Principles and ethics in design

As designers we often talk about how clients choose us for our presentation, our portfolio, our personalities. And all that is true. The client has a lot of power in that case. But we also have a lot of power in that we don't always have to say yes back. Not too long ago we had an inquiry from an organization whose focus was on a particular religious group. (I'm not going to name names because it just doesn't seem right to do so; at least not here.) Their needs for website redesign were pretty clear and quite frankly, it would have been a great project to work on, especially considering the liberal budget they had. But in preparing for and researching prior to delivering our written proposal I came across one of their endorsements of an infamous radio show host. Again, I'm not going to name names, but it's suffice to say that this particular person is one of the most bigoted people in the media. Seeing that, and the organization's accompanying text, I decided this wasn't a project I or my company should be associated with. So I respectfully declined to bid on the project. The main, and perhaps only, reason I declined was because had I gone through with it, and had we been hired, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself. That's the personal angle. As a business owner, I also have to look out for reputation of my company and this would have tarnished it. Back in college one of the design classes I took touched on this very subject (and how I wish I could remember the name of that class!). I distinctly remember my professor asking, "Would you design something for a tobacco company?" It was more of a rhetorical question that was meant to get us thinking about our roles and responsibilities as designers, *in addition* to the potential for making a good living out of this industry. (We read a lot in that class.) The combination of this incident and reflecting on that design class certainly got me thinking about ethics in design. Specifically, what place does one's principles and morals have in design? What are our roles as designers in this area? Are we supposed to let our personal feelings even enter this arena? As I've been thinking about it, I think that we as designers *should* consider ethics, morals, and principles. In the end, we're human too. But I think it goes deeper than that. What we produce, be it a website, a brochure, or even a logo, will be seen by hundreds, if not thousands, and in some cases, millions. That alone gives us a responsibility about not only what projects to take on, but how we execute those projects, and further, what those projects stand for and are communicating. Perhaps the question isn't *whether* designers should consider moral value or principles. Maybe the question is "Where do we draw the line?" I would love to hear your thoughts. The first 2 people to comment with an intelligent response get a free iTunes download of [HELVETICA](http://snipurl.com/3k9y2).