RESEARCH
Everywhere you look, design is around you. It doesn't need to be the fancies
piece of art you have ever seen, because sometimes, when you do not notice
it for the first look, it means, that it works. Design is very important aspect of
our lives. Some people can say that it's just about making things looks pretty,
but actually, it's not. Importance in design ihas more deeply meaning and it
can saves lives.
I have started my research with some books to read. One of my favorite
books is 'Do Good Design' by David B.Berman
For example - In 1997, a fire raged through Dusseldorf airport in Germany, thick smoke made it difficult to see the emergency signs, which were also not placed where they should have been, too small and too badly lit. 16 people died because they could not find their way out. As a result, designers were hired to nott only design new signage that was legile, well lit and visually appealing, but also were working with the planners to make sure the signs were put where they would be visible.
"Designers have enourmous power to influence how we see our world, and how we live our lives"
This is just an extrct from the Design Manifesto created by group of top graphic designers and published by the American Institute of Graphic Arts:
DESIGNING FOR CHARITIES
"To get the most out of design, the social sector should move beyond the mindless use of design tools to embody the principles of design thinking – having empathy for the people you're trying to help, trying something with real users rather than thinking about it in an ivory tower, running tests, and iterating solutions."
https://www.rca.ac.uk/research-innovation/sustain/news-blog/design-social-change/
TOP TIPS:
1/ Show them where the money is going
"Another thing a lot of charities do well is make the abstract more tangible. Giving money is a very abstract way to engage. What happens to the money you give? What is my money worth to the charity? How does it help?
In order to make the act of giving financially more tangible many charities go to great lengths to make those gifts feel more real."
2/ Use the power of social pressure
Charities make good use of the power of social pressure. They do this in two ways…
First they use celebrities to campaign for them. They use our desire to be like our celebrity heroes, to encourage us to give. If we see somebody we admire supporting a particular charity we are more likely to do so ourselves.
Second, charities continually emphasis how ‘people like us’ are giving to them. Have you ever heard a charity telesales person tell you how many people in your neighbourhood have given? Have you ever been told what the ‘average’ donation is? All of these things play off of our desire to fit in and conform with those around us.
Talking clearly
There is an obvious benefit to charities having a recognisable brand, no matter how small the organisation. Budgets aside, the likes of larger charities such as Macmillan, WaterAid, and Unicef still have to talk in a simple and clear voice which helps us identify them easily.
Not every charity has the power of its larger peers in raising awareness. But being more design-conscious when thinking about how to raise their profile and having a straightforward dialogue with their audience can assist charities when trying to generate revenue. Owning a credible identity can help increase their chances of competing and prospering.
The Mulberry Bush School
Mulberry Bush School is a charity that's identity was created with zero budget, just by pure love. They are proof that good design identity can make a difference in terms of charity income and therefore it is very important to do it properly
For many years The Mulberry Bush School, a small specialist residential school in Oxfordshire existed without any notable identity, the school was just a school, and that was that. Five years ago we were asked by the school to create an identity for them. It was a simple job with zero budget, done for the love of it.
Since then there has been…
– An annual increase in referrals.
– The fundraising revenue has increased each year since.
– It is now a training centre for teachers.
– It is now a business consultancy generating an independent income stream.
– It has become the founding partner of a National Centre of Excellence.
This case study illustrates the importance of having invested in a clear visual language that has enabled them to define their identity, attract investment, create growth and become the ‘go to’ charity for their specialist subject.
Testimonial
“Since Sherlock began our rebranding, the Mulberry Bush Organisation has raised more money, has increased children’s referrals from Local Authorities so that we now have a waiting list, has attracted celebrities such as Jemima Khan, and Jeremy Paxman to help us, and has hugely raised our profile among the professionals.” Jane Smiley – Communications Director
Looking ahead
Being a ‘not for profit’ charity isn’t just about raising money but also about becoming an authority in its specialist area. The Mulberry Bush School now sits at the top of the class because we helped it to build the tools to fight the fight. There are hundreds of other charities out there that deserve better and The Mulberry Bush School proves why. Taking the first steps needn’t be a terrifying concept. Starting small and building up slowly will help prepare for a strong future.
