Build it up stone by stone and watch it fall...

The internet is an unusual tool for speaking one's opinion. There really is no way to verify that the person speaking is an expert or is just good at sounding like an expert (ie. Moe Rocca). I think that on the whole, most "bloggers" are entirely full of shit and themselves, and knowing that if they write uneccessarily harsh words about a random celebrity, movie, book, piece of art, etc. then it's a pathway to success. This being a reason why I think Kitsune Noir rocks so hard, since Bobby, who runs it, is very constructive and positive about art and design and not just raining crap all over people whom he'll never meet.

Regardless, I wanted to talk about a picture today that I saw on fffffound today based on expertise. Now I went to college for and studied to some intensity, Graphic Design, and a few of my professors always proposed an interesting debate about the field I would most likely go into in reference to this:

At what point does your moral obligation as a person start to interfere with your design? If Exxon came to me tomorrow and said, "We're going to offer you $30,000 for a new logo, as well as $3,000 for every year we continue to use it," what would I say? The chance to make $30,000 in one shot is very tempting, but knowing that oil companies are one of many factors bringing back the class system in America, could I in good conscience do this design? What if McDonald's had asked me to assist in their new marketing campaign to promote their latest sandwich? Could I in good conscience develop anything knowing their food is terribly unhealthy?

It might be a minor moral debate, but a debate to make nonetheless. Many trained Graphic Designers know what it takes to make something visually appealing, and how to convey a powerful message using only a few lines of text, but whether or not to use this skill to make yourself financially stable/successful at the cost of making people eat a whopper has to be a moral debate sooner than later, at least it is for me.