One of my favorite movie interactions regarding the topic of morals and ethics is in the movie Election and goes as follows:

Jim McAllister: Dave, I’m just saying this as your friend: What you’re doing is really, really wrong… and you’ve gotta stop. The line you’ve crossed is… it’s immoral… and it’s illegal.
Dave Novotny: Jim, come on, I don’t need a lecture on ethics.
Jim McAllister: I’m not talking about ethics, I’m talking about morals.
Dave Novotny: What’s the difference?

What is the difference? That is the attitude a lot of designers take, whether it is browsing stock photos or design annuals. Taking a photo, copying a design concept or layout. Is it wrong? Is it illegal? Who cares?

Morals define personal character, while ethics stress a social system in which those morals are applied. While something may be wrong morally, ethically or both, it does not mean that it is illegal (although in most cases it may well be).

Lets take cigarette advertising for example. It is fully legal to create a print ad campaign that promotes the sales of cigarettes, yet it is illegal to advertise cigarettes on television, in America. Society has deemed it ethical business to create print ads. To me advertising a product that has been proven to have zero health benefits and a laundry list to the contrary, is immoral. While I find it immoral albeit ethical, I will not work on a cigarette campaign no matter how much I am offered. (Still, I will not hold it against the designer who chooses to accept the work.)

Whether the circumstance is business or life, understanding your moral values is the first step towards understanding your personal ground-rules for behavior. When we live by these values we are demonstrating that we are worthy of trust.

Now how does this apply to graphic design?
There are three areas that ethics are applied to design work

1. Your professional behavior in daily business
2. Your professional expertise as related to accessibility and the environment
3. Your moral obligations to society at large

How do designers define ethical conduct in the work place? This can be a daunting subject for designers who have never thought of this before. Luckily, there are a number of design organizations worldwide that have thought a lot about this and have posted their guidelines on their websites

AIGA, the professional association for design
Graphic Artists Guild
Society of Graphic Designers of Canada

They are all very similar, focusing on how to conduct yourself with clients, vendors, and your design peers.

• Showing respect toward other designers in fair and open competition
• Being honest in describing your professional experience and competencies
• Avoiding any type of conflict of interest
• Acquainting yourself with each client’s business and providing honest and impartial advice
• Maintaining the confidentiality of all client information
• Eliminating any form of hidden compensation or kickback
• Maintaining commitment to the development of innovative work of the highest quality
• Rejecting all forms of plagiarism
• Making proper acknowledgment of authorship when others have collaborated with you in creating a design

These codes describe recommended behavior for association members. Typically, however, adherence is voluntary. Such guidelines can be helpful in avoiding misunderstandings and disputes between designers and clients, and they can be very useful in educating new designers who are just entering the profession. AIGA also publishes guidelines for ethical practices related to the purchase and use of fonts, software, illustrations and photography. Pamphlets on these topics can be downloaded as PDF files: Design Business and Ethics Series

Bill Bernbach, founder of Doyle Dane Bernbach, once stated: “All of us who professionally use mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can lift it to a high level.”

Leading designers explored how they can use their talents for social change and betterment.