better: design for social causes
I figured that it would be impossible to fully convey my experience at Princeton if I withheld certain information that would make me relatively easy to identify. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that I really have nothing to hide. Since it is a big part of my life at Princeton, it was only a matter of time before I talked about my design job on campus. Maybe this isn’t much of a surprise - if you looked at my layout, you’d probably get the sense that I was a designer anyway (I love the Swiss!)
This weekend, the Princeton Student Design Agency held Better: Design for Social Causes, a national graphic design conference inviting students to learn more about graphic design from nationally renowned speakers. This event is our major annual project and was a source of much work and stress to the managers, but it was well worth it.
I really did not expect to take away so much from the conference - not because I didn’t think it would be good, but rather because I’m the type who is not easily moved. The speakers we invited were some of the most famous designers of the time: Jessica Helfand, William Drentel (Princeton alum!), Abbott Miller, and Jeffrey Zeldman to name a few. It was funny for SDA staff to lead these monumental figures in the design world around our campus, while other students had the slightest awareness of their success and renown. These guys are all rich as hell, and from doing graphic design.
Over the course of the day, I felt a greater sense of inspiration. The speakers were phenomenal, smart, and at the same time accessible. The executive managers of SDA really impressed me with their ability to cater to these speakers and ensure that they had an enjoyable time. I saw connections being formed: for example, the founder of SDA, AC made such a strong impression on two members of the admissions committee at the Yale Graphic Design program that I’m going to be surprised as hell if he doesn’t get in. And there’s the artists themselves - seeing all these art students gather around in pursuit of the same passion was really inspiring, and it made me wish that I could have the same clarity of purpose.
One of my whimsical occupational dreams has always been graphic design - ever since I was little, I loved fiddling around with Photoshop and experimenting with random things. Though I believe that I lack much of the creativity required to be a graphic designer, there’s still a part of me that wishes that I could just set everything else aside and do design for a living. But when that ambition is placed in the context of my other strengths, of obligations to my family, and of financial viability, I’m afraid that it would be a silly decision. Even at face value, it’s just absurd. “You go to Princeton… wait. You want to do graphic design?” (If it means anything, AC decided has been designing for just two years and only decided last year that he would drop everything and pursue graphic design. Talk about passion.)
For the longest time until I joined SDA, I always believed that with design, aesthetics should come first. Design speaks to you if it’s attractive, and if it catches your attention first. But recently, especially today, I realize how vacuous such an approach was - it’s one thing to catch your audience’s attention, but if all you have to offer them is a pretty spectacle, what are they left with? What message can they take away? What are you really adding to the world with such a design? Such a consideration is especially relevant when placed in the context of designing for social causes. I can’t begin to express how inspired I was to really understand the significance and impact design can have on the world. When we broadcast messages to the world in ways that are attractive and memorable, things stick. People change their behavior. And slowly, design by design, things in the world get a little better.
I’m inspired to grow even more as a designer now. It may be that such a profession will never figure into my future occupation, but for now, this is something I want to learn and pursue. It may just be the way that I can do my part in this world.
