesh from unknowns to leaders in our industry, there are instances of this elevation happening. Frank Chimero, an illustrator/designer originally from small town Missouri, has become a virtual heavyweight in the design industry. This is because of his transparency, open sharing of ideas and sophisticated level of discussion (Chimero).

Less then ten years ago, Chimero was just another recent graduate of Missouri State University with hopes to form a career in freelance design. Though he is a talented designer, it was his passion for the profession and way of talking that made clients attracted to him. The dialogue that Chimero had made its way onto the internet, where he quickly grew in popularity. This popularity formed not only because of his design and illustration skills, but rather because of the unique ways that he talked about design and his approach to creating. It was this same popularity that pushed Chimero to the upper bracket of his field. Because the masses were talking about and propagating the conversations that Chimero was having, it made it easy for him to explode in popularity through virtual word-ofmouth.

What has this popularity done for Chimero? He is currently teaching young designers full-time at Portland State University, actively shaping the ways design education is approaching problems. Also, through his on-line presence, he is now speaking at pinnacle events such as South By South West and the Build Conference, where his ideology and opinions are reaching an audience outside of the design realm, creating change within business and commercial structures.

In addition to these opportunities, Frank Chimero has chosen to write a book on his thoughts in relation to design. The book The Shape of Design became a Kickstarter project in early 2011. His project reached it’s goal of $27,000 in a matter of hours. In the following two weeks that the project was open for backers, he raised an astounding $112,159 (Kickstarter). Is this because Chimero is the next Mark Twain or Agatha Christie? In short, no. It is because he has developed an identity for himself that people enjoy and find thoughtful. The same followers that have elevated him to reach his current level of popularity are the same followers that bought and sponsored his book before even reading a single word of it.

Chimero has taken his own personal identity and projected it on-line via transparency. With this transparency he was apt to challenge the ideas he was presented, bringing a unique perspective to the dialogue he was engaged with. Over time this unique perspective caused him to gain attention and reputation. By being honest with his discourse and engaging with the system Chimero has become an active leader of the field of graphic design and is making change in the way it is understood and talked about.

Conclusion

The internet is diverse because the voices of many designers are living in various locations on the web. Standardizing the locations in which designers voices are heard will help us to better find new users with divergent ideologies and opinions. But by simply collecting this data and bringing it to one location, one will run into the problem of blogs. A blog is locked down where not everyone can make a post or update. It is not easy for one’s opinion to propagate outwards because of the oneway network of Twitter.

If we take the flip this relationship, a possible solution is to diversify the system and allow all to have a voice that is on a level playing field. But by simply encouraging designers to house their thoughts in their own proprietary URLs we do not solve the problem. This solution will only further complicate the system, making conversations harder to follow and find. Is there a way to diversify the system, allowing many to have equality in their voice, while also standardizing it, giving users an easy way to find and follow discussions over a long period of time?

Knowing that designers and their conversations are living on Twitter proposes a platform for discourse to take place. Because of the asymmetrical relationship, users will only get their voice heard in a list of their own followers. But, Twitter is still used as the way to communicate outwards to large groups. We can see this happening when reading articles on-line, given the option to ‘tweet this,’ almost encouraging us to share our opinion. The problem is that this opinion breaks down when we try to push it outwards, outside of our network. Hash tag searches will lead users to misdirections and complications. Could the solution of standardized hash tags fix this issue?

A simple solution to a complex problem may just be what this issue needs (Berlow). By standardizing hash tags, designers will be able to quickly view what is being discussed relating to a specific subject matter. If users want to see what was new in the world of design thinking, as an example, they would simply go to Twitter, where they will be able to search through a predetermined syntax of tags. Because Twitter is simply a micro-blogging platform, all of its data lives throughout the internet. Twitter can become a thread for links and short comments. With that everyone has an equal voice to hear and say whatever they want without filtering, but also gets to have their and other designers voices heard in a centralized location. This simple system upgrade will facilitate a change.

As the field of graphic design evolves over the next ten to fifteen years, it will undergo various stages of redefinition. This change will come as a result of the conversations surrounding the discipline. The ways in which we talk about design and establish our roles are being decided by an elitist group, right now. That group has opinions and ideologies that do not reflect the minds of the masses. It is possible for this conversation to become more democratic, but it will take active engagement from the community as a whole. One participant does not have the ability to change this system. It will take support and dialogue from a large group of the design community. This group needs to engage, but also do so with the upmost transparency. The process of change will not come from passive participants. Simply agreeing with or viewing content with a non-critical eye will only further propagate elitists.

As designers we need to come together to make pinnacle decisions about our discipline. It seems that every other week new articles come out that are defining the way we progress in this field. There is value to engaging with this system. But a lack of direction is causing the graphic design industry to become segmented. We are loosing reputability because businesses are unsure of what we do. Why is this? Because we are unsure of what we do and don’t do.

The current buzz word of social media is not going away. In the coming years we may move from platform to platform, and updates may not be on Twitter anymore. Instead of its disappearance, Twitter will be replaced by something better, faster, easier and full featured. Social media now travels with us. It is in on our laptops, in our phones and on our tablets. Because of this, it is integrated into our lifestyles. Now is the time to gain understanding of these networks and their functionality. Young designers are embracing its use and seeing the power of the medium. Though we have lost a holistic community on-line, it is important that practicing designers find ways to engage, get past the technology and have an active voice in redefining our discipline.

The time for change is now. Through active engagement we can reshape the discourse of graphic design and allow it to promote itself outwards into other disciplines and businesses. This level of engagement can contribute to real change in the field. If you have an opinion, or thoughts towards a subject matter of our discipline, it is a must to make those opinions heard. It is a must for you, and your fellow designers, to engage with dialogue on-line and develop the roles of graphic design as the discipline evolves. If not, you are just riding on the caboose of a very long train to who knows where, following the ideas and opinions of an elitist set of individuals.

Works Cited

About FFFFound!. FFFFOUND!. Retrieved May 19, 2011, from http://www.ffffound.com

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About Us. Image Spark – Discover, share, tag, and converge images that inspire you and your work..
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how-complexity-leads-to-simplicity-eric-berlow-on-ted-com/

Chimero, F. Frank Chimero – Home. Frank Chimero. http://www.frankchimero.com/

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Foljanty, L. 1980 – 1989: An Industrial Milestone . The Apple Museum. http://www.theapplemuseum.com

Gillmor, D. (2008). Media Users, Media Creators: Principles of Active Engagement. Journal and Social Media, 16(2), 40-43.

Jamison, A. (2006). Collaboration v. Imitation: Authorship and the Law. Law and Literature, 18(2), 199-224.

Chimero, Frank. “The Shape of Design by Frank Chimero — Kickstarter.” Kickstarter. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2011..

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Glossary Of Terms

Blog: Short for Web log, a blog is a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an
individual or business. Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.

Brand New: A division of UnderConsideration. Its sole purpose is to chronicle and provide opinions on
corporate and brand identity work, focusing mostly on identity design and a modest amount of
packaging. We cover redesigns and new designs. (Vit)

Closed network: A network to which access is only allowed to users who have been authenticated to use the system.

Crowd: Term referring to a large number of people gathered together, typically in a disorganized or unruly
way. The internet term expresses a large mass of diverse people.

Design Observer: A blog founded in October 2003 by Michael Bierut, William Drenttel, Jessica Helfand and Rick Poynor with design and technology by Ruby Studio. Through the years Design Observer has
become a primary source of graphic design writing (Mina).

Dropped: The term used to express adding images into a stream such as FFFFound or Image Spark.

E-Mail: Electronic mail, commonly called email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from
an author to one or more recipients. Modern e-mail operates across the Internet or other computer networks.

Facebook: A social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. As of January 2011, Facebook has more than 600 million active users. Users may create a personal profile, add other users as friends, and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile.

FFFFound: A web service that not only allows the users to post and share their favorite images found on the
web, but also dynamically recommends each user’s tastes and interests for an inspirational image bookmarking
experience (FFFFound).

Groundswell: A spontaneous movement of people using online tools to connect, take change of their own experience, and get what they need – information, support, ideas, products, and bargaining power – from each other (Li).

Hash tag: The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages. Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category. Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet. Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics (Twitter).

