December 22, 2009
In the Company of Do-Gooders!
By
Katherine Dodds
One of the pleasures 
of working on the ‘GiveSomethingBig.com’ campaign for Inter Pares was meeting designer David Berman. He’s been working with the Ottawa-based social justice organization for 8 years. We had met on the phone during an earlier project -- but in the summer of ’08 we gathered in the IP board room, for a workshop with the data-boys from Exvisu, to talk about audiences, blogospheres and strategies to motivate giving.
David’s creds are substantial -- since the ’80s he’s been carving out a niche as the ethical design guy, establishing a code of ethics for graphic designers which was ratified by the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada in 2000. Since 2002 he’s served as the national Ethics Chair for graphic design in Canada. And he’s just been named a high-level advisor to the UN on how to use design to help fulfill the Millenium Development Goals.
Recently David published a book called Do Good Design (only ‘design’ is crossed off with a Sharpie). Being both a lover of Sharpies (and an office supply fetishist in general) and of doing good (after all our ‘official’ company name is Good Company Communications) I liked the book right away!
My own introduction to advertising was with Adbusters, as was my graphic designer and long-time cohort Terry Sunderland, so I was pleased that Adbusters made it into this book. Analyzing what’s wrong with advertising, the book also outlines what designers can do to make a difference. Design project: our world. Who’s the designer? We all are! And like many projects dear to my heart, Do Good Design is a call to action. Readers can become involved in the Do Good movement, take the online pledge, and learn more by visiting: www.davidberman.com/dogood
Essentially, it is a call to action to those in the design community to pledge to spend at least 10% of their time “doing good.” I just signed up via the pledge -- for at least 40 hours a week, as that was the entire premise of this company -- we only take on social cause clients. If you want to find out more about what the book has to say -- I recommend getting one, and giving one! An AIGA Design Press book, Do Good Design is published under Peachpit’s New Riders imprint in partnership with AIGA. You can find out more at David’s website.
Another excellent choice for alternative holiday giving, as of course are the good and cool animated and customizable e-cards to be found at GiveSomethingBig.com. This fundraising supports Inter Pares and the fine work they do, and it’s win-win as Inter Pares supports the work of David Berman and of Good Company. In this struggle for Peace, Equality and Social Justice we are all in it together!
NEWSFLASH! Check out our GSB campaign featured in Design Edge Canada!
Tag(s):
Alternative Economics,
Graphic Design,
Inter Pares,
Hello Cool World,
Social Marketing,
Strategy
Recent Blogs by Katherine Dodds:
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On January 13, 2010 at 09:04 PM kiramatalishah wrote:
Influence can be defined as the power exerted over the minds and behavior of others. A power that can affect, persuade and cause changes to someone or something. In order to influence people, you first need to discover what is already influencing them. What makes them tick? What do they care about? We need some leverage to work with when we’re trying to change how people think and behave. www.onlineuniversalwork.com
Katherine Dodds AKA "Kat" is the founder of Good Company Communications and HelloCoolWorld.com. Trained in renegade advertising & branding through her work with Adbusters in the '90s, Kat's early induction into the possibilities of the web-world was inspired by the term hypertext, which she immediately found comforting. She is dedicated to cause-related communication and to the development and use of tools that promote democratic processes.
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