STUDENTS & CHARITIES
Designing for non-profits organizations
Rich Hollant, lead strategist and design director at Co:Lab, offers four ways to get involved in socially responsible design:
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Accept that sustainability and charity make lousy bedfellows. If you believe in your mission, treat it like a business.
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Get informed. We immersed ourselves the social sector through research and personal experience.
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Connect with the nonprofit support community. We are committed to knowing likeminded people who provide grant writing, data collection and analysis, development and organisational support and consulting for social value organisations. Individually, we can't be experts at everything, but collectively we can.
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Open-source the knowledge, not the work. We present and run workshops for social value organizations on strategy and branding, along with focused "execution" seminars on topics such as web development and messaging. Since these are presentations to groups, the cost per organization for our time is nominal - sometimes free."
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Ground rules - "Take the veil off," the Firebelly partner and creative director says. "If they don't understand how much goes into creating great work, they will never understand the value of the finished piece, and, in turn, never allocate the proper funding needed to produce it. They will just think we are magicians."
Free doesn't mean unprofessional
Rich Hollant, lead strategist and design director at Co:Lab, offers four ways to get involved in socially responsible design:
-
Accept that sustainability and charity make lousy bedfellows. If you believe in your mission, treat it like a business.
-
Get informed. We immersed ourselves the social sector through research and personal experience.
-
Connect with the nonprofit support community. We are committed to knowing likeminded people who provide grant writing, data collection and analysis, development and organisational support and consulting for social value organisations. Individually, we can't be experts at everything, but collectively we can.
-
Open-source the knowledge, not the work. We present and run workshops for social value organizations on strategy and branding, along with focused "execution" seminars on topics such as web development and messaging. Since these are presentations to groups, the cost per organization for our time is nominal - sometimes free."
-
Ground rules - "Take the veil off," the Firebelly partner and creative director says. "If they don't understand how much goes into creating great work, they will never understand the value of the finished piece, and, in turn, never allocate the proper funding needed to produce it. They will just think we are magicians."
Free doesn't mean unprofessional
Ethics in Graphic Design
Graphic designers like Tibor Kalman prodded fellow designers to take responsibility for their work as designer-citizens. Throughout his career he urged designers to question the effects of their work and refuse to accept any client’s product at face value. Kalman inspired graphic designers to use their work to increase public awareness of a variety of social issues.
The graphic designer is as accountable as the marketing and publicitydepartments for the propagation of a message or idea.
There is a difference between advertising and graphic design. Advertising is today more and more centralized, international, generalized and, therefore, standardized — like the economic forces that produce it, and the products it deals with. Graphic design, on the other hand, continues to be created and to structure itself in an autonomous and diversified manner — in direct contact with the specific social fabrics of different societies around the world. It is this diversity that provides the possibility for the development of graphic communication across the world in the future.
If one conceives one’s work as being based on the status of a technician and an artist, this implies having a general cultural objective that goes beyond merely giving form to an operational discourse.
This “going beyond” tells us we cannot be satisfied with the practice of ephemeral graphic design that has no relation to (or is in disagreement with) a global society. Nor can professional satisfaction arise from a permanent graphic design that remains unaltered despite the struggles and historical changes of the world it purports to reflect.
If the moral values that founded graphic design have almost disappeared in favour of those of triumphant marketing, they continue to underlie the awareness of many designers and students scattered around the world. It is this consciousness that must be encouraged and maintained
A new project in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, is trying to find out. A collaboration between artist Kenji Nakayama and Christopher Hope, the Signs for the Homeless project exchanges handwritten panhandling signs for colorfully illustrated, eye-catching recreations that aim to give the homeless a power that most of us take for granted: The power to be noticed.
“Homelessness is the white noise of the community,” Hope tells Co.Design. “We live in a world that is so saturated by design and branding that these homemade begging signs just get drowned out.” But the tattered signs that the people on our streets wave a thousand times a day to catch our attention aren’t just for begging. As Hope is quick to point out, many homeless signs don’t ask for money or food at all. Instead, they are works of self-expression: Statements by a human being about the world they live in.