Image aggregation: Classification used to describe the platforms in where users pull content from all over the internet and display it into one stream. Examples of this are FFFFound and Image Spark (Nelson).

Image Spark: A creative tool that helps you collect, discover, share, tag and converge images that inspire you and your work. (Image Spark)

Imprint: Blog curated by Print Magazine with the concept of expanding the design conversation.

Kickstarter: A new way to fund creative projects. They believe that: A good idea, communicated well, can spread fast and wide. And a large group of people can be a tremendous source of money and encouragement. Kickstarter is powered by a unique all-or-nothing funding method where projects must be fully-funded or no money changes hands (Kickstarter)

MSN Messenger: An instant messaging client created by Microsoft.

Open network: A network to which access is allowed to any users who wishes to view the system, with or without joining.

Tumblr: A blogging platform that lets you effortlessly share anything. Post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos, from your browser, phone, desktop, e-mail, or wherever you happen to be (Tumblr).

Tweet: A term used to express posting a new message/update onto Twitter.

Twitter: A real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply find the public streams you find most compelling and follow the conversations (Twitter).

Twitter Feed: A users Twitter feed is where updates take place and are organized chronologically.

URL: A persons URL or Uniform Resource Locator is the address that is typed in when going to a new page on-line. Example: www.google.com

Web 2.0: The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, user-centered design and collaboration on the internet. A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community.

Wikipedia: A growing public encyclopedia of over 4 million articles on subjects on the Internet; registered users may freely edit content of these articles. (Wikipedia)

WordPress: Dynamic publishing tool for managing website content using a web browser. The platform is opensource and widely used by leading news agencies and corporations.

Zeitgeist: the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.

2-way relationship: In this type of dynamic two users follow/friend each other alike and see each others content mutually. Also known as a symmetrical relationship.

1-way relationship: In this type of dynamic a user can follow/friend a user without the other users needing to have a mutual relationship. With this one user can see all of another users content without them having to
see yours. Also known as an asymmetrical relationship.

Visuals

Presentation Notes:

• @catchafireceo
• Doing good doesn’t mean good intentions
• How do you know you made an impact?
• How do you measure that impact?
• Motivation is a means to an end. Not the end itself
• Entrepreneurs tend to just try to get shit done
• Tying motivation to probono work does not take away from that act of good
• People want status and recognition :: this can be leveraged to create motivation
• Motivation: people don’t want to feel guilty. Think Toms shoes, we own a ton of pairs of shoes, toms gives us a way to buy another pair of shoes without feeling guilty
• Tesla motors is tying into the need for status and recognition with their electric cars. They look good and make a statement different from the Prius
• Kiva is a small loan service for poverty users. 99% payback rate. $260 million in Capitol lent
  95% of nonprofits can not access professional services. They can not afford to advertise or search for help
• “Barack” the largest nonprofit ?
• People and organizations value what they pay for .. Can give access to good talent and make organizations value the projects they are requesting. It’s about the overall motivation.

Cameron Tonkinwise:
In Cameron’s opening night keynote the overabundance of eco-based information went under the microscope. As designers, our first response to the sustainability movement is to create large amounts of communication designs conveying an urgency and a need for change. Cameron states that this bombardment of information has placed the world in a state of concern, but because of the many crisis we are currently experiencing, even the word crisis is in crisis. Consumers have been able to point the blame of environmental issues back at businesses, giving themselves a lesser feeling of responsibility. Cameron argues that designers should work towards interactions that make the public realize their overconsumption and waste. By actively engaging the end user new connection points can be made, untimely illustrating to many users that they are unresponsible when it comes to environmental sustainability.

DAY 2 —–

Phil Hamlett:
Day 2 started out with speaker Phil Hamlett, co-creator of The Living Principles, a website dedicated to setting standards of sustainability for the graphic design industry. Phil uses the analogy that designers information on sustainability is currently in a “knowledge hairball.” By establishing a place for this information to be organized, discussed and transformed, the living principles has been able to make the topic of sustainability more accessible. “Every designer needs to find a way to put sustainability into play, as designers we can change perceptions,” says Hamlett.

System What System?:
Designers must be constantly aware the the various systems in which they work. These systems are constantly changing and evolving. Because of this designers are being asked more then ever to research and develop new systems for which they work.  A designer today needs to familiarize themselves with many disciplines to assure the can understand the cause and effect of what they produce. Graphic design is not unionized, but needs to create a universal front to refuse unethical work and adjust the current systems in which we work. Johnathan Baldwin states, ” I’m not a graphic designer, I design systems and companies, creating the logo is just the final step of that process. A better understanding of these principles helps me create more holistic and just solutions.”

John Jennings:
John Jennings discussed the misrepresentation of the black body in American comic books. The medium of sequential art is evolving into a global source of valuable information and discourse on various contemporary arguments and ideas. In his talk Jennings discussed how the black figure has been misrepresented throughout the history of comics. The first example called to reference was the tale of John Henry. Henry who was a freed slave working for the railway industry, was pitted against a machine to see who could dig a tunnel the fasts. For the owners of the company the competition was not to see which method was more productive but rather to see which “machine” was more effective. Jennings went on to showcase many examples about the lack of ethical representation of the black body throughout comic book history. Many of these references work with black stereotypes. Jennings suggests that current sequential artist be aware of the power of the medium. By creating comics and character development that is more ethical contemporary artist can engage an entirely new market for sequential art.

Real World Social Design & The Classroom:
The panel discussed ways in which it is possible for teachers and students to adapt the new models that exist in the evolving design world. By taking the structure of the classroom and pushing it beyond the walls and into the real world in a school environment students are able to learn new skills otherwise unobtainable. Examples such as The Works at RMIT have been able to ride the fringe between classroom and studio, taking on real world, paying clients. By adapting this new style of learning students are able to have a larger idea of communication and understanding of the real world. By working on real world projects educators are also forced to not rely on the past and often outdated techniques that they were taught on. institutions have to take the associated risks of these types of projects to produce the caliber of students are are needed in the industry today. The classroom is an environment for exploration and it is important for students to notice that they have a “get out of jail free card” in this stage of their career.

Brian Dougherty:
in his presentation Dougherty stated that, “It’s time to evolve our design thinking to better integrate sustainability into our workflow.” Upon starting Celery Design Brian knew that he wanted to work for the good guys, the businesses that were interested in becoming and operating sustainability while also being less wasteful. After making a reference to his now famous design avocado Dougherty went on to say, ” graphic design is not a field of stuff making. We are in the business of communicating and I want to work with messages that matter.” The skills that designers posses today are applicable for change. By taking on entire systems Celery design is able to craft more substantial solutions. By taking a designing backwards approach, the Celery design team is able to look at production means, materials sourcing and shipping methods just to name a few to create more effective solutions that can operate sustainability.

DAY 3 —–

Triple Bottom Line:
Day 3 started out with a panel discussion on the triple bottom line or people, planet and profit discussion. Many methods of persuasion were discussed during this panel on ways to make it possible to get clients to get involved in this idea of triple bottom line thinking. By crafting a holistic brands designers can begin to illustrate triple bottom line successes. It is important for designers to showcase their passions, by doing this clients will begin to buy into what you are selling. People value passion. By doing business you work with people, and people work with people. It’s not about selling companies on green marketing that in many cases puts up a facade about a companies values and beliefs, but rather it is about holistic marketing by making a brand deal with social aspects.

John Bielenburg:
“The status quo can be changed from thinking backwards,” says John Bielenburg, and his exploration, Project M, is proving this theory right. As a self described boot camp for designers, Project M has made progress in doing work for the greater good and creating community. By taking designers and pushing them out of their comfort zones they can begin to learn a lot about themselves and the disciplines in which they are involved. By thinking wrong designers can begin to make connections to between unlike subject matters to create new and previously unobtainable solutions.

William Drentel:
In his presentation “The Designer Formally Known as William Drentel” discussed how his professional practice has evolved from graphic design into the world of social innovation. The Winterhouse Institute works towards getting a place at the table so that it is possible for them to be involved in the innovation stages of the design process. In doing this Drentel has began to notice that designers are being tasked to have a new skill set saying that, “designers are primarily talking to ourselves, only exploiting the glories of design to other designers.” It is required that design education take the aspects of finding personal voice and anti-corporation mentalities out of their curriculum so that designer can focus on larger and more holistic problems. New designers need to become participants and contributors.

