Death's Payroll

It's part of being a Graphic Designer to keep up to date with current affairs, but even if you are reluctant to read the news it is hard to avoid the current furor over 'Swine Flu'. The government are set to be sending out an information pack to every UK household within three days, and when I heard this it got me thinking - wouldn't that be a great brief? Working on something like that would be a great platform for any agency to become recognised, and it's also a great opportunity to delve into some information graphics. Bit of the ol' iconography and whatnot.

It reminds me of the 'Protect & Survive' leaflet, which is an infamous piece of graphic design. I've absolutely no idea who created it (So maybe my previous point about it being good for recognition is invalid...) but doesn't designing something like this seem appealing? Not for the morbid side to it, but because of the knowledge that people will be turning to your design in their 'hour of need'? Look at the protect and survive leaflet - moments before you become a stain on a radioactive wasteland, the last thing you see is Helvetica. Typical.


The AIDS awareness print/TV campaign from the 80s had more of a threatening tone to it than the leaflet advising on precautions to take on nuclear war. Why is that? I'm going off on one a bit here, but the news that Labour are sending out a print campaign to advise on Swine Flu just got me thinking. It also made me think back to Monday when Fred asked who would work for Mc.Donalds.

I would. Definitely. In a heartbeat. It's unethical? I don't care. I'm not getting into graphic design to make the world a better place, I'm not intending to use Photoshop to earn a nobel peace prize. If you were to turn down a job like that, it wouldn't exactly cripple them would it? They'd just hire someone else. And if the price tag attached to work for Mc.Donalds is somewhere in the region of £5,000,000 - then surely it'd be a good idea to work for Mc.Donalds on a graphic design level, then use the massive profits to champion ethical causes, or donate it to an anti-child labour charity?

Fine by me.

Bill Hicks hated ad men for a reason, and that reason was this: We are meant to sell our souls to the highest bidder. That is a fundamental nature of our industry, and I'm quite happy with it. I'd work on a print campaign for a political party I disagree with for the right amount. If you are going to be picky about who you work for, then good luck.

Oh, and on a side note, regular, everyday run-of-the-mill Flu kills between 250,000-500,000 people annually. Swine Flu - Don't Die of Paranoia.