SustainAble

Book review.

This book is bursting with information and case-studies on sustainability. A fantastic resource of information related to my study. In this post I will talk about the book and the themes throughout. ~resource section~

The book kicks off with an introduction to working with sustainability. First of all defining sustainable design as a mix of environmental, economic and social factors. In between the three lies sustainability, designer's also use other terms like 'eco-friendly' or 'green', however these terms are referring primarily to environmental factors, where-as 'sustainability' is inclusive of social and economic issues (regarding implications of materials, designs, and production processes.

Buckminster Fuller, inventor, scientist, writer and environmental activist of the early 1900's. Fuller believed in doing more with less'. This is an interesting theme that is talked about later on in the book, and to me possibly what I would like to look into in more depth in this research project. Re-using materials to create a new designs or up-cycling products propose interesting new ways to design.

ALR, a company with a particularly interesting ethos. Balancing the goals of the client against the environmental impact of the piece and its production. Some really interesting work. Poster/Leaflets, dual posters.

There's much more in this book, very insightful. Should be a valuable resource for my report.

Web site on Global Warming

http://www.designcanchange.org/



Found a website with lots information on global warming, statistics and effects. Great source of information for this project, with comments on what design can do to help. Great design, similar to the kind of screen-based outcome I had imagined I could have made, when I was brainstorming earlier on in the project.

Screen vs Print based.

http://www.visual-editions.com/blog/goodbye-disposable-books-hello-new-canvases

Found this book interesting. Commenting on the move from print based to screen based, does screen-based media lack something only the printed piece can use. What is that?

renourish

http://www.re-nourish.com/?l=home

Probably my best find to date. Renourish are a company all about sustainability in graphic design. The site is a great source for inspiration and features two of the best examples of 'sustainable graphic design' I have seen yet. In this post I will writing up these two wonderful pieces of design, inspired by sustainability and the environment.

1. Design team Barnhart develop this business promotion booklet for the eco-friendly and 100% natural burger joint Larkburger.




http://www.re-nourish.com/?l=project-barnhart_book

Dedication and creativity, a mix of computer and hand crafted imagery working together to create a visually intriguing piece. I think the piece hits the brief spot on and is a fantastic example of how sustainability as a theme can lend itself for graphic design.

I think the textures created here give a great 'one-off' feel and for a concept model work so well. They used an in-house laser printer, however I think Vegetable inks would have worked well too lending there duller tones. Well worth reading the interview with the designers.

2. Johnson Banks Ram-punched Christmas Trilogy.



From the same company that I wrote this on. Brilliantly designed cards with the graphic designer in mind. I think the cards work extremely well. Some thing that would usually be very expensive and environmentally un-friendly, is made completely the opposite through use of re-using. With the envelopes to match I am truly impressed by these designs. I like the way the trash appeals to the sender and receiver in the first instance and once again through simple innovation.

You could apply this idea across a wide-range of subjects and the target audience would be that of the topic of the magazine that has been used. I also wonder weather second hand books or old comics would have a similar effect.

Symbols to cultivate change

http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/sprout.html

Information graphics doing its bit here. I think as an exhibition the symbols work well, but separated out, loose some the the effect. An interesting concept. When reading the word cultivate, Im getting ideas of an environmental cult, perhaps a symbol that shows your aware and make an effort to make a change. Perhaps like the anti-fur ad's where blood was thrown on Fay Somers, there could be a paint the world green campaign. I think this is a destructive way of getting the message across though.

Greenpeace bp logo comp

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/files/tarsands/logo-competition.html

Competition set up by Greenpeace, to reveal the real truth about 'Bp' and their sources for petrol. Designers were briefed to develop a logo for the company that shows that bp are not 'beyond petroleum'. Sadly the competition is closed, I would have liked to have entered. I think the winner of the competition answered the brief very well. An example of graphic design being used to work for the environment, demoting the use of oil.

