Creative Resistance to Russian Aggression as a Socially Responsible Initiative of Graphic Designers of Ukraine

Abstract

ІНФОРМАЦІЙНИЙ The purpose of the article is to highlight the results of the half-year activity of the Department of Graphic Design of KNUKiM (KNUC&A) in the informational struggle against Russian aggression. The experience of creative resistance as a creative mission of students and teachers of the department in the period from February 24 to August 24, 2022, is analyzed from the standpoint of the concept of the “socially responsible initiative” of a graphic designer introduced by the author of the article. The purpose is also to compile pedagogical activities for the training of socially responsible graphic design professionals. Research methods. The empirical method, method of analysis, and synthesis were used. Numerous scholarly and journalistic materials on the social responsibility of the graphic designer were analysed. In addition, the methodological basis for the article was the review and systematisation of empirical material regarding the results of the activities carried out. Scientific novelty. Based on consideration of the “social responsibility” concepts from the management sphere and “initiative” from the pedagogy sphere in the context of a modern graphic designer activity, a new notion of “socially responsible initiative” is introduced. It is interpreted as one of the signifiers of professionalism. The author shows that the vectors of realization of the socially responsible initiative directly depend on the state of the society where the designer practices. On the example of the activities of the Graphic Design Department of KNUKiM, the manifestation of this professional characteristic in the conditions of full-scale Russian aggression in Ukraine is reflected. Coverage of collective creative activity of teachers and students is shown in the context of a pedagogical experiment that passed the self-organization stage and the organizational stage. Conclusions. Modern visual communication is an area of constant interaction between different social groups of society, which graphic designers provide with their projects. The Department of Graphic Design of KNUKiM once again showed its creativity and progressiveness in the process of training design professionals. The team, made up of teachers and students, has made and continues to make a powerful contribution to the information front in Ukraine during the active phase of Russia’s war in Ukraine: more than 200 exhibition posters have been designed, and participation in international projects has been accepted, around 30 exhibitions have been organised and held in Ukraine and abroad. At the level of professional design communities, we organise landmark exhibitions in which the created works not only present a sharp reaction to the present but also model the future with their verbal and non-verbal codes.