”Art is a survival mechanism of the human species, otherwise it never would have survived,” said Milton Glaser at the 3rd annual Designism 3.0. The event series hosted by the Art Directors Club in NYC in October 2008 was conceived by Brian Collins, former mastermind of Ogilvy BIG and now COLLINS:. Designism 3.0 and previous installments are a forum used to highlight and address design for social action.

Designism is a movement that attempts (sometimes well, sometimes not) to connect design to politics. A less “loaded” definition would be “a movement that attempts to change the world through design.” “Designism” was originally coined by Glaser, one of the most famous graphic designers living today, best known for his I Love New York logo. 

Designism 2.0
The 2007 forum was a controversial one, with Vanity Fair’s Michael Wolff questioning the intentions and validity of many of the presenting designers’ claims. Wolff believes that everyone uses design to be disruptive, so the only way to be disruptive is to not design.

Designism 3.0
The 2008 forum was more about verification that designers are turning interest into action with their designs. The 2008 edition of the forum included a line-up of guest speakers ranging from Allan Chochinov, founder of design site Core77, to designers who reviewed their own “design for change” projects. Glaser also spoke, and Steven Heller, a contributor to The New York Times’ Campaign Stops column, was to moderate a panel of design community experts, but the evening was long-running and cut short to make room for the vice-presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden.

Chochinov offered five things Designism designers must do:

• Use the word “consequence”
• Acknowledge privilege
• Tell the truth
• Celebrate life
• Don’t wait

Who Cares?
Designism actually doesn’t seem to be that popular. Of course, it’s a movement only three years in the making, so it’s still gathering up steam.

According to an informal poll of 108 designers on the blog Be A Design Group, 31% had no idea what Designism was. The biggest number of votes concerning opinions of Designism brought in 34% with the response “Design has always been about making the world a better place, so I don’t really get the point of inventing the word “designism.”

Adrian Hanft of the blog Be A Design Group, listened to an hour-and-a-half podcast of the Designism 3.0 event and has these critiques about Designism:

• It’s too liberal. A political movement should include multiple political opinions. Most people who attended the forum were liberal.
• Speak in a civil tone – change doesn’t come about by dropping the “F” bomb and saying you’re pissed.
• It’s insulting to other designers by implying that political design is more important than other forms of design.

I’m not much of a politico, so I agree with the majority who took the poll: hasn’t design always been about making the world a better place?