Embodying Ethics : Introduction

Embodying Ethics

Introduction

The popular understanding of Contemporary design practice, is that its an area driven by marketing + pure technology + economics. It's evident that its primary role has been to feed in new desires among consumers. Design has become more or less a commercial tool disconnected from broader social context. It assumes that all consumers are ideal, assuming a homogeneous behaviour pattern, reflecting the notion of correct behaviour and creating prejudice towards objects in the consumers mind.

The notion of good design needs is to give pleasure and make consumers feel good about about themselves and feed into their status-quo. The notion of what is a good design is always debatable. One of the methodology proposed for creating successful design by Patrick W Jordan is by creating pleasure.

The four pleasures methodology proposed by Patrick W Jordan is by making consumers feel good about themselves. The market produces an image of how you would want to see yourself and thus becoming an important aspect of the notion of good design, which then can be commercialised and consumed.

Is the role of design is only restricted to creating pleasure and making consumers feel good about a situation or themselves. It makes you think does design even have its own soul, its always so dominated by other commercial factors that it does tend to ignore its ability to asks carefully crafted questions and make us think.

With countless innovation taking place everyday and new typologies being produced its hard to create a language out of it, wonder why people sometimes find it hard to understand design. The question that might rise is this practice sustainable and ethical? Can design provoke more sustainable thoughts than just supply solutions? What is the role of a designer in this scenario?

The assumptions underlying contemporary design practice needs to be questioned and challenged. Designers need to create design proposals that is focused to develop new methods and approach that simultaneously appeal and challenge conventional values, norms, prejudice, raise awareness, provokes action, spark debate and develop socially responsive approach to design.

Speculating design thinking can create a conceptual space that can enable us to explore ethical and social issues within the context of everyday life. Critical analysis can expose the intrinsic values embedded in an objects that can questions our ethics. It is a methodology that can be used to expose assumptions and deal with complex contradictory emotions/human nature. By identifying and searching for contradictions and divisions of everyday life, striving for a complex and more truthful exposure of the circumstances we live in by reflecting on how we like to live,what we like to do,how we really are. Providing an honest perspective on everyday life objects that also questions our interactivity and experience with them.

Critical design positioning can enable design to deal with complex issues and take a stance like art, giving an opportunity to the viewer to interpret the object based on his/her own values. It strives for a social change by making consumer critically reflect on the objects they consume. Socially responsive design don't persuade the viewer to adopt its own moral convictions but helps in establishing a Critical Design positioning that can questions ethics and provoke complex mix of contradictory emotions and response to an object which forms the aim of this project.