"ivory towers" vs. conscious capitalism: Pr*ttySh*tty interviews Paula Scher, and the (green) fur flies.

Many talented young designers today have abandoned their roles as improvers of the general visual environment. Many only want to work on cultural work, or not-for-profit work, or on projects they perceive as “good-for-society” which may have a high profile within the design milieu, but don’t really reach ordinary people. These designers are afraid to get involved in mainstream packaging, promotion or corporate work. They forget that these are the products and messages that most people really encounter in their daily lives, that these products and services are at the heart of the American condition, and that there is responsibility for us as designers, always, to raise the expectation of what design can be. We are responsible for that daily experience. These “ivory tower designers” leave the job to others (ad agencies, schlock shops, etc.) who are simply doing it for the money, and are often cynical about the outcome.

What do you think has perpetuated that pattern?

I think the design community has caused it. The “First Things First” manifesto inspired a lot of young people to move away from corporate branding, advertising, promotion, packaging (except for books and magazines, as if they are somehow more noble). If “responsible” designers who care about society and our environment refuse to work on branding, advertising, promotion and packaging, then just consider, who will? This line of design-thinking has been perpetuated in so many design schools and grad programs and it is perpetuated by the AIGA and other design organizations. It’s easy to inspire young designers this way as it creates a real calling for them: “down with corporate America”, etc.

But, ultimately, it creates a design society

where it is OK for designers to

abandon most of American communication.

Good God!

While the passage certainly sparked a lively debate amongst the commenters (including a couple of my buddies over at Re-Nourish, what disturbed me most about it was the sense of absolutes; the sense that social consciousness and capitalism were somehow mutually exclusive and that these so-called "ivory tower designers" are not in tune with how the world works - or worse, they're shirking their responsibility to improve the designed word.

If anything, I'd say the opposite. There are certainly some folks who take the approach of only doing work for not-for-profits or cultural institutions that don't have or make money (and God bless them for that!). But many of us socially responsible design firms are doing the opposite. We're looking for the companies that bridge the gap - the companies that are committed to doing good in the world, but understand that first and foremost, they're running a business, and they have to act in ways that both support the business and support their values.

In other words, we want to work with people who are doing the same things we're doing. And if that happens to "improve the general visual environment," that's even better.