Bernard Canniffe:
Bernard Canniffe talked in large about his work in Piece Studio for the east and west Baltimore suburbs. The work of Piece Studio is about people, and not so much projects, and many of their work is deeply rooted in community value. By involving Piece Studio in work that focuses on using design as communicator they were able to incubate the Baltimore suburbs with new business and social change. Bernard states, “design is not about concept, it is about telling stories.” By involving themselves in the community they were able to find ways for their graphic design abilities to further community and growth

Signage for Arlington station, Boston T (MBTA) (1967). (courtesy Thomas Geismar & AIGA)

In developing the signage for the NY Subway system Vignelli was all about clarity and ease of use. And for this goal I have to think that he hit the nail on the head. But in my opinion this choice has also adversely affected the overall feel, experience and brand of transportation systems everywhere. His choices were done in the height of modernism when, of course, Helvetica and other strong sans-serif, grid based, typography was king. Not to say that I am advocating against the use of Helvetica entirely, actually I quite like it. But I have to ask the question. Is it possible that in choosing a typeface which is devoid of personality and character, (at least in how it is used in public transit) and has on overly stogy appearance has rubbed off on the people that use this systems everyday… or better yet, the entire brand of mass transit systems?

In todays world we need to get more users involved in using mass transit. The roads are becoming increasingly crowded and US cities are expanding. It has become a mission for growing cities to convince its residents to use public transportation. Not only are things like ride shares, subways and busses better on pollution then millions of cars sitting in traffic, but is also increases income for city at large.

If you have taken mass transit in the past you can quickly realize the the system was not designed to create a great overall experience. Mass transit is used more as a necessity then a choice in major metropolitan areas. But in today’s world, people are becoming increasingly cognizance of their experiences on a daily basis. When riding the MBTA here in Boston it is very easy to point out the people that ride it because of necessity. Personally, riding the T is the best way for me to get in and out of the city, without having to deal with driving, parking, gas or any of those other headaches that come with car ownership (I’m not even sure that you have to pass a test to get a Massachusetts drivers license with the quality of driving that happens in Boston). I actually quite like taking transit to and from work. I can read, relax and start my day off on a more relaxed note.

But that is not to say that I love dealing with the MBTA on a daily basis. Waiting for trains, standing next to smelly people, having the lady with the wet umbrella leaning up against me, watching 4 D and B line trains pass me by as I wait for a C… correct, it is a bit of a pain in the ass. But this is mostly because the MBTA and transit systems in most cities have not paid close attention to the overall experience of using their product. Mass transit is a great example of a category that is completly ignoring the greater power of design, instead focusing on metrics and a quantitative approach.

Now I am not of the mindset that not using Helvetica will make me happy to stand next to a smelly person. Or that some nice typography will make me want to stand outside in the rain for 20 minutes waiting for a train. But I do certainly think that a change could begin to shift perspectives that people have on an overall brand. And hopefully start to lighten the mood of the morning commute.
Is there any problem with adding a little fun or delight to an otherwise medial task? I certainly hope not. In Aarron Walter’s recent book “Designing for Emotion” he speaks about the ways that designers, in his case for the web, can add value and delight to user experiences. And I think that this context and idea needs to be taken to a much larger scale.

We already see this happening in other areas. Think about the ways that Starbucks has crafted a unique experience for doing something as boring and routine as buying a cup of coffee. And yes no Helvetica at Starbucks. The entire experience has been thought about. The music that play as you enter the store, the temperature of the inside… and of course, their use of typography throughout to make an overall feel. What has this done? Next time you are standing in line at a Starbucks take notice to the politeness that people have towards each other and the employees. Even in the crowded downtown crossing Starbucks that I frequent before work people are chipper, happy and polite. All while buying a $4.00 cup of coffee.

If it were possible for the MBTA to make their riders feel more kinship towards each other or the overall interaction of using the T it will only have a great outwardly effect on other users. A domino effect can begin to happen.

You see it on occasion, when one rider gets up to allow on elderly rider sit down. Then suddenly another rider does the same. And next thing you know, people are just generally being nicer towards each other. People apologize for accidentally bumping together when the train comes to a quick stop. People start saying excuse me when they need to get by to exit. And even once or twice, people will actually move toward the back of the train when the conductor asks them to (but that still almost never happens).

Now I am not saying that getting rid of Helvetica will solve any of these problems. Hell, the MBTA actually uses a lot of Arial in its newer print pieces, which is even worse. But I think that it could be a great step forward in crafting a better experience and shifting the mood/brand that mass transit is getting. It’s worth a shot to try to brighten someone’s day with the use of character, whit or humor. Maybe it will be successful, maybe it won’t. But what it could do for the brand of mass transit, and the people that are on the fence about using it could be huge.

Who cares about consistency? These signs have beauty and speak way more about their respective stops then Helvetica ever could. (courtesy AIGA)

The business and consumer world is undergoing a massive change. The slumping economy has caused family budgets and savings to drop dramatically. In turn this lowered amount of savings is hurting many businesses. The consumers disposable income has decreases, and they are not buying. The value of the American dollar is dropping by the day and the foreclosure and bankruptcy rates are increasing. Something has to be done. (Ford, Rhodes)

Because of this economic downturn many consumers are, for the first time in years, considering the benefits of sharing and partial ownership platforms. Not only do these type of avenues allow greater access to goods and services, but they also at many time allow consumers to access higher quality products and experiences. (Ford, Rhodes) But what are these platforms and how can they exist in the current economy?

The answers to these questions are both very complex and simple at the same time. New business models are forming that allow for the sharing of materials rather then the sale of them. Likewise the product of business is shifting towards repeated experiences rather then singular sales. (Gansky 1) An easy way to explain how these models are working is to illustrate them with an example. And there is no better example of a sharing style business then Zip Car, a car sharing service seeing rapid growth throughout the United States.

Zip Car started in 1999 in the midst of the big three’s bankruptcy claims. The problem seemed simple enough, they set out to “create an easy and efficient way for people to share cars rather then own them, in a service that is convenient, fast and affordable.” (Zip Car) Because many families were living on a fixed income with little to no disposable funds few were buying cars. On average, a car is used for one hour out of the day, but the consumers are paying for it twenty-four hours of the day, plus gasoline and maintenance and insurance and storage. (Gansky 1) Why pay for all this cost when you could just use an automobile for the one hour a day that you do need it, and then when you don’t have it not be your problem? Enter Zip Car, with a growing database of rentable vehicles for their members. What Zip Car does is offer this convenience to their members, elegantly termed “zipsters.”

By joining the Zip Car plan you are charged either a yearly or monthly flat fee (usually around the $50 range) and on top of that you only need to pay for the amount of use you have in the vehicles. By reserving a Zip Car for an hour or two, up to days at a time depending on your needs, you can access the luxury of having an automobile with out the hassle of ownership, and when you don’t need to car it can be rented out to someone else for their needs. Zip Car takes care of paying for the gas, they pay for the up keep as well as the cleaning of the vehicles as well as the insurance. (Zip Car) By doing this Zip Car is able to create a seamless car sharing platform, fostered by the internet, that allows easy access to the consumers needs. This approach is not about selling cars as much as it is about providing a transportation solution.

