The article reveals the features of professional ethics in the field of design. The influence of design on the modern culture of society, the involvement of design in economic processes, its role in the formation of consumer culture are considered. The social model of the consumer in design theory was first described in Germany in the 1920s by the teachers of the Bauhaus school, and later developed by the specialists of the Braun company. The authors of the article emphasize the role of design in shaping artificial needs, stimulating consumption processes and the emergence of environmental problems. The mechanisms of intensification of consumption by designers and marketers are considered. By shaping the utilitarian and aesthetic parameters of the environment, the designer indirectly educates the consumers of his product. It is concluded that by means of design as a communicative practice, it is possible to form a system of values and behavior models, consumer culture, and respect for the natural environment. The ecological function of design is supersystemic, unifying and integrative. Ecological ethics are especially important for designers, as professionals who create the environment for the life of society and form its values. It is necessary to form ecological ethics already in the process of training future specialists.