Social Responsibility in Design

Designer’s are responsible for a huge variety of steps which impact everyone, from the initial design process through to the production and then on to the client. Designer’s today need to show compassion when creating their products. It is easy for designs to have unwanted effects, for example relating back to the ‘size zero’ phase, the designer’s weren’t intending to introduce a disease like anorexia to a huge number of people, they were merely thinking of the best way to display their fabrics, clothing and finished designs, without considering the consequences. 

It is easy to discover that each designer has individual ways in which they deal with social responsibility and ethics within their companies. It has become apparent that money is a huge issue within the production of fabrics. An unnamed designer of a major retail chain said “I think more time would probably be needed to produce things ecologically and ethically” this seems to ring true for all retail sectors, whether it’s fabric or food.