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“Consumption is a treatable disease”
- Tibor Kalman |
“It was another California Gold Rush...”
“(we) were wiping (our) asses with $20 bills...”
Enter Kalle Lasn, founder of Adbusters and the Adbusters Media Foundation. He believes that mass media has turned America, and other countries who emulate American culture, into a nation of consumer drones. Like Kalman, Lasn believes that designers and other creatives play an important role in turning the tide of the future. Designers “are a special breed of people with a special breed of brain. ... They live in the right cortex. And that gives them a special power. If they can learn to use that power in different ways, then designers can play a very important role in creating this future we so desperately need.”
Although Lasn fundamentally believes the time has come for a full-fledged media revolution (see The Adbusters Culture Jammer Headquarters for more information), he believes that creatives can make a difference all across the spectrum, either by volunteering their services to promote ideas that are important to the future, or by firmly setting their career path early.
Again, the emphasis is on choosing a path that gives a designer more control, and striving to do work that is firmly grounded in what Lasn calls “social marketing” as opposed to “product marketing.” Lasn even suggests some possible avenues a traditional designer might take in order to achieve that end. The good news is that the Web gives us the ability to markedly expand on that concept. Designers and other creatives can capitalize on the power and accessibility of the Internet to create socially responsible works and promote causes we believe in like we never have before.
“... a naked gourmet chef feeding each employee...”
In his lifetime, Tibor became a poster boy for promoting change within the design industry, searching for creative ways to use his clients' money, and using whatever medium at his disposal as an outlet for making us think. Tibor diligently worked the system from within, but sometimes change comes from outside the corporate moat.
“I like the graphic designer that goes to a small environmental group in his community and says 'Listen, I have this special skill. If you need a poster or TV campaign, or if you need some branding advice, then I can give it to you'. [However the one who says] 'I'm going to live my life differently. I'm not buying into this bullshit that my role in life is to be a corporate tool, and that throughout my career these clients will come to me and I will always smile and serve them. Instead, I'm going to decide right now at the start of my career what I want and whom I'll serve.' [that's who I really admire.]”
- First Things First 2000 / Emigre, No. 49.
[ &*$#@~! ]