The bigger question here is that is the purpose of all this sharing? And that is a good question to be asked. As contemporary members of western culture we have become inundated with stuff. Objects control us and our need for new things is beginning to take it’s toll. Not only does this obsession with the new create huge problems within our ecosystem but it also asks the question, when we have less money, do we really need to own all these things. Sharing platforms look to answer this problem. We can have access to new and interesting goods while also allowing other people to enjoy them when we don’t need or want them anymore. By doing this we are able to obtain objects that were otherwise unaffordable. In addition, when sharing we get to try new things that we may have otherwise been swayed by the investment price, allowing for more participating businesses to flourish. (Bostman 2)

This integration into a shared economics model also allows for greater choice. With this greater choice becomes the level of greater individuality. By allowing the end consumer to make individual choices, businesses are able to make more customized products, in turn building more loyalty towards their brand or industry. (Gansky 2) For example, Zip Car can build loyalty by offering a great SUV that fits you and your gear for your upcoming ski trip. But in addition to that, Zip Car will offer you the ability to customize the vehicle with a shared roof rack so you can strap your skies to the outside of the car and invite your friends along. Incase you are going into some real heavy weather they will also offer you off-road tire chain options. By adding this level of customization to the Zip Car experience consumers become increasingly satisfied with their interactions with the brand. These good interactions establish brand loyalty while also encouraging users to become advocates for the Zip Car name in the future. (Zip Car)

In his book “The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More” author Chris Anderson discusses how companies that are offering greater selections are more profitable over old business models of selling only high quantities of highly desirable merchandise. (Anderson) Companies in the past, limited by physical space most of the time, were handcuffed to sell highly desirable products and to sell a lot of them. Music and movie retailers are a good example of this. Because of limited shelf space as well as the costs of getting goods to and displaying them in the store, retailers were forced to get the products that they knew consumers would buy high quantities of. But what about the person that wants the obscure 70’s Russian Zombie film with the spanish subtitles? Up until the world of digital retail this consumer may have been out of luck. But enter businesses such as Amazon, the worlds larges on-line retailer. (Amazon) Amazon not only has this obscure zombie film, but also recommends several others in this genre that the customer was never aware of. If the consumer purchases enough of these films in one order he’ll even get free shipping. It turns out that these types of sales, where companies can sell a few copies of everything rather then a lot of copies of a few things is wildly more profitable and makes up for an increase in sales percentages of forty to fifty percent. (Anderson)

As more business have begun to realize the importance with connecting with their customers at new levels the customers have also started to be more vocal. Because of networking it is much easier to have your voice be heard then it was twenty years ago. With this listening taking place from the consumers, they are more encouraged to share their opinions and experiences. Platforms such as Yelp and Twitter are easy ways that consumers voice their opinion. With inward eMails towards corporations they have the option of replying or not. When these messages are pushed outwards into a users network they can be much more damaging. It has become a way for consumers to educate themselves about the quality of products or service experiences. As these can be negative reviews, they can also be very positive reviews. Consumers are sharing their good experiences just as much as their bad. (Bostman 1) As these networks begin to become educated on the validity of sharing systems and businesses they are popularized. You tend to trust the responses and recommendations that come from your friends and colleges. Because of this a great way for the shared economy to catch on is for observers to be educated on good experiences that their networks are having.

But hasn’t this model of sharing always kind of existed? Of course it has. From a very young age we are taught to share our toys. Families instill their children with the principles of sharing from the start. But for some reason we all tend to forget this as soon as we get into a capitalistic society. We have no problem borrowing an old book from a friend, but as soon as a business wants to share something with us we are somewhat suspicious of ulterior motives. As humans we feel more inclined to share with people that are sharing with us. Similar to the way that someone allowing us to merge into heavy traffic will prompt us to usually let someone else into that same traffic. (Belk) But when money exchange takes place, or sharing with strangers is necessary we are hesitant.

Of course sharing platforms have existed throughout history. Libraries are one of the most recognizable platforms that allow users to borrow an item without the need to own it and then return it when they are done with it. By doing this the public library gives access to a much larger database of books then any one person would or should own. What makes the library so successful is that it essentially operates without money exchange. Because they are government funded this model can take place.

Communal areas throughout communities are another thing that has, and probably will continue to be, a shared resource. In towns things like pools, parks and playgrounds are free and open to the public. Of course these resources are funded by taxes, but none the less these things are shared by the members of the community. In a city like Manhattan, where land is at a premium and people literally live on top of each other Central Park serves as everyone’s backyard. This sharing model has to exist because it would be impossible for every resident of this over crowded area to have a backyard. But by allowing everyone access to this communal area residents can use it when they need it and share it with everyone else when they don’t.

These models worked in the past because they filled various but specific needs in human existence. They gave you access to things that were otherwise unobtainable. Parks and libraries are businesses that still operated in the idea of product. People that could not afford to buy new books or didn’t have the space to hold several hundreds of books used libraries to fill this need. It’s still a need to this day and is why we still see the existence of parks and playgrounds in most cities. But these systems were limited. Because they relied in the world of the tangible. The usage and greatness of these products were hard to advertise. Who would be responsible for telling everyone that a new park is really amazing in a model that operates off of tax payer dollars. The answer is that it happened through word of mouth. This great way of spreading information is limiting though because it only has the legs to grow into a small network of people, and not necessarily outward enough.

The world opportunities for a shared economy are being reviewed since the internet has been taking off. The internet, mobile devices, wi-fi connectivity and social networking are all facilitating a greater chance for these types of systems to regain power while also being profitable. (Gansky 1) Similar to the way that a city park or library serves a community, companies can reach larger communities by tapping into the power of the internet and their customers connectivity.

With the internet customer interactions have a chance to become more streamlined and enjoyable. To use Zip Car as an example, the customer interaction with the service has found ways through digital communications to effortfully mesh with the users lifestyle. Services like google maps and a website allow the consumer to see where Zip Cars are located at, applications for the iPhone and Android markets allow users to purchase, reserve and unlock their cars. And GPS devices allow the users to seamlessly navigate the car in an unfamiliar town while also providing valuable data to the company about the way the user is driving the vehicle and where. It doesn’t take anything special for consumers to use the Zip Car service and that is one reason that it is so successful. (Zip Car)

As the platforms of shared economics continue to grow and evolve there is a need for a certain level of trust to be instilled throughout the process to engage the fringe audience. Some people will always be hesitant to the idea of relying on companies to get fulfill their obligations as agreed upon. However small this obligation may be from sending them the movie they requested to providing them a car for their upcoming vacation, the consumer may continue to be weary of the trust that can be instilled in a company. (Gansky 1) One way to overcome this hurdle is for word of mouth to continue to be a major marketing tool. And for word of mouth to work companies need to provide flawless service every time. Consumers are vocal whether it is for good or bad things.

It’s important for businesses to realize the opportunity to capitalize on this method of business and turn a profit from it. In a unique change of pace to typical business as more and more organizations choose to engage with this system the opportunity to profit does not necessarily decrease. The new model facilitates a large basis of partnerships to create rich experiences as well as create meaning for the consumer for both providers. As much as word of mouth advertising is important for consumers to spread the word of shared economies it is just as important that business use this marketing to talk to each other. When two like minded organizations can start a conversation about providing better experiences for the consumer ever one wins.

The internet has changed the way the consumers interact with a brand and how they share that interaction with their own personal networks. It is crucial that companies evolve to match the current state of customer needs. It is not only important for this change to happen for business to remain sustained throughout the future but also because of the rapid depletion of our natural resources. When consumers start to share cars two things happen. One they get to experience a great opportunity to save money and effort to having a new car whenever they need it. But also in this transition we will have less cars on the road. This is a snowball effect. Less cars on the roads means less traffic, it also more importantly means less use or resources and less cars to be disposed of or recycled. With an ecosystem that will be in total dismay within the next 100 years something needs to happen to make our world more sustainable while also filling our human need for new things and experiences. There is a great opportunity for shared business systems to step in and make profitable organizations with an engaged and happy customer base.

