This is a transcript of the video PeachpitTV: The Do Good Design Pledge with David Berman
(Text on screen: Voices that matter Conference Web Design
Do Good Design author David Berman discusses the Do Good Pledge)
(Image of Do Good Design book cover. David Berman appears on screen and faces the camera for the duration of this video. David is wearing a beige suit with a white shirt.)
I’ve been to over 40 countries speaking to designers and students of design. And I believe my first job is to help them recognize how much power they have in the world. When we start out as designers — I don’t know if this concurs with your experience — but you start out as just being in that design frame of mind, where you’re interested in creating beautiful things or creating effective things. But it’s its own little universe.
At a certain point I discovered that there was a messy larger world afoot, and indeed design was at the core of some of the largest problems we have. For instance, the environmental crisis, at its core, is essentially overconsumption. And overconsumption has been driven by teaching people they need more stuff than they really do. And designers have a lot to do with creating that belief system.
So once designers recognize how much power they have in the world, I then ask them to use those same skills and opportunities to help do good in the world, rather than help contribute to the problems. And I believe that if every one of us were to take just 10% of their time and use it towards doing design projects which are helping make the world more just, more fair, more equitable, more sustainable, then we’ll have it solved.
There’s over two million designers alive in the world today. Can you imagine– do the math– if each one took even four hours a week– and most of us are working more than a 40-hour week– let’s say just four hours a week? That’s 10% percent of your time. That’s 8 million hours a week of people doing good– a force of good in the world.
So I ask people to take a three-part pledge. The first part is to be true to the profession, to recognize that we are in a profession that has as much importance in society as doctors or lawyers or engineers, each of which require a certification, and that we have as big an impact on the world, that as many people are at risk from messages poorly built as with buildings that are poorly built. And so with that power comes a lot of responsibility. So I ask people to be true to their profession.
The second part is I ask them to be true to themselves, because people will ask me, they say, well, what does doing good entail? Should I help design ads for SUVs? And it’s not for me to tell you what’s ethical. Listen to your own inner principles, that I’m confident you’re going to use your skills and your opportunities to help do good in the world. So the second thing is I ask people to be true to themselves.
And then the third thing is that I ask them to use at least 10% of their professional time helping create a more just world. And we’ve created a website– the dogoodbook.com web presence– we have a place that online people can pledge that time. So we have over 73,000 hours already of people having pledged at the site. The book’s only been out for several months, and it just touches my heart when I see that we have over 73,000 hours, as of this morning, of people who have pledged that every year they’re going to spend that time doing good.
And so it’s building. It’s building. And so I’m heading towards the big numbers that I was looking for before. Now some people are already doing good, and they’re just acknowledging it. And others are making that commitment.
I’m not asking people to do work for free. This isn’t a pitch for pro bono work. I’m happy if you can make money at it. I am thrilled if you can make an entire career out of doing design that does good.
(Text on screen: DavidBerman.com/dogood
Presented by New Riders
Gary-Paul Prince – Producer and Editor
Mary Sweeney – Camera and Lighting
RhedPixel.com – Motion Graphics
Find out more at www.peachpit.com)
Reviewed October 17, 2014