Summer 2021

A rallying cry for ethics

Ethics in Design and Communication: Critical Perspectives

Edited by Laura Scherling and Andrew DeRosa. Foreword: ‘Assumptions of Ethics and Agency in Design’ by Johanna Drucker, Bloomsbury, £22.99, $30.95 (paperback)

There could not be a more apt time for the publication of Ethics in Design and Communication: Critical Perspectives. 2020 is already marked as a year of unprecedented imbalance, illustrated by the social inequities that were revealed through the coronavirus pandemic, political turmoil, and systemic racism that prompted protests around the world. This book highlights how design can either help or hinder humanity on a social, political and economic level. As the book demonstrates, it’s complicated.

This collection of essays by authors representing eleven countries and edited by Laura Scherling and Andrew DeRosa, throws into question what it means to do good, to be just, and to do no harm in all the various manifestations of design – from UX/UI and VR/AR to data visualisation, design activism, urban planning and design pedagogy …

Top. Cover of Ethics in Design and Communication. Design by Daniel Benneworth-Gray.

Saskia van Kampen, Assistant Professor, School of Design, San Francisco State University

Read the full version in Eye no. 101 vol. 26, 2021

EYE98

Eye is the world’s most beautiful and collectable graphic design journal, published for professional designers, students and anyone interested in critical, informed writing about graphic design and visual culture. It is available from all good design bookshops and online at the Eye shop, where you can buy subscriptions and single issues.