Works Cited
Amazon. “Amazon Media Room.” Getting To Know Us. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. . (Amazon)

Anderson, Chris. The Long Tail: Why the Future of business is Selling Less of More. New York: Hyperion, 2006. Print. (Anderson)

Belk, Russell. “Why Not Share Rather Then Own?.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 611 (2007): 126-140. JSTOR. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. (Belk)

Bostman, Rachel. “The Movement.” What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. . (Bostman 1)

Botsman, Rachel, and Roo Rogers. What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption. New York: Harperbusiness, 2010. Print. (Bostman 2)

Ford, Thomas, and Sarah Rhodes. “Recession & Online Shopping.” Slide Share. Wilkes University, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. . (Ford, Rhodes)

Gansky, Lisa. The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing. New York: Portfolio Penguin, 2010. Print. (Gansky 1)

Gansky, Lisa. “What Is The Mesh.” Mesh – the living network of sharing . N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. . (Gansky 2)

Zip Car. “About our company, the world’s car sharing leader – Zipcar.” Car Sharing, an alternative to car rental and car ownership – Zipcar. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. . (Zip Car)

Design Editor at The Herald Tribune, Alice Rawsthorn states that “although a lot of designers believe emotionally and intellectually in sustainability, they and the manufacturers they work for are finding it very difficult to come to terms with. Because sustainability is not just a sort of pretty and glamorous process using recycled materials to design something, that may or may not be in the color green. It’s about redesigning every single aspect, from sourcing materials, to designing, to production, to shipping, and then eventually designing a way that those products can be disposed responsibly. That is a mammoth task. So it is no wonder that designers and manufacturers are finding it so difficult.”3 William McDonaugh and Michael Braungart developed a system in the early 1970s known today as cradle-to-cradle. This system develops a continuous life cycle loop where waste becomes a resource. The basis of this system is that the industrial worlds waste can become a resource and in doing so has the ability to serve pourpose for something else. Cradle-to-cradle challenges why human activity is inherently wasteful and deconstructive.4 Rather then a product getting to the stage of recycling, cradle-to-cradle proposes that at this stage waste becomes a resource for something else in nature, or made from infinitely recyclable materials that never end up in landfills. In today’s cycle we have established a habit of recycling as an environmentally friendly and green practice. But this system is not efficient enough because as a material becomes reused over and over the product becomes downcycled to a lower quality substance until all that remains is useless material, which ends up in landfills. 5 In a cradle-to-cradle system however, the industrial process which focuses on the post consumer reuse of product, with eventual waste produced, is turned into a resource that can provide nourishment for something new at the end of their consumer interaction.4 This system would eliminate the concept of waste in the society. Similar to how a tree works, the product could potentially produce more energy then is consumed in its production and use.5

The cradle-to-cradle system has begun to be adapted to the conceptual production of architecture as well as civil engineering. Many proposals have been made to revitalize how a city or building operates, converting waste like sewage and trash into vital resources in a cities infrastructure.4 Though these plans may seem like a science fiction novel, the technology has long since been developed to produce these structures. Widespread acceptance of a system such as cradle-to-cradle has yet to be accomplished. It may because of the experimental nature of cradle-to-cradle, or it maybe because of the associated risk involved in building such a structure. But because such a large investment is needed to start benefiting from cradle-to-cradle ideals, corporations have resisted developing such constructions.5 There is a certain hesitant answer received when corporations are asked why their constructions are not on a higher level of sustainability. The cradle-to-cradle system is yet to be proven over a long-term scale test and because of this there is a lack of confidence behind it. In industries where brand image and public perception of a company are very crucial, larger companies do not see a need to run the risk of sustainable design backfiring.6 Their proven methods of operation currently work and there is a resist to fix something that is not broken.

These risks could become less elevated through the use of these principles at a smaller scale. The graphic design community has yet to universally understand the concept of sustainability in their professional practice. This may come from the misinformation that is associated with producing sustainable designs, often confusing it with the term recyclable or reusable. Many designers believe that the use of new production methods may cost more money and earn them less.6 But on the contrary to this argument, sustainable solutions often cost much less then current production methods because of their reduced used of resources such as fossil fuels, water and electric. Though an initial investment is needed to investigate possibilities, cradle-to-cradle changes the production methods just as much as it changes the materials being used, because of this the possibilities for large financial gains over a long term can be expected. Simple changes such as a moving of resources so that they are closer to a manufacturing location would save on fossil fuels, also changing the trucks that move this raw material to one with lower emissions and better gas mileage would create savings over the long-term production of a product. By constructing a new manufacturing facility using sustainable solutions a corporation can save millions on energy and emissions over the life of the structure.1 Further, by making products using sustainable materials that can be upcycled, a corporation can largely increase savings by reusing raw materials as opposed to the associated costs of making or gathering raw materials from nature. Sustainability relates more to the decisions that a designer makes in the design and manufacturing process then the overall recycle ability of a product.2

Waste can be applied to many more things then just the physical item in production. Things like the energy and chemicals needed during production, the fossil fuels needed in transportation and the overall purpose of a product need to be address in the developmental stages of design to make it adapt as a more sustainable solution.2 In an industry where time equals money, designers struggle with this decision to go back to square one and reengineer time tested solutions. Because graphic design often works directly with the consumers it is important to understand the social impact that design has in shaping trends and methods. An acceptance of sustainable principles throughout the design community could excel the use of cradle-to-cradle in other disciplines.

Author Phillip Megs philosophy on the duty of a graphic design states that, “the need for clear and imaginative visual communications to relate people to their culture, economic, and social lives has never been greater. As shapers of messages and images, graphic designers have an obligation to contribute meaningfully to a public understanding of environmental and social issues. Graphic designers have a responsibility to adapt new technology and to express their zeitgeist by inventing new forms and new ways of expressing ideas.” 7 Because of these responsibilities it becomes important for the graphic designer to present culture with more sustainable solutions to their products. I propose that designers should only present end users of products with sustainable solutions. If it is no longer the responsibility of a consumer to recycle, reduce, or reuse products the impact of the item shifts to the decisions being made in the design and production processes. It is now time for the design community to push towards healthier design not just for the ecological impact, but also for the potential social impact. Instead of persuading culture, concerning the need for recycling, why can they just not be taken out of the equation?

Designers have an open possibility to become the culture generators of the world. Because the state of design has shifted to a more digital realm it is important for designers to realize that there is no longer a need to revisit the archetype in design.3 Objects such as the digital camera no longer need to resemble a traditional 35mm film camera. Originally cameras had a rectangle shape because of the placement of the lens and the relationship to the shape of conventional film, but today there is no longer film, so why do we still have the long rectangle shape of cameras? Further industrial designer Karim Rashid questions, “if the shelf life of a technological object is less then eleven months, then why is my laptop not one hundred percent recyclable, maybe made out of cardboard or sugarcane. Why does anything anymore have to be built to be permanent?”3

A recent example of graphic design’s shortcomings comes at the expense of reputable Adidas graphic designer Stella McCartney. McCartney, who is avidly a vegetarian and activist towards the ethical treatment of animals, is know for her refusal to use animal products in her product design and production solutions. On a recent project to redesign the shoebox packaging for Adidas McCartney developed an aesthetically pleasing design, that avoided the use of animal fat, but ignored her ecological responsibility as a designer, crafting the box from non-recycled cardboard and using traditional chemical based inks.4 (Fig. 1) This example works to illustrate the disconnect that is taking place between graphic design and sustainability issues. McCartney may not have been able to persuade Adidas to use a more sustainable solution, but perhaps the times allotted to the design and produce the packaging were the core issue as to why the design was not reengineered to be more sustainable. Much like McCartney stressed the avoidance of animal fats, it is also her responsibility as the designer to stress the purpose of sustainable solutions in her work. Though the production time of this particular product may have been pushed back it would have saved Adidas money over the long term. As designers are faced with the challenges of establishing an aesthetic, but often ignore the materials they use and personal integrity invested in a product.4

Freitag is another example of designers struggle to completely understand the concept of sustainability as an overarching process. Feritag markets themselves as green company whose product comes from 100% repurposed billboards, bicycle inter tubes, airbags and seatbelts.8 (Fig. 2) Though the reuse of these products does make an economic impact (bags sell from $200 up to well over $500) they fall short of helping an ecological system. The bags, though repurposed, just delay the overall impact on landfills because of the non-recyclable materials used to produce them. Implementing cradle-to-cradle principles into the world of advertising would automatically repurpose everything without the landfill impact. Products would fall into a reoccurring cycle where old advertisements could be turned into new advertisements, over and over again infinitely. Again the question needs to be asked that, why do advertisements need to be engineered to be permanent? 3 Because billboards are constantly being replaced by a new ad over and over again, why can an ad not be made from perhaps sugarcane? Instead of removing the old billboard advertisement and replacing it with a new one, why does the ad not just dissolve away into the ecosystem in which it lives? Such a solution could put a company like Freitag out of business, but the idea of repurposing advertisements, a useless item, needs to be rethought for it’s impact on the environment. The service that Freitag is currently providing is a great way to deal with items in their current state, though this just extends the life of a product consistently still allowing them to end up in a landfill.

