04 — Design ethics
Every design decision is also an ethical decision. Neutral doesn't exist.
"Every design decision is also an ethical decision. Neutral doesn't exist."
Do this now
Look at your current project and identify one decision that carries an ethical dimension. Who benefits from this design? Who might be excluded, misled, or harmed? Write one sentence about what responsible design looks like in this specific context.
Unpack
Ethical design isn't a separate discipline — it's a lens applied to every ordinary decision. The typeface that excludes readers with dyslexia. The campaign that reinforces a harmful stereotype. The product that generates waste its designer never thought about. Designers shape how people understand the world. That responsibility doesn't disappear because a client asked for it.
Draw it.
Fast and messy is better than perfect.