Core77

A gathering of graphic design professionals committed to serving the social good, this year's Designism, Version 3.0, had the misfortune of being scheduled opposite Thursday's Biden-Palin debate. Given that the venue was the ADC Theater in New York, that the constituency was designers and artists, and the topic was social activism, the crowd seemed to have a predictably blue hue. In this case, then, political activism and social activism intersected, and to promote attendance, we were promised from the beginning that the succession of speakers would conclude in time for the nine o' clock debate.

Core77s own Allan Chochinov kicked off the event, presenting a manifesto of design imperatives for ethical design, using examples of modern design, conceptual art and even photography from his travels to get his message across. While the European advertisement he showed using images of polar bears to convey the message "get there before it's too late" proved too awkward a combination of hypocrisy and pathos (since airlines are a major contributor to carbon footprint) to make a cogent point, other images like cell phone graveyards amply demonstrated that even a seemingly trivial field like design had serious repercussions. The subsequent speakers underscored the point with real-world projects and successes that could make any graphic designer feel like they should be doing more.

Other speakers, like IDEO's Thomas Eich, gave more direct presentations. Using the "Moneymaker" water pump as an example, Eich showed just how impactful a product could be when it had been designed for societal utility rather than social capital. Likewise, Jason McCann of TAXI design, showed his 15 Below jacket, which used newspaper stuffing to make the cold winters of Canada more bearable for the homeless population there. BrainForest showed their creative pitch where design firms could donate extra markers to schoolchildren with far more to gain from color and creativity than a marketing contract.

Lara McCormick spoke candidly about turning her experiences in rehab into aesthetically pleasing and colorful materials about the personal experiences of addicts that transcended the banal pamphlets typical of institutionalized healthcare. Finally, Brian Hurewitz of Deutche and Mike Bodge of LOLZ showed the capstone of the night, presenting their project Designism Connects, a website that allows creatives with time on their hands to find causes worthy of their time.

The wrapup by Milton Glaser spanned a variety of topics and once again demonstrated that an understanding of design could span beyond layout into a nuanced appreciation of art, propaganda and business. As usual, he spoke accessibly in a way that made the audience realize that they could serve to be more engaged not only in the design world, but also with politics, culture and humanity. The speaking portion closed with a hysterical presentation by Steven Heller on "Potus Typographica" and the nature of typography and graphic design in the presidential campaign (read his column in the Times for profound insight … and an understanding of the subconscious and very real connection between McCain's typeface of choice and Maya Lin's font for the Vietnam Memorial). After his topical intro, Designism would have continued with a roundtable discussion, but was cut short by the VP debates. The bulk of the audience stayed to watch them live (complete with snarky audience commentary), but compared to Michael Wolff's caustic commentary from Designism 2.0, Sarah Palin's limited wit didn't stand a chance.