Perhaps the inability of designers to understand the complexities of sustainable design comes from a lack of standardization within the community. The use of an industry wide set of guidelines could shape the way designers approach global ethics. In architecture, where sustainable principles are much more widely accepted, a certification system known as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) has been accepted as a standard for green building practices.4 (Fig. 3) The LEED grading system gives an architect guidelines for what standards need to be met to constitute a sustainable solution. These standards are accompanied by a grading system, Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum, stating the levels of participation in these practices.9 This system was developed to raise awareness to sustainable building practices as well as standardize what is expected of architects in their design process. Bringing this concept to graphic design could aid in the awareness of green practices to the general public. Because more people interact with graphic design in the tactile experience of a package or a magazine, a certified system could potentially raise awareness about the cause, in much the same way that the use of the recycling logo has aided towards the current green efforts.

Eric Benson, assistant professor at the University of Illinois and founder of re-nourish.com, an organization dedicated to the advancement and awareness of sustainable graphic design, has set a basis of questions that a designer needs to ask of themselves when taking on a new project in a sustainable manner. He states that, “creating sustainable pieces should begin at the start of the design process.” 4 This process needs to be followed by a set of questions that help in the elementary development of a design. Instead of design solutions coming from a predetermined set of standards, designers should question if their solution even requires a tangible object. Is the typical method of production the best way to communicate your message? What is the impact of making this piece? How can we lessen the impact if we print the piece?10 With digital design becoming increasingly prevalent, a move towards production on the web may be a necessary path to take. Perhaps a new form needs to be developed to deliver this message properly. In many cases the media used to deliver a message is out of date or thrown away shortly after its use.

Sun Chips a subdivision of Frito-Lay recently released a100% sustainable packing for their product.11 Pepsi Company, the owner of Frito-Lay spent nearly ten million dollars and over seventy years developing increasingly sustainable solutions for their production and products. During this journey Sun Chips have evolved as a corporation as well as a brand that embraced these ideas. For Sun Chips a waste issue related to two things. Firstly, when Frito-Lay launched Sun Chips, they had struggles keeping it in business because the brand was not immediately well received. The high costs of operation and low revenue gave Pepsi Company few options, to invest in the brand by completely restructure the production of their chips, or to shut down that division and seize production all together. Secondly Frito-Lay was uncomfortable with the idea of their product packaging turning into litter and ending up in landfills.11 Though there was a high investment needed to get this technology working, by developing more sustainable solutions Frito-Lay will be able to adapt this technology across their product line, increasing profit margins greatly.12

The Sun Chips brand began their efforts firstly by taking on the production process. They started by reusing shipping cartons, a seemingly simple task, that now has saved nearly five million trees over the life of the brand. 11 New production plants were built in 1999 that use solar energy and biomass to power themselves, making such locations some of the less then 50 factories to achieve a gold LEED certification.9 The plants also recollect and reuse water, reducing usage by nearly 80% saving upwards of 3 billion gallons of water usage annually. The solar collector fields associated with these plants have cut co2 emissions by nearly 1.7 million lbs every year. Every chip made in a Sun Chip plant is made completely by solar energy.11

The capstone of this project was the development of a 100% compostable chip bag. Not only has thins bag reduced it’s own overall impact in landfills, but it has also been developed to increase shelf life of the product, reducing the amount of shipping runs.11 By creating a bag that is fully compostable Frito-Lay has effetely taken the consumer out of the recycling equation. Now no longer is the end user responsible for the recycling or the proper disposal of their product. The chip bag is designed to completely compost within 16 weeks of disposal, regenerating soil and energy for the ecosystem. Though consumers may become educated on recycling and reuse of their waste, it does not matter if they are not because the Sun Chip package will compost in 8 months even if it is disposed into a landfill. In the event that irresponsible consumers throw their used chip bag out their car window, the process will still take place, reducing landfill impact and waste. If similar principles were adapted across the design community the impact on landfill waste would be astronomically reduced. Designing solutions that have a direct connection with their disposal.13 By presenting culture with a product that will recycle itself, the ideals of cradle-to-cradle are embraced, possibly even without the consumer’s knowledge.

In a recent project I personally dealt with the state of music packaging in our wasteful society. Because there is an overwhelming availability of music in today’s technology based society, the need for a more unique and environmentally friendly way of receiving music is needed. Graphic design has an opportunity to reshape the way we look at music packaging and the ways we are encouraged to listen to music. Design has began to take the initial steps in foreword thinking packaging that will reduce the waste produced in compact disk packaging, such as moving away from plastic jewel cases to recycled paper constructions. But this concept can be taken further then it currently has. Most music listeners keep digital files on a computer hard drive with little use for a physical compact disk, after it has been copied to your music library. A main reason that consumers have continued to buy conventional compact disks is because of the additional content that is included in this style of packaging. There is a physicality and security to compact disk packaging that also may push a consumer to continually buy compact disks in the traditional manner. In a new approach to music packaging I melded these two ideas together so that a consumer would be able to have the conventional content of compact disk packaging without actually including wasteful plastic packaging or unused compact disk media, while still having the security of the traditional package. (Fig. 4)

For this project I produced a compact disk style packaging that was eco friendly with an underlying concept of conservation applied throughout. I saw an overall waste in many of the compact disk releases today. A rerelease of an entire album because of an extra song or a remastering of the recording is not a justifiable enough reason to create the waste associated with making an album. For my project I created a packaging in the style of a book, which had additional content, focusing on the process of recording the current album, almost like a journal or wrap-up. Again with conservation in mind, producing a physical compact disk would be wasteful, so included in this book was a link to the iTunes store and promotion numbers for a gift card with enough credit to buy the album. Doing this eliminated the step of receiving the compact disk and copying it to your hard drive, hence eliminating waste. Within this book I also included three posters with a focus on the main members of the band.

As designers we are encouraged to be more conscious in our design decisions and consider longevity in all of our solutions. Designers must design cyclically, not latterly, making sure to choose recycled or nontoxic materials to minimize waste. It is the designer’s responsibility to educate corporations about lifecycle issues through messaging and marketing as well as encourage others within the community to design sustainably.14 Donald Benson, designer at IDEO states that, “because designers are both makers and consumers, our power to incite charge is compelling. If we help to change the way our world is designed, it will allow for a better quality of life and a continuing viable economic future.”15 The role of design has shifted where now, designers are responsible for critical thinking. A solution needs to not only reach its target market and be accessible, but now the wider view on that solutions impact also needs to be address. The responsibility of the designer to create sustainable solutions that may take the consumer’s responsibility of recycling or reusing the product out of the equation may be necessary. Consumers are at a disadvantage to the designers because they need to accept what is presented to them in popular culture. If products that embrace cradle-to-cradle are the only things for sale then consumers do not have a choice of whether or not they want to recycle their post consumer waste because that decision has already been made for them.

Works Cited
Alt, Marc. AIGI Center For Sustainable Design. September 2005. http://sustainability.aiga.org/
Carey, Al. Frito-Lay. December 2009. http://www.fritolay.com/index.html
Hamlett, Phil. Are We Sustainable Yet? Communication Arts. October2007. http://www.commarts.com/
Hamlett, Phil. Everything You Know Is Wrong: Communication Arts. December 2009. http://www.commarts.com/
Hustwit, Gary. Objectified. A Gary Hustwit Film, 2009.
Lehrer, Jeremy. “Care Packaging.” Print, July/August 2006, 26-28.
Madge, Pauline. “Design, Ecology, Technology: A Historiographical Review.” Journal of Design History 6, no. 3 (1993): 149-166.
Madge, Pauline. “Ecological Design: A New Critique.” Design Issues 13, no. 2 (1997): 44-54.
Matthews, Kristine. “Saving The Planet: Open 24 Hours.” Creative Review 27, no. 4 (2007): 28-30.
McCarron Sienicki, Carolyn. Inch By Inch: Making Sustainable Changes In Design: Communication Arts.” April 2008. http://www.commarts.com/
McDonough, William. TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. December 15, 2009. http://www.ted.com/talks/
Meggs, Philip B.. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
Sherin, Aaris. SustainAble. Beverly, Massachusetts: Rockport Publishers Press, 2008.
Szaky, Tom. Terracycle. July 2008.http://www.terracycle.net/
Vittori, Gail. U.S Green Building Council. January 2010. http://www.usgbc.org/Default.aspx
Walker, Alissaq. The Problem Is Not Packaging Design, It’s Systems Design: Fast Company. December 14, 2009. http://www.fastcompany.com/
Wright, Bruce N. “The Very Fabric.” Print, July/August 2005, 48-55.

