Design is a constantly evolving field that has long attracted creative minds from all backgrounds and ages. As design changes, so too does design education. One can take numerous pathways to learn design, possibly involving: higher education, bootcamp programs, on-the-job learning, and self-guided courses. However, despite significant growth in the design field, recent scandals involving design have called into question the ethics of the field, and by implication, the question of how ethics is (or is not) being taught to students.

This research project explores systems in design that have led to this quandary of ethics in the field. The paper explores changes that the so-called Information Age has brought to design, from pedagogical shifts and growing diversity, to governmental influence and cultural manipulation. Through a process involving a survey of over 50 designers and a set of interviews with current practitioners, the paper analyzes how those currently working in design understand their field. Insights drawn from this information are used to identify archetypes, informed by potential pathways through design education, perceptions of design and ethics, and familiar and emerging disciplines of design.

The purpose of this investigation is to better understand different pathways through design education, how such differences might shape a design learner’s perspective of the field in one way or another, and what effect it may have had on the design field’s relationship with ethics. Looking forward, I search for a system of ethical accountability designers can be held to, while still ensuring the field remains open and inviting to new curious minds.