Citizen Designer: Perspectives on Design Responsibility

by Steven Heller (Editor), Veronique Vienne (Editor)

What does it mean to be a designer in today’s corporate-driven, overbranded global consumer culture? Citizen Designer attempts to answer this question with more than 70 debate-stirring essays and interviews espousing viewpoints ranging from the cultural and the political to the professional and the social.



Edited by two prominent advocates of socially responsible design, this innovative reference responds to the tough questions today’s designers continue to ask themselves: How can a designer affect social or political change? Can design become more than just a service to clients? At what point does a designer have to take responsibility for the client’s actions? When should a designer take a stand?



Readers will find dozens of captivating insights and opinions on such important issues as reality branding; game design and school violence; advertising and exploitation; design as an environmental driving force; and much more. This candid guide encourages designers to carefully research their clients; become alert about corporate, political, and social developments; and design responsible products.




• Features an enticing mix of opinions in an appealing format that juxtaposes essays, interviews, and countless illustrations of “design citizenship”

• Includes insights on such contemporary topics as advertising of harmful products, branding to minors, and violence and game design

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art, Essays, Art Design

272 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

Steven Heller writes a monthly column on graphic design books for The New York Times Book Review and is co-chair of MFA Design at the School of Visual Arts. He has written more than 100 books on graphic design, illustration and political art, including Paul Rand, Merz to Emigre and Beyond: Avant Garde Magazine Design of the Twentieth Century, Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design Second Edition, Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age, Graphic Design History, Citizen Designer, Seymour Chwast: The Left Handed Designer, The Push Pin Graphic: Twenty Five Years of Design and Illustration, Stylepedia: A Guide to Graphic Design Mannerisms, Quirks, and Conceits, The Anatomy of Design: Uncovering the Influences and Inspirations in Modern Graphic Design. He edits VOICE: The AIGA Online Journal of Graphic Design, and writes for Baseline, Design Observer, Eye, Grafik, I.D., Metropolis, Print, and Step. Steven is the recipient of the Art Directors Club Special Educators Award, the AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and the School of Visual Arts' Masters Series Award.

Reviews

[Rodrigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. I acknowledge there’s a gap between private and government endeavours. Governments, although responsible to organize civil society, seem to have less money and execution capacity, which reduces their potential to impact society positively. On the other side, big businesses are money-making machines and the excess could be returned to benefit society in several forms. Directing business potential to societal benefit seems a great proposal. But it's hard to regulate. Therefore the socius consciousness should come from within the companies. Books like this shall help. On the other side, the concept of business should change too, from benefiting shareholders to benefiting stakeholders. That's an ongoing debate. Let's see where it gets us.

The “Beyond wishful thinking: a designer’s glossary” chapter gathered lots of interesting projects, but mostly are non-profit and experimental initiatives.

Fabrizio Gilarsido’s interview chapter sounded the most silly to me.

[Christian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I suppose I was the wrong audience for this book. I bought it because I saw names like Norman and Margolin but my decision was a little hasty because those are the exceptions, not the norm. This is a book of essays concerning graphic design. Relating to my field of interaction design, I found most of the topics obvious or inapplicable. If I hadn't bought it, I wouldn't have read it. But, since I am on a mission to read everything I buy, I struggled through it. For the most part, it just reads like a really long magazine. There is no flow and most topics seem a little thrown together. While it is a collection, I would still like to see more coherence. From essay to essay, it's difficult to tell what they are about. The titles are misleading so often I couldn't really get where the author was going for a few paragraphs. [return][return]On the other hand, I suppose I find this book a necessary and vital read for graphic designers. As far as ethics, morals, and the future of the field go, I think this book is essential.

[Maddie Lennon · Rating 4 out of 5]

V compelling series of essays about design for social good, took me a while bc uni got in the way but enjoyable all the way through

[Leda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these essays are enlightening even in 2019 (the book was published in 2003 so most of the pieces are older). Others you can argue are outdated, but still worth reflecting on because of the reasons they got it wrong.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and handy-to-reference case studies for designers working in design responsibility

[Eepman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only read about half of it. It is a collection of many different essays by many different designers and design critics. I plan on finishing this up someday.

[E. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had I not been required to read this book, I would not have picked it up, let alone purchased it. It's ten years old and it really shows. It was incredibly dry and boring.

[Ruby Sofyan]

harus dapet buku ini pokoknya....

[Valeria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lavin, Maud. “Who Gets to Say What to Whom?”