Notes
1 Madge, Pauline. “Ecological Design: A New Critique.” Design Issues 13, no. 2 (1997): 44-54.
2 Matthews, Kristine. “Saving The Planet: Open 24 Hours.” Creative Review 27, no. 4 (2007): 28-30.
3 Hustwit, Gary. Objectified. A Gary Hustwit Film, 2009.
4 Sherin, Aaris. SustainAble. Beverly, Massachusetts: Rockport Publishers Press, 2008.
5 McDonough, William. TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. December 15, 2009.http://www.ted.com/talks/
6 Hamlett, Phil. Are We Sustainable Yet? Communication Arts. October 2007.http://www.commarts.com/
7 Philip B. Meggs. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
8 Lehrer, Jeremy. “Care Packaging.” Print, July/August 2006, 26-28.
9 Vittori, Gail. U.S Green Building Council. January 2010. http://www.usgbc.org/Default.aspx
10 Alt, Marc. AIGI Center For Sustainable Design. September 2005.http://sustainability.aiga.org/
11 Carey, Al. Frito-Lay. December 2009. http://www.fritolay.com/index.html
12 Szaky, Tom. Terracycle. July 2008.http://www.terracycle.net/
13 McCarron Sienicki, Carolyn. Inch By Inch: Making Sustainable Changes In Design: Communication Arts.” April 2008. http://www.commarts.com/
14 Madge, Pauline. “Design, Ecology, Technology: A Historiographical Review.” Journal of Design History 6, no. 3 (1993): 149-166.
15Wright, Bruce N. “The Very Fabric.” Print, July/August 2005, 48-55.

Fig-1

Fig-2

Fig-3

Fig-4

Though typography is something that usually comes under consideration when talking about graphic design, there is an undeniable presence of typography in the world of contemporary art. There needs to be an understanding that there is a conceptual choice that goes into selecting a typeface (font). Choosing to perform the type in a more illustrative sense causes there to be visual implications in the means of communication.2 Fine artist need to understand that these choices being made cause the artwork to take on all new meaning because of the inherit visual aesthetic or typography.2

Much like the long history of fine art, the written form of the alphabet has a rich history in the means of communication. The ideals of handwriting have been taken out in most of today’s fonts.3 The forms that have been developed as our alphabet do not necessarily speak to the handwritten form, but these letters are an agreed upon system. The changes in these agreed upon forms dictate an aesthetic as well as a conceptual choice by the type designer that need to be considered when choosing a typeface.

The earliest forms of a typeface come with the invention of the printing press and the popularization of it by Johan Guttenberg’s Bible. With the press, the need to reproduce a single document several times in a quick manner made a need for type that was not hand lettered. These typefaces were hand carved from stone or wood.2 These prints were revolutionary for the time but still sacrificed an innate readability of the black letter type choices. As this evolved the clarity of the type did as well. The implementation of serifs, the small lines or brackets that stick out like feet of the letterforms, were first made by type designer James Goudy. His face Goudy Old Style was considered to be a very successful typeface for it’s time because the serifs allowed the letterforms to become more streamlined and led your eye across the page when reading them.3

As type progressed the argument of showing the writers voice was becoming increasingly shown. Out of these necessities became the idea of universal communication, which was pioneered by Joseph Muller-Brockman. His idea was based around the readability of the type with the sans serif typeface. Also Brockman challenged the idea of how type was to be set, using a very rigid grid, he would use no uppercase letters because there was no need for them. This philosophy was a very modernist approach to typography at this time.2 What Brockman was trying to accomplish was to make typography universally presented. By using the same grid systems and typefaces, the concept of taking all the meaning out of type is challenged by Brockman.4 An issue raised here though is that this still lends itself to a certain aesthetic, and that the qualities of a grotesque style sans serif face still have build in cues leading themselves to ideals within the typography. It becomes very easy to look at a work in this time period and see the modernist influences and cues.

Obviously as we can see in the typography that we experience on a day-to-day basis the idea of universal communication did not last. Brockman’s ideals, though necessary for the time, pigeonhole typography into being much less then it has the potential to be. The postmodern aesthetic, which you could consider to be the current state of typography, seeks to apply much more layered styles of production as well as a push back to the ideals of conceptual thinking. Part of this move towards conceptual meaning behind typeface design and selection comes from the increasing availability of fonts and the implementation of the computer into designs workflow.2 Technology has certainly changed the way the people produce and view typography, lending itself to many new problems still needing to be addressed.

I believe that the conceptual ideas surrounding typography certainly have their place in the world of contemporary art. When choosing to use any type form in your work, the artist needs to be very aware of the contextual meaning behind those choices. Because contemporary art is so based around the ideas of concepts it would be naive to think that when using type these concepts can not be further pushed, adding to the narrative as well as to higher level thinking.

Along with this idea of typeface choice there is a discussion to be raised about the words place in fine art. The use of words in art can be traced back as far as the renaissance periods with the work of Picasso and Braque.5 With the figurative form of letters being implemented there is a notion towards this idea of words working as a narrative within art. This approach was done with most work featuring words up until the twentieth century.

Examples of how the challenge of words and their meaning can be traced back as far as the work of Picasso and the Cubists. In 1912 Picasso began to discover this paradox that the written word had created in terms of representation. The question began to arise, what is more “real,” the image or the word? The Dada and Constructivism movements contrasted the idea of narrative with the juxtaposition of word & image relationships by allowing the verbal parts of the piece heighten the meaning or their work.5

In the 1930’s the Surrealist began working with words inside their work. Artists, Rene Magritte has become very recognizable because of his challenge of systems and boundaries. Magritte challenged accurate representation with his piece “The Wind And The Song” (fig.1) where the words, this is not a pipe sit below the depiction of an illustrated pipe.6 What Rene is doing is establishing an argument where different viewers will have opposing opinions. Also around the same time we produced “The Key of Dreams” (fig. 2) where he grids off images with a word underneath it that does not represent the object depicted. What happens with this process is interesting because you start to question which thing, image or type, is actually in the right location. By doing this Magritte shows that there is a certain inadequacy in the way that words can accurately describe things.5 Philosopher Michel Foucault is quoted as saying this about Magritte’s early word/image paintings, “the impossibility of defining a perspective that would let us say that the pipe is true, false, or contradictory. The paintings are both all of these things and none.” 7

The use of language in American art can be subdivided into a six-category system, words as formal devices, words as signs, words employed as juxtaposition or association, narrative, exploration of language structure and language as direct sociopolitical commentary.5 With the use of words as formal deices you will find a large amount of artists working within the category of Abstract Expressionism. Generalizing, the artist in abstract expressionism developed textures through the layering of paint as well as the gestural moves on the canvas. Usually the letters found within the works of these artists were used in a script style face. Robert Motherwell’s series “Je t’aime” (fig. 3) used a script face for a basis of gestural flourishes. The use of the script face lends itself as a basis to gain an expressive experience with the type. The curvilinear style of the characters will cause the execution of the type to be a little imperfect thus lending itself to a certain ascetic.3 This aesthetic that is being created within the type speaks towards the abstract expressionist mentality because of the flowing execution of ideas as well as rough edged final pieces.

