Moral principles and the work of a designer

Luis Morón, founder of the signage design agency Signswho has won the 2006 National Design Award, has demonstrated that his ethical principles are above his need as a businessman to make money by refusing to participate in the project to sign the AVE from Medina to Mecca in response to the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the consulate of Saudi Arabia at Istanbul (Turkey) at the hands of Saudi government personnel.

When the critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered, Signes was in the middle of the selection process that would decide who would carry out the AVE project. Signes decided at that time to withdraw from the competition, only to be informed that they had won.

Luis Morón explains the reasons for his decision in this letter:

I believe that having principles is not a temporary issue, either you have them or you don't. If you have them only for 'posture' when they put money in front of you... you have run out of principles. You and I have principles, otherwise we would not understand each other. I firmly maintain my position of not doing the project and, now that we know that we are the successful bidders, even more so. It is delicate and it is with a left hand that we have to get out of this loop.

We have positioned ourselves in the face of - and because of - the latest developments in Turkey. If these events, so deplorable for a country, had been known before the start of the negotiations, we would have made our position official on the first day. We are doing so now - before we are the successful bidders - so that you have time and the opportunity to look for a new one. partner for this project. If this macabre event had not happened, today we would be the awardees of an impressive project. Possibly one of the best projects in Signes' career.

Groucho jokingly said: "These are my principles... if you don't like them, I have others...". We, unfortunately, have no others. We are more like chef José Andrés, who abandoned a Trump-approved project because of his racist stance towards Mexicans. This is the line.

We have to live in a better world and, therefore, we have to put the pedal to the metal to achieve it".

Luis Morón

Signes is not the only case in which renowned creators have taken a stand against the belligerent attitudes of governments. The architect Noman Foster stepped down from the management team for the creation of the futuristic mega-city Neom. for the same reason as Luis Morón.

Before being creators, before being entrepreneurs, before being office workers, we are people, with ideals, and those ideals must be supported by a foundation that allows the discourse we articulate to others to have consistency, so that it does not collapse like a house of cards. And the only way for us to be credible as individuals is for our actions and behavior to be aligned with our ethical principles, whatever they may be.

Otherwise, in the end, it's all a game of appearances.