“We Are Here to Be Bad!”*
It was the early days when we had just learned the difference between industrial and self-promotional work after completing our graphic design education.
I first encountered the name Tibor Kalman while working on the Graphic Design Writings magazine for the Graphic Designers Association.
Kalman, a Budapest-born American, believed that good design shouldn’t feel like picking products off a supermarket shelf.
He was a provocateur who thought national identities were irrelevant and embraced the universality of design.
A graphic designer, a magazine editor, a true pioneer.
Accidentally becoming a designer himself, Kalman preached that graphic design should not be an end in itself but a tool to reach a greater result.
During our rookie days—when client service teams would bring endless rounds of revisions—Kalman’s anarchist stance sparked a lightning storm in my mind.
Over time, operating within the industrial system, he reached the point where he could boldly claim:
“Design is just a typewriter. The designer is a typist, and the paper is the product.”
Tibor Kalman also served as the editor-in-chief of Colors magazine, sponsored by Benetton—regarded as one of the most influential magazines in publishing history.
You can access all the Colors magazine covers here:
https://www.benettongroup.com/en/media-press/image-gallery/colors-magazine/colors-covers/
What did we take away from his words?
And how did we apply them in our agency?
I’ll leave those answers for another time.
But in short, what we learned from him was this: We are not here to be “good”—we are here to do what is right and say no when needed.
How Can We Create “Good” When Bad Has Become the Norm?
As Generation X, we absorbed this understanding during the era of conventional advertising.
Generation Y brushed against it, sensing a trace of its atmosphere.
Generations Z and Alpha, however, were born directly into a fully digital world.
No matter how much technology evolves, we are living—not just watching—the growing challenges of a world where bad behavior is becoming normalized.
This paranoia triggers a perpetual fear of missing out, fueling panic attacks.
The overwhelming flood of stimuli makes it harder to focus.
These pressures create impossible expectations in the creative industry to constantly perform miracles.
Instability, rootlessness, and placelessness build mountains around us.
Standardized bad behavior and rudeness gnaw at our spirit.
But this is exactly where creativity steps in.
Amid all this chaos, we choose to side with goodness.
We guide with our experience, persevere with our patience, shine with our talent, and make a difference with our vision.
Let’s hope for more days when we can confidently say no to the normalization of evil, with conscience leading the way.
*This talk is inspired by Tibor Kalman’s speech at the American Institute of Fine Arts in San Antonio, Texas on November 7, 1989, later edited and published in Print magazine.
