Design responsibility… what’s that?
Whether you realize it or not, everything around you is design and comes with a responsibility. From the simplicity of a highway sign to the complexity of your cookbook, every last detail has some form of conscious design. Additionally, each of these products is shaping you in one way or another.
This may not be news to you, but I’ll say it anyway—design has infinite opportunities to communicate a powerful message and it’s up to me (as a designer) to do this effectively, honestly and to the best of my ability. I can control how a message is ultimately received and understood. With the click of my mouse within the comfort of my own home, I can reach thousands of people and evoke emotion, encourage action, and/or provide insight and education.
This responsibility is even heavier now as a freelancer. I can completely control my own workflow and I have the freedom to choose which projects I will actually move forward with. But even before taking the freelance leap, I would carefully screen the client list of potential employers, making sure there wasn’t any work I wouldn’t be willing to work on. And if there was, I would point it out in my interview (for example: tobacco clients). These are big decisions because I always need to take full responsibility for the products I help put to market. Although my name is never attributed to a design or product, that piece still supports my moral code and represents who I am.
Ultimately, the inspiration for this blog post comes from a product I recently bought—a daily devotional for the Advent season, designed by She Reads Truth. I can’t think of any responsibility greater than designing for the Word of God. It is Holy, it is perfect truth, it is God’s Word.
Nonetheless, I received this book in the mail and it literally took my breath away. The detail! The typography! The visuals! Many can attest to the fact that the Bible itself is daunting because it is so massive. It often intimidates people because it is so rich and dense. But at She Reads Truth, they make it approachable and digestible through design. This devotional for the 2016 Advent season creates an instantaneous excitement to dive right in to the reading. Its beauty brings God’s Word to life visually and motivates believers to get into the Word. I simply wanted to applaud this effort because although the Word is living and breathing in its own right, when you add visuals to it I believe it gives God additional glory.
So all of this to say, thank you to the SRT community for taking on such a big responsibility. You are fulfilling a wonderful mission to help believers to better understand our mighty God and His love for each of us.
