Week 2 Response

Jorge Rosales                      

February 22 2013                     Weekly Response 2

ART 301                    

            Katherine McCoy’s writing brings up a very important in her writing when she is speaking about the “white lab coats” that many designers put on. She criticizes designers for acting as if they are able to design things without fearing consequences of how those used or what context they are put in. I have to agree with her that we have to be conscience of our surroundings and the context in which our work can be placed. Her point about how design has created self censorship is also very important because it is the truth. We now have an idea of design as something that should be made to be visually appealing and pleasant or to sell something. When we see something deemed “radical” we shun it as being too extreme as if political or thought provoking design were outside the limits of our realm. In reality we must take this power of thought provoking visual art and use it to create a better place here on this Earth. If we try to push ourselves away from this political/thought provoking setting then it only means that the truth is that our work, our design is always inside a certain political/thought provoking realm. In “Obey The Giant” by Rick Poynor we are given a final statement in which we are told, “that there are too many occasions when it is confiscated, controlled, doctored, diluted and sold back to us with its meanings changed for completely different purposes”. Rick is touching upon the censorship that revolves around graphic design and how it has affected how we see things. Sometimes our work is taken, modified and forced to fit other contexts with both negative and positive consequences. These two articles touch upon something that seems to be forgotten in the design world which is that we must not be afraid to push the boundaries, on the contrary we must continue to push them. For too long the design community has been satisfied with designing logo’s for American consumers and not enough time trying to change the consumer society in which design is restricted to only sell products.