Sources / Additional Reading
Consilience
Is-Ought Problem
Levels of Analysis - You Are A Strange Loop
Healthline: What Is The Placebo Effect
Penn & Teller (BS) - Water Taste Test
How Brands Got Depressed - Wisecrack Vlog
WOKE BRANDS
Monet - Haystacks
Key Takeaways
• DESIGN ISN’T JUST VISUALS: There’s a lot more going than just people looking at pictures and words.
• FIND THE VALUE: When starting a design, first identify what’s being valued, and how to articulate it.
• BE MINDFUL: Advertising is heading in a strange direction. Be mindful of what brands are selling you. It’s often no longer a product.
Lecture Outline:
Various Pieces of Evidence Pointing Towards A Common Theme
- The consilience approach
Premise 1: Value precludes action
- You need to value something in order to act
- The context and the desired outcome determine the action
- Everything is a value judgement
- You cannot derive an “ought” statement from an “is” statement
Premise 2: All Levels Of Analysis Are Right Simultaneously
- Micro >> Local >> Macro, all are true
Premise 3: Humans Have A Local Bias
- Humans prefer to focus on the local
- In Design, this would be the ‘individual piece’ level. Not the campaign or world
Premise 4: Your Perception Is A Choice
- The placebo effect shows perception plays a role in how the world manifests to you.
- Penn and Teller Water Bottle Taste Test
Premise 5: Your Judgement Has Become The Focus
- How Brands Got Depressed (Burger King, SunnyD) – Wisecrack Vlog
- WOKE BRANDS
Conclusion:
- Graphic Design & Marketing are the mechanisms by which society articulates it’s values. Visually.
- Art holds a mirror up to nature.
- Design holds a mirror up to culture.