Larry Rivers went for a more realist approach to type in his abstract expressionist work. The type becomes a way for rivers to ground the piece as well as explain the typographic forms as signs. In contrast to Motherwell’s gestural flourish typography, Rivers chooses to work with a stencil face in his piece “Parts of the Face: French Vocabulary Lesson,” (fig .4) the words have a more justifiable place in the artwork. Instead of being a basis for something, the type in Motherwell’s work further explains the piece.8 He is trying to use the word as a basis for explanation. The use of this stencil gives off a visual appearance that is similar to medical illustrations or something in a more academic setting. So the typeface choice is working to add a higher level of conceptualization to the piece then is a less descriptive or universal style sans serif had been chosen.2

Much like the earlier cubist work the pop artist played off of ideas of signifiers and signs that lived in our society. In the 1960’s pop artist used lifted material taken from the environment. The taken material could be repurposed into new elements or reproductions. Artist like Roy Lichtenstein used the materials from advertising as well as cartoons that were then copied in detail, exposing how those items work in society.9

It would be hard to challenge how words would in juxtaposition with image without talking about the work of Jasper Johns. In his pieces, Johns evolves on the work of Duchamp and Magritte. His stance on how typography functions challenged the environment in which it lived. Johns changed these objects into a sort of object like status with similarity to the flags or stripes he painted.10 Within their now objective state, Johns would modify the system in which those words lived. In the piece “False Start” (fig. 5) there is an interesting dichotomy beginning to be discussed when he challenges what is right the word or the visual. If a splotch of red has a word on it saying blue there is an immediate ambiguity beginning to develop. Furthermore Johns starts to flip this system in on itself by further challenging the representation of image with in the work. Giving something a certain illustrative quality showing brush strokes and unflat paint further speaks to the paintings state as a representation.10 You can see an example of this in his work on “The Fools House.”(fig. 6)

The word systems in use with our communications begin to take on a more reductive quality in the work of Bruce Nauman. This much more minimal approach to words kind of flips this idea of type and image by removing the image and juxtaposing the type on itself with the use of a anagram. In his piece “Peace” (fig. 7) Nauman has actively reduced the artwork to just type on a page. But there is still a large amount of information being said here, even though it is just black text on a white page.8 In this juxtaposition that Bruce is striking up the visual aesthetic has to be clear and concise. The typeface is a sans serif face that makes pushes to the idea of universal communication pioneered by Herbert Bayer. Also the type is placed in all caps, the absence of lowercase letterforms causes the reader to slow down and read the understandable words.11 The type in not interacting within the space it lives or with the other typography on the page, which does a nice job of adding another layer of conceptual thinking to his works.

H.C Westerman started the group “The Hairy Who” in 1966. The artist consisted of himself as well as Jim Nutt and Kart Wirsum just to name a few. Westermann worked with this idea of fusion of text and image. The words as well as the title were etched into the actual piece creating a unity between the text and image. Artist Jim Nutt changes this location of text from an inscription of the type in the image to relocating it to the back of the painting, changing the relationship of how the typography and the image work together.5

The normal use of image and text usually illustrates text as narrative. The image and text working together to further explain each other giving equality to the overall image shows a balanced narrative. Duane Michals works with photography in the style of sequential art storytelling. (fig. 8) There is a play on the system of cut lines in the photojournalism world.7

There was an exploration of language structure during the work “One and Three Chairs” (fig. 9) by Joseph Kosuth. By inverting the principles of Magritte’s pipe painting, Kosuth takes a more literal interpretation and actually shows a chair in three ways. The piece features an actual chair, a picture of that chair as well as the definition of the word chair. By doing this Kosuth works with the ideals of representation and identity.7

Pushing that idea even further you can look at the work of Neil Jenny. Jenny plays with juxtaposition between the visual beauty of an image and the inadequacy of the word to define that beauty. (fig. 10) By framing a picture of the visual representation of the word displayed outside the frame you can see how the word struggles to compete as an accurate explanation for the image. It plays off the old adage that, an image is worth a thousand words, but here is only one. I would argue thought that though the word and image relationship may be a tenuous one that does not mean that both of these objects do not have great beauty in them. If you investigate the typography in itself the letterforms can really become quite beautiful.

If Jenny were to display the word, in a very beautifully intricate and historically iconic face such as Goudy or Jensen and then juxtapose that word with an image that does not show atmosphere is such a beautiful space, such as a rainy day, or fog would allow the word to remain beautiful while the visual representation would not be as beautiful.13 Doing this would work against his argument that a word cannot accurately describe the visual image. But I would argue that the word is a constant, and through the use of good typography, the word could actually be more beautiful then the visual in a dull or boring state. Because a word like atmosphere can represent so many different images the typed out word works as a grounding to the image, because then the word becomes a constant in representing so many different images, while the image can only represent just that one specific time and place, then showcasing the inadequacy of the image to encompass the entire meaning of the definition.

By using language as a direct sociopolitical commentary Hans Haacke turns the gallery environment into a voting experience for its viewers of “MOMA Poll.” (fig. 11) By encouraging the viewers of the piece to cast their vote as to whether or not they are going to vote for Governor Rockefeller in the upcoming election.5 By exposing the ballot boxes as clear you get a quick visual of how people are voting, and that may or may not change your vote. In this piece the use of typography is crucial in the message that it gives.

Haacke chooses to work with the typeface Helvetica for this piece. Doing so is almost a necessity for his concept to shine through. A face choice like Helvetica takes his personal voice out of the piece for a much more universal message. Helvetica can be seen in so many different veins because if its widespread use in culture. It has been used in identity and print for everything from American Apparel to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Unites States tax forms are set in Helvetica. This widespread use allows Helvetica to be a universal voice and does not put Haacke’s voice into this piece.11 If a more script style typeface would have been chosen, similar to that of the Abstract Expressionists, Haacke’s choice could of changed how people receive the initial message.13

Challenging of the means of communication through the use of words will never truly be resolved. There will always be an inadequacy in the way that words can never accurately or completely represent the visual mage.1 This is because these are two unrelated systems the visual and the verbal. Typography as the written word makes an attempt to bridge the gap in the two systems. The Dadaists and the Surrealists understood this inadequacy and did their best to exploit it. But through process or creating good typography these concepts can add another layer of concept to their work.5 Whether it’s the gestural flourishes that were built out of the script style faces of the Abstract Expressionists experiments with words, or it’s the clean modern and universal look of Han’s Haacke’s Museum or Modern Art Poll, the typography is going to speak and convey a message. Artists cannot get away from that and need to understand that appropriate typeface usage is key in any form of art.

Works Cited

Bayer, Herbert. Looking Closer. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Press, 1940.
Bowman, Russell. “Words And Images.” Art Journal 45, no. 4 (1985): 335-343
Carpenter, John. “Art Journal.” The Infra-Iconography of Jasper Johns 36 no. 3 (1977): 221-227.
Elkins, James. “Art History and Images That Are Not Art.” The Art Bulletin 77 no. 4 (1995): 553-571.
Foster, Hal, Rosalind Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois, Benjamin H.D Buchloh. Art Since 1900. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson Inc., 2007.
Freeman, Judi. “Experimental Typography and Modern Art.” The Visual Word 54 no. 2 (1995): 100-105.
Meggs, Philip B.. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
Morison, Stanley. First Principles of Typography. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1936.
Poster, Mark. “Words Without Things: The Mode of Information.” Humanities as Social Technology 53 no. 3 (1990): 62-77
Savan, Leslie. This Typeface Is Changing Your Life. Philadelphia, PA: Temple Press, 1976.
Tschichold, Jan. Asymmetric Typography. New York, NY: World Publishing Co., 1935.
Varga, A. Kibedi. “Criteria For Describing Word-Image-Relations.” Poetics Today 10 no. 1 (1989): 31-53.
Wardell, Beatrice. The Crystal Goblet: Sixteen Essays on Typography. Cleveland, OH: The World Publishing Company, 1956.

Notes

1Mark Poster. “Words Without Things: The Mode of Information.” Humanities as Social Technology 53 no. 3 (1990): 62-77
2Philip B. Meggs. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
3Stanley Morison. First Principles of Typography. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1936.
4Herbert Bayer, Looking Closer (Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Press) 1940.
5Russell Bowman, “Words And Images.” Art Journal 45, no. 4 (1985): 335-343
6Judi Freeman. “Experimental Typography and Modern Art.” The Visual Word 54 no. 2 (1995): 100-105.
7A. Kibedi Varga,. “Criteria For Describing Word-Image-Relations.” Poetics Today 10 no. 1 (1989): 31-53.
8James Elkins,. “Art History and Images That Are Not Art.” The Art Bulletin 77 no. 4 (1995): 553-571.
9Jan Tschichold. Asymmetric Typography. New York, NY: World Publishing Co., 1935.
10John Carpenter, “Art Journal.” The Infra-Iconography of Jasper Johns 36 no. 3 (1977): 221-227.
11Leslie Savan. This Typeface Is Changing Your Life. Philadelphia, PA: Temple Press, 1976.
12Beatrice. The Crystal Goblet: Sixteen Essays on Typography. Cleveland, OH: The World Publishing Company, 1956.