How to be a Graphic Designer...

One of the first things I found striking about the article was the authors paragraph about his trip to Hong Kong and how out of politeness, he responded that he would love to work there. He recognized the fact that his work was effective in one country because he was attuned to the aspects of that culture, not just language and history, but subtleties that only come from being a member of the society, not just an outsider. I can identify with this on some level because of the maniacal research i put in to damn near all my projects. Whether I know about my subject or not, I can always know more. I don’t want to get any fact wrong, misinterpret one piece of empirical data, or misunderstand a key point. Even when you’re designing for a group you know, you could always dig a little further, find one more level to communicate on.
“Designers sometimes imagine that the world revolves around graphic design, and when you are working fourteen-hour days it’s hard to remember that it doesn’t.” I don’t really recall feeling that way too often. There’s a lot I’m aware of design-wise in the world around me, but I’m not consumed by it. I know damn well there are far more important things in the world than a well-designed wine rack. The fact that my TV remote is poorly laid out and things are where they “should be” is not a fact I’m only aware of because I work with design. I’m aware of it because it hinders me from using my remote. The only time “normies” recognize design is when it’s not working right, and that might be what I do. Maybe I have this great ability to shut the design part of my brain off when I’m trying to focus on something else. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, Im just saying bad design doesn’t keep me up at night.
In later parts of the reading, the author talks about equal input being given by both client and designer. Well, duh. To me this seems like a no-brainer. It’s not a client-designer situation if there’s not equal input, it’s a commissioned work. I guess the opposite of a situation where the client and designer both has a say would be where a designer throws together something, tries to sell it to the client while refusing to make changes. That just seems stupid to me. Of course you’re going to give your clients opinion weight, they are the ones keeping your lights turned on.
As far as the “morality” of a designer, why is there no system in place like doctors have? Maybe some kind of Hippocratic Oath for designers. Instead of “never deliberately do harm to a patient” it’s “never deliberately use someone else’s work for your own benefit without written permission.” Most designers seem to follow this unwritten code of ethics without even noticing, but if you’re not, odds are you should probably be looking for other career options. I don’t think morality is something that should have to questioned in any forum of art. Have enough respect for the people around you in your “community” not to steal their work or their employment opportunities.
As a final note on this reading, I love the line at the end “You don’t have to be able to draw to be a great typographer”. The more artists and designers I hear prefacing statements with “you don’t have to know how to draw to...” the better. Drawing is overrated, I only say that because I suck at it.

And as far as "critical thinking"... I swear I've read this before. It was very relevant the first time I read for Anthropology, because of the material you're dealing with and what you are trying to gain from that material. Not to say that this isn't relevant to better understand a client or a creative director, but the context that I'm familiar with the steps of critical thinking are very from art or design related.