When we think of “good design” the obvious comes to mind - BMW, Nike, Target (lately), etc. High end products with massive marketing budgets that demand the most impressive design money can buy. People will pay more money for things that are designed well, because they equate that with quality, and rightly so. Good quality design, be it the product or the marketing, will increase consumer trust in a brand or product. But what about the other kind of “good design” - design for good.

Designing for the greater good can encompass a variety of things - from working with non-profit organizations and charities, choosing a cause and helping to create awareness, or starting some kind of community service project. It’s a gray area often overlooked by designers. At Transit we place a great importance on using our talents in ethical and socially responsible ways, a practice that we believe is important among the creative community. Using our talents for a good cause can be beneficial professionally as well as personally.

Design for good is important to any designer’s career. Often the best way to gain experience when starting out in a design career is to do pro-bono and charity work. The great thing about giving your talents to organizations that couldn’t otherwise pay for them is that you can usually negotiate for full creative freedom, something not often had anywhere else. Charity work also looks good in your portfolio - it shows you are passionate about a cause and giving back to the community, besides the fact that it could be more creative than some of the other client work.

Design for good is a way to give back to your community. It’s good for society, obviously. I read a statistic the other day that said 90% of the creative community helps to market products that only the top 10% of the population will consume. That may seem a little extreme, but in a way it’s true. Firms and agencies are always vying for the bigger, more profitable brands. Designing for the greater good definitely falls into that remaining 90%. Think about how much more successful charities, non-profits and social movements would be if they had the best and brightest designers behind them, making their message visible and giving their talents to truly make an impact. That’s not to say that agencies never seek those types of clients, quite the contrary. There is still lots more work to be done, however, especially in our local communities.

Design for good is personally gratifying. Sure you can look forward to bargaining for full creative license, so imaging the feeling when you get that and the personal satisfaction of knowing that you helped to make the world a better place, just a little bit at a time. I can tell you from experience that pro-bono clients are also some of the most wonderful, grateful people you could ever work with. Their biggest concern is that they have needs, and when someone comes and offers to fill that need without needing to be reimbursed, there is no better gift in their eyes. You can feel good in the notion that you didn’t just create something that will help someone sell another product, you made something that will allow an organization help someone in need.

Giving of our time and talents is so important, because design can change. It can raise awareness about a social movement or issue, it can move people to rethink the status quo and make a choice to personally make a difference, and it can help organizations serve those that are less fortunate or in need. Design is a great thing because in most cases it costs us very little money (aside from overhead, which isn’t much for a freelancer) to create, but is worth so much to the causes that desperately need good design.