Monday, January 12, 2015

COP 2 / Study Task 02 / Triangulation Analysis of Mr Bingo - 'Does Mr Bingo Work for Free?'


Notoriously potty-mouthed Illustrator/Designer Mr. Bingo produced this now infamous piece as a page on his website after the user had clicked 'Does Mr Bingo Work for Free?' presumably after being asked the question one too many times.

The piece aligns Bingo as an creative incredibly defensive and proud of his profession, addressing a subject so often sniffed at or avoided amongst design circles in the name of good etiquette and nobility - hard cash. 

The piece runs deep into addressing society's misgivings about the serious nature of a designer or illustrator's work. In doing this he addresses the true 'value' of design, both from a designers own perspective, and an ill-informed, ignorant public.

In contrast to focusing on the personal monetary value of design, Ken Garland's 'First Things First' (1960) manifesto addresses the value of design as a medium in relation to its power to communicate powerful or important messages. Garland argues not with the subject of getting paid  but more the 'trivial' mediums on which designers skills are being wasted - notably the boom in advertising budgets in the early 60's. That said, similar to Bingo's piece, in raising an issue vast in scale, Garland and the signatories were in turn bringing to light the high value they themselves place on their life's practice.


No comments:

Post a Comment