Reading 1: Does Undocumented Immigration Increase Violent Crime?
Violence and crime have been on the rise in the United States, where individuals are largely discriminated for their skin color. Miller narrates the story of frustrated black designers who discuss different reasons most designers are not African American. The designers begin by acknowledging that design is a professional art that rewards handsomely in terms of salaries and wages. However, designers who benefit in the industry come from a particular race thus professional artists from people of color are discriminated. In essence, racial discrimination against black designers is institutionalized to block them from thriving. Institutionalizing discrimination against the black race is a modern practice that seems to keep alive racism. According to the reading, black designers do not have many clients due to the discriminative nature of American societies. For instance, the authors note that most higher learning institutions that provide art classes to designers do not value the presence of people with color in their classes. As a result, the black designers are disadvantaged academically thus they end up being graduates who cannot compete effectively with fellow designers.
Racial discrimination is still in existence in most modern multicultural societies. Designers, in this case, have suffered severe consequences of racial discrimination; which is perpetrated even in higher learning institutions such as colleges and campuses. Artwork developed by black artists should receive equal recognition in the market that created by white designers. Indeed, discrimination based on race should be eradicated in the art industry to promote genuine talent from all people.
Reading 2: Ten in Search of a Nation
The Transatlantic Trade supplied the United States and Caribbean countries such as Brazil and Columbia with slaves from Africa and Asia. Sugar plantations were the main source of economic wealth to the Europeans who established vast lands of agriculture across the world. After the abolition of slavery through the enactment of the Slave Trade Act, the American dream of equal recognition entered a new phase among African Americans. The “negro” movement, which was later transformed into an Organization of Black American Culture (OBAK), was then formed to advocate for the rights of African Americans.
A group of people who wanted to preserve and promote African art initiated the struggle for equal racial recognition in the American art industry. It is through the formation of movement groups that black designers began attending art classes in institutions that were dominated by white people. Moreover, movements such as OBAK created some enthusiasm among African Americans when it came to achieving the American dream, which enabled them to compete in a free and fair classroom environment with other students to improve their skills. Such movements promoted displaying African traditions in attracting pieces of art.
From a personal perspective, it is important for people to come together to advocate the causes that are dear to them because it is hard to ignore a group of people with an agenda. In this context, students who wanted to pursue design in the art would have been considered if they had communicated as a unit about their concerns. The formation of OBAK was effective in ensuring that black culture was preserved through paintings. Such movements are needed in the times when racial discrimination is hampering the growth of designers in the art industry.
Reading 3: Design for the Real World
According to Victor Papanek, professional art and design contribute to the U.S. economy and hence different mechanisms should be adopted to improve the practice. A conceptual design of the real world implications of professional art should be drafted to produce qualified experts irrespective of cultural backgrounds. It is critical to remember that selling a design or artwork takes a formal procedure before being deployed to the market as described by an art firm which implements a complete SCM cycle. This is to acknowledge that establishing professional designs would improve on the popularity rate of an artist as well as increase their financial earnings based on the quality of their artwork.
The author states that design and art go in hand in hand when it comes to talent and creativity. In modern professions, talent and creativity play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of a product which, in turn, attracts high sales revenues. It should be remembered that most design works require creativity which contributes to the uniqueness of a piece of art. Drawing and painting, for instance, were practiced by people in ancient communities which identified unique cultural beliefs and traditions of the involved people.
The reading highlights different ways which can improve professional design in the art industry. For instance, designers can adopt moral practices when developing conceptual designs of products. Art is, moreover, is hampered by cultural differences that contradicts economic practices with social beliefs. Moral practices in art establish that professional progress should be inherent among designers and artists in different job environments. From a personal perspective, career growth and development should be fundamental in a professional environment.