The Good, the Bad, and the Iffy: is there such a thing as an ethical designer?

Its Nice That: Features Creative Industry Graphic Design Typography UX Design Branding Process The Good, the Bad, and the Iffy: is there such a thing as an ethical designer? Designers from Pentagram, Koto, Creech, and more talk candidly about the murky waters of client selection, the logistics and risks of rejecting work on moral grounds, and how to keep afloat without losing your soul in today’s design climate. Share Features Creative Industry Graphic Design Typography UX Design Branding Process Share If you spend long enough working in design, you’ll eventually need to sell something you would never buy.

Don’t get me wrong – most of what I’ve worked on has been for fields that feel easy, even inspiring, to get behind, like voting rights groups, non-alcoholic beverages, slow fashion, or plant-based proteins. Others are in a more philosophically neutral zone. Things that aren’t harmful, but not exactly world-changing either. Think: mattresses, laundry detergent, or socks (they’re organic cotton… but the packaging is still plastic).. .

Occasionally though, I work in an industry that makes me feel a bit more itchy; spaces that make me think “maybe I could help change this from the inside” as much as “god, does the world really need more of this?” For me, this has included working on everything from pest control and med spas to private schools and at least two separate #girlboss empires. Every designer has their own take on which fields are inspiring, and which are prickly – the businesses they’re proud to work for and the ones they’d rather not mention to anyone else. However, everyone has a different take on what kinds of work should go where.

Here’s a short list of the industries that 70 different designers told me they would never, ever work for: gambling, crypto, NFTs, AI, Dutch companies, Israeli companies, Russian companies, Saudi Arabian companies, American companies, guns, the military, police, any political campaigns, right-wing political campaigns, porn, religion, Mormons, oil, gas, cigarettes, vapes, weed, anything Samsung, financial services, anything that tests on animals, fast fashion, weight loss, heavy chemicals, and surrogacy.

Here’s a second, slightly shorter, list of industries people told me they’d love to work in: cigarettes, political campaigns, weed, crypto, AI, NFTs, and porn. One person’s obvious red flag is another person’s white whale. But what factors drive a designer to pass on Smith & Wesson and happily take on the NYPD? The choices other designers make can seem baffling to me at times. A designer whose Instagram posts are almost all about environmentalism suddenly takes a job with an AI startup. A type foundry that used to talk a big game about supporting independent, sells to a group known for gutting the industry.

An agency that touts its social-consciousness describes their new collaboration with Palantir as “imaginative”. Frankly, it all gives me flashbacks to middle school, when my favourite indie band licensed a song to Outback fucking Steakhouse (sellouts!!!) Of course, I’m well aware that not everyone gets to be choosy about the work they do. A junior on a visa, a creative director with a team to support, a designer with two kids and a mortgage, or anyone simply without final say at their job may not have the luxury of saying no.

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The article addresses significant ethical considerations in design that are increasingly relevant in today's market, making it impactful and relevant, though discussions around ethics in design are not entirely new.