Personal perspective is helpful while making ethical decisions. The course of action should be a decision made from the inside. Ethically, abortion is considered to be a negative practice that is highly discouraged. However, abortion is permitted by most natural laws to be done only by medical practioneers when the need arises.
Unfortunately, there has been an increment in the number of abortion cases worldwide. This has resulted in several organizations and non governmental organizations to come up with policies and campaigns that are meant to educate people on the evils and resultant effects of abortion. Thus, if a designer who is aware of the efforts that has been put to minimize cases of abortion, he or she cannot go ahead to produce posters that promote the same issue (Miller, 120). This will be like watering down the efforts of other individuals which are against the code of ethics in any work place.
Nevertheless, as earlier stated, the belief of the designer will be the main determinant. One may not care about the welfare of the society provided that he or she is being paid to complete that particular task. The morals and belief system of the designer are ultimate in making any decision. Normally, designers are faced with other ethical issues such as piracy and copyright.
In this case the designer has legal rights to create his or her own original designs (Mackie, 62). Due to this autonomy, the designer has the right to design anything on any subject or issue. This person is not restricted by law concerning what should be produced. Individual’s moral this is what guides the designer. Thus, he or she should be in a position to determine and scrutinize the effects of his or her work on the general public. In our case of abortion, the designer has an absolute right to produce such a poster promoting the vice.
Moreover, he or she is being paid for the work done by the owner. This feeling has led to appearance of several designers who promote vices such as pornography, smoking, alcoholism, gay and lesbianism among others (Miller, 140). Some designers do not care about the effects of their designs on the audience. This implies that such designers are not guided by moral ethics. They believe that their work is to produce and get paid for it.
However, individual’s morals should concern an individual only and guide him or her to what is generally right or wrong. It is not right for self centered individuals to subject the larger mass to falsehood knowingly (Perle, 124). For example, how can a designer produce a poster that shows only the positivity of abortion while he or she does not believe in what is in the poster? This is a violation of ethics of the highest order and should be discouraged. Conclusion Designers should use their moral principles to determine what is morally right or wrong. Although there are codes of ethics that govern graphic designers just like any other workers, one has the right to make his or her own choice. One may opt to conform to the demands of his or her employer and mislead the public.
On the other hand, one may decide to consider his or her conscience and walk away no matter how high the reward is. In our case of abortion, the designer may decide to portray falsehood in the poster about abortion or decline the offer. Thus, morals and beliefs help one to develop his or her own stand towards a given issue or topic and make the ultimate choice.
