Task 5 Responsible design

Jonathan Barnbrook
The increased awareness of the responsibilities of design made me want to talk to one person in particular: Jonathan Barnbrook, who is not only famous for his font design but also been active in this responsible field with its strong views on corporate culture, consumerism, war and international politics. He works in both commercial and non-commercial spheres.

Since 1990, Barnbrook has produced a wide range of innovative graphic work,from print design to corporate identity, magazine work to typeface, industrial design to CD covers. Barnbrook’s work always deeply thougt- provoking.

In Barnbrook’s point of view, graphic design can’t last for a very long time, it is better to create something which relates to what people are currently thinking about. In his work, he try and comment on those social and political issues in a more reflective way, rather than “shouting” trying to be a litter more humanitarian and reflective.

This is a project completed for a South Korean magazine called: North Korea – Building a brand. The project not only criticizes the regime, it also talks about ideas of freedom and the power individuals have over dictatorships.

"Detail of Disneyland” finished in 2004 by Jonathan Barnbrook. Like Disneyland, North Korea is a contained fabricated geographic fantasy. They are both very expensive to get into.

These image was part of Barnbrook’s “ Tomorrow’s Truth” exhibition at the Seoul Arts Centre in 2004.

In this poster, Barnbrook entered in the Barcode as a mustache in Bush’s face. Bush is ironically seen as a Hitler for the modern age.

Friendly fire exhibition:

Barnbrook also did a Japanese version for Adbusters’ Buy-Nothing-Day commercial. This is an event which is held once a year encouraging people not to shop and to think a little about what the values are, of a society that regards consumerism as so important.

No more Dog Poo

The small Swiss town of La Chaux-de-fonds has many dog lovers. With a population of just 37,000 people, there are as many as 2,000 dogs that excrete about 600 kilograms of dog feces every day. To improve this circus, the authorities and the art school have launched a “ Dogs Mess Eradication Project” this year – enriching the town with different coloured, 3D dog signs that indicate clearly if it’s a no-go zone for pets or not.

Some postercards and booklets for the “Dogs Mess Eradication Proect”

A no dog’s zone with many red dog shaped objects.

I have also found a campaign created by Volkswagen called “ The fun Theory”

This is a series of experiments, captured on video, to find out if making the world more fun can improve people’s behavior.

In my opinion, as a designer, working very good with clients and happy just to do cool work is not enough. There is a political, social and psychological impact of what we do. Taking a bit more responsibility is significant in today’s design world.