A new friend and mentor of mine has been asking some questions.

Are we creating value for humans?

Does what we design do more than earn us some coin?

Beyond the creativity of the commission, is anyone paying attention to what is actually being designed?

I was in the studio of the man asking the questions this week. On his work desk was a dark bottle of local wine. He picked it up and said “OK so imagine this is a bomb.” He caressed the curve of the neck, then continued, “Imagine I’m the designer of this bomb, and I am showing you my design work. Perhaps I’d tell you about the curve and how it is contemporary, or that I picked up the inspiration at The Louvre.”

I watched him put the wine bottle back on the table, and he looked at the wall. “But when someone asks me ‘what does the bomb do?’ I will say ‘I don’t know, but it is pretty and the client loved it.”

This is a hard sell. To question the outcome of our design after we’ve been paid. Or even before.

Mostly, we take clients and consider commission based on a variety of factors. To date, one overlooked tends to be the purpose of the thing in the first place. Is it doing harm? Is it doing good? Why does the world need this thing? Is this going to perpetuate 20th century ideals and all their baggage?

Sadly, these questions are a luxury. I cannot select clients based on values when I have student loans to pay and a vacation to book.

Or can I?

Can I turn my heels on convention, elect to create value for humans, and step away from the blatantly lucrative illegitimacies of obsessive corporatism while still being able to book a vacation to Yosemite this June?

I’ll call you from the top of Half Dome and let you know how it goes. Luckily I have a partner in this advertising crime, otherwise this post would have more question marks.

2010. “100% ridiculously unlike anything else.”