Customer Reviews

Citizen Designer: Perspectives on Design Responsibility

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got this book hoping it would shed more light on an issue I find very pressing within the design community: social responsibility. Is it important for the designer to know his/her great poster that helped make a Hollywood movie into a blockbuster also helped clear cut a forest killing an ecosystem for numerous species of wildlife? Is it important for a designer to only do work for companies that match their own morals and ethics? The book touches on the latter topic in a couple essays but largely provides a number of pieces of writing with good intentions but with no actual "next steps" to achieve more fruitful results. Desigers have to eat, so blowing off huge $$ tobacco ad campaigns can seem ridiculous. However by making social responsibility a key point of dialogue in the education of the designer, one could see a more responsible result in the business world. Maybe designers could receive the respect they deserve if they actually stood for something besides edgy looking websites and whatnot. Anyway, the book wasn't all bad. Its a good start to an important conversation... so three stars!

Good book with a great deal of interesting perspectives on design and a designers responsibility to "do the right thing." However, to me it was a tough read, some chapters I had no idea what the person was talking about or it read like a text book. That being said, I still highly recommend this to anyone in the creative industry. It brings up a lot of issues that would behoove you to think about before you take on work for irresponsible clients.

This is an essential book for all designers worth their salt. If you have a backbone and you truly are 'ready' to understand the reach of the profession and its social responsibility, save your pitiful moral crisis, get out of the pointless world of persuasion and rhetoric, and start saying it like you mean it. Buy this book and write your life's manifesto. Design is not just a job hey.

book was in wonderful condition. The only reason for a 3 star is that the delivery took a long time. I bought two other books at different times after this purchase and received both of them well before i received this one. Wouldn't have been too big of a deal if I hadn't needed it for school.

Designer David Vogler always contributes to these design books churned out by Mr. Heller. And once again, Vogler has cooked up a hilarious editorial that thumbs it's nose at the industry while making valid observations. This is worth the cover price alone. My staff laffed out loud.

This book is incredible. I have only read the first 20 pages and I think it should be a mandatory read for anyone in the design industry. It is informative on specific ethical issues a designer faces and it allows for varying perspectives on the topics in the book.

Great for a student, teacher, or anyone within the design realm.