ILLU5060 - Global Culture & Ethical Design

Global Culture & Ethical Design Lecture Notes

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​The role of creatives within a globalised culture
Global culture is a space or field made possible through improved communication networks in which different cultures may interact.
Key themes:

1. The Global Village
2. Trade without borders

The Global Village
The whole earth as a physical environment where all citizens, consumers, and producers

• Shared common destiny – One planet to be shared. Limited Resources.
• Cultural exchange & hybridity – global influence on local culture.
• Cultural imperialism – winning the culture war.
• The post-traditional community – impact on community relations.

The global community shares:

• Economic issues
• Health issues
• Environmental issues

Cultural exchange: a global community of creatives, influence, & intermingle.
Cultural Hybridity: Different communities experience & appropriate cultural trends from other communities within the global network. Example - mixing & cross-pollination of musical subcultures.
American cultural imperialism in the 1980s & 1990s – the spread of American culture infecting the global stage. Stop American Cultural Imperialism - Jonathan Barnbrook
Traditional community

• Being Rooted -Rooted in a sense of belonging & allegiance, fixed local work patterns.
• Historical ties - Linked to length of family residence
• Fixed spatial environment of private/ public spaces
• Shared rituals: - collective celebration, community events – example: may-day fair, village fete.
• Moral certainty - respect for community hierarchy.

Post-Traditional Community

• Transient connections – people move more frequently for work & leisure. Generational shifting.
• Changing spatial environment – town planning reflection socio-economic change.
• Digital integration – the growth of online virtual communities, individual & global narratives via new-media technologies.
• Moral uncertainty? Lack of community moral figureheads & authority figures.

The big box effect: movement from town centers of consumer/ leisure pursuits.
Trade Without Borders

• Since 1980s: growth & emphasis on global economics.
• Movement in the west from manufacturing to service-based economies – “We used to make steel!”
• National borders/ ideologies less relevant – collapse of institutional barriers to trade.
• Global brands – rise of transnational corporations.

Impact of covid-19 – reduction in global trade: an opportunity to reassess the situation of globalist capitalism.
Brexit (It’s been like 5 years) – UK’s changing approach to
USA – Trump’s nationalist/ isolationist agenda.
The role of global corporations.
What is a global corporation?
The difference between a corporation & a brand? A brand is an ideal and a corporation is the vehicle which delivers it.
Klein on corporations
Growth can be traced back to the 1980s – trade liberalisation, union reforms, & global economics – subcontracting production to cut costs.
Marked the movement from production to branding – corporations do not make the product anymore; they just produce its image.
Corporations are:

• Immortal – accumulated power, wealth, & influence.
• Ephemeral – can change their operation quickly to adapt.
• Aggressively competitive – driven by profit & growth.
• Chameleon-like – change their ideology to suit location – lack of accountability.

The corporate brand:

• Designed – corporate identity, logo
• Disseminated – via advertising: billboards, celebrity endorsements, product placement, infomercials, web advertisement, cultural presence.

Klein & the fashion trade:

• Outing of the logo & logo inflation
• Growth of the fashion franchise – Nike, adidas, reebok, gap, levi’s etc. – fashion as status
• Growth of high-concept advertising.

The branding of public spaces
Brand as a cultural sponge
The race towards weightlessness
“after establishing the soul of their corporations, the superbrand companies have gone to rid themselves of their cumbersome bodies” – Naomi Klein No Logo

• Head vs. Body: The production process is hidden from view as it is not part of brand construction
• Bargain hunting – outsourcing manufacturing to more favourable locations for profit.
• Minimizing labour costs – non-unionised labour, sweatshop models of employment
• …

Pro-corporate viewpoint? Corporations can have huge impacts on the world, sometimes this impact may be positive.

Graphic Agitation & Ethical Design

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​The anti-corporate movement

• Growth since the early 1990s
• Growing politicization, awareness, & anti consumerism
• Use & adoption of social media – subcultures, & community forums in cyberspace
• Use of design as a weapon of propaganda, subversion, & culture jamming.

Subversion & culture jamming

• Brandalism
• Detournment and/ or [sub]vertising – production of alternative texts
• Pranksters & interventions
• Urban environmentalists, virtual communities
• Ethical & sustainable design/ arts practice

Brandalism – Billboard Liberation Front
Altering corporation billboards to transform & affect their message.
Subtle changes to advertisement posters that fit with the design aesthetic, but are counter to the intended message.
Adbusters – Canadian based network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators, & entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age est. 1989.
Design critical of capitalism as the dominant ideology in the world.
Anonymous – International network of activism/ internet gathering – opposed to the consolidation of corporate and government power.
Extinction Rebellion – current environmental activism.

FIRST THINGS FIRST 2000 Manifesto

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• Re-designed for a global/corporate age
• Signed up to by leading designers/ artists
• “Design as a weapon for social change”

​A designer’s ethical code:

• How responsible are you for the work you put out into the world?
• As a creative, how far should you be guided by your conscience?

My Personal Ethical Manifesto

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The main points of my professional Artist conduct manifesto, in no particular order:

• Never work for “exposure” as it undermines fellow artists & makes the entire profession more challenging. Seek fair compensation for work.
• Oppose discrimination within institutional settings, regardless of intent. “Positive discrimination” is still discrimination. This statement is qualified to institutions because I hold the opinion that people, acting on an individual level, should be allowed to discriminate for any reason they want (regardless of how distasteful their reason may seem).
• Zealously defend the right to freedom of expression. Censorship directly opposes artists. Artists should be free to create and pursue whatever they want within their craft provided said craft does not violate the rights of another.
• Promote & support my associated communities. If I get the opportunity to provide art for a Historical European Martial Arts (H.E.M.A.) event, I will be all over it.
• Never work for businesses/ people which directly oppose my beliefs (For example: companies that are pro-infringement of personal liberties, callous towards environmental concerns, maliciously exploitative).
• Be polite, & personable. Disagreements are not sole-grounds to be antagonistic, and pursuing such interactions in a hostile manner rarely have a desirable outcome.