The book ‘Design for the good society’, published by naio10 as a 10 year celebration of the Utrecht Manifest - social change and its manifestations. The book is contributed to by six different graphic practitioners in both essay and interview form, directing all points of societal design ranging from utopianism to sustainability. Taking a modernist graphic design point of view and stemming from the ideologies created at the Bauhaus, their discussions revolve around simplicity and formality when considering designing for society, as well as the design thought processes and the need for utopianism.
In the conclusion of ‘Social Design: From Utopia to the good society’ written by Victor Margolin (p41), he explains that the history of design is no stranger to utopian projects. Margolin has argued that ‘the value of such visionary projects has been to provide a space for aspirations that have no other locus for expression’. He is arguing that we always need to recognise the utopian ideal of the time, and that a ‘good society’ should try and move towards this wherever possible, using advancing technologies and ethical practice to do so.
Victor Margolin categorises 8 things which could take our society to a more utopian solution. First, population growth (relates to distribution of goods and services). Secondly, more older people will require care and financial support. Third, climate change. Fourth, increased global consumption of natural resources. Fifth, a global financial system that is out of control. Sixth, an unacceptable gap between the rich and the poor world wide (current UK/US Political situation…), Seventh, a reduction of jobs due to new robotic and expert systems technology. Finally, eighth, fundamentalist religious beliefs that divide the world’s peoples. Looking at the above eight points which were outlined and published in Utrecht Manifest 2015, in 2017/18 we are not much closer to solving these problems, with society actually enhancing the division between each other- especially when considering social class divides.
(p.39) ‘today we often hear the word design being used to characterise the thought processes behind the conception and planning of not only manufactured products, but also graphic communication for less tangible entities’. This could potentially extend to the thought process which goes into planning a photoshoot due to the nature of design.
According to Alistair Fauad-Luke, apparently we are more collaborative than we are competitive. ‘Design can definitely generate meaning by reinforcing, re-mixing and elevating what is already there’. (p.100) A good example of this would be Vogue’s editorial exploring…
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