Lovely as a tree

http://www.lovelyasatree.com/index.htm

Found this website dedicated to helping designers become more environmentally aware. From design to paper choice to printers, inks and finishes, the website has lots of information on how to make your projects greener. The website also has a section of case studies, of which one really grabbed my attention.

thomas.mathews 'Ten Ways Design Can Fight Climate Change'.

view pdf here.

Great piece of work exploring some of the themes I wish to look at.

I particularly like the V&A Megalith structure promoting interactivity on these discarded sheets. Metallic ink though... lets hope they were vege-based or perhaps this piece is a little contradictory.

I think the junk-mail envelopes are effective but at the same time not at all. I was considering my-self what could be done with all the junk-mail you receive, could these pieces of trash in-turn serve a purpose? Here it seems so... however how graphically pleasing are they really? Whats to say you won't just throw the envelope away thinking its still junk-mail?

www.thomasmatthews.com/ Also worth a look, some interesting projects. I keep seeing old posters being screen-printed over, I think visually it looks great and like the idea of the piece having history. Perhaps related themes could be printed over on greetings cards. Could you re-use a Christmas card? Set up a site where old greetings cards could be sent in and re-used? Use of foreign cards, again I like the idea that the card has history and this could almost make the card quite unique.

On the theme of cards. See my re-nourish post.

http://www.twosides.info/

Ecoist

http://www.ecoist.com/

So this example really does fit the bill. A brand that has taken junk that no longer had a purpose and created a completly new original and desired product. This company is striving off of 'sustainability' and in a good way... Or are they? They predominately sell bags made from sweet wrappers and newspapers.

This clever idea is the work of brothers Yair and Jonathan Marcoschamer and their mother Helen. When in 2004 they took a trip to Mexico and were inspired by the work of Mexican artisans who were creating handbags crafted from post-consumer waste. They have since saved over 150 million candy wrappers and other waste products from going to land-fill sites (Figure taken from website). Not only that, but they are making a living out of it. A bag retails at roughly $30, and the company has been shortlisted for the WGSN Global Fashion Awards in the Most Sustainable Brand or Retailer category.

All Messed Up: Unpridictable Graphics

Awesome book on 'happy mistakes' by Anna Gerber.

Will write up shortly.

Retrospect

Found this.

http://www.retrospectgalleries.com/exhibitions/retroism/

Interesting work. I particularly like the work of cecil Touchon.



"Many works use bits of lettering from billboards and street posters to create what he calls 'non-objective visual poetry' where all literary references normally contained in these materials has been removed leaving the viewer to respond to the works on a purely visual level."

Taken from his bio on retrospect.

This is a strange and intriguing concept, that in my opinion could be applied to a variety of means. For example taken from its usual place could a form of 'design' be stripped of its meaning, or perhaps gain new meaning? Could pieces of famous design be recognized when only shown in part? Could signs gain new meanings dependent on where they are situated? Do signs have different meanings to different cultures? Just a thought for now.

Garbage Warrior

Watched the film 'Garbage Warrior' about an American Architect Michael Reynolds. Inspiring story of his dedication to experiment with sustainable housing. Some of the abstract ideas of re-using objects that have already served their purpose really interested me as a designer. As designers, are we being narrow minded in the way we design objects and designs, with the idea that they can only be used for one thing? Once their 'done' that's it, either bin it or break it down to recycle and use again? Reynolds is apposing this idea. Drawing inspiration from his father who would never throw anything away, he uses materials that the general public would only ever see as junk and creates a new purpose for them, by using them in his buildings.

Reynolds uses old tires packed with dirt to hold heat in walls. This process is called ''. What makes it so effective, is obviously not its looks (because lets face it, tires are ugly) but how its sustainability and functionality go so well hand in hand. He is doing what designers do best - use inspiration and logic to solve a problem. Im not saying that I want a house made out of tires, but that's just because of the conventional way of living in which I have been brought up in. He refines his ideas and creates houses that are functional, fully self-sustainable, look good and don't use any 'new' materials. Now that's good design.

This idea of items having more than one life, has been explored a lot in terms of items. However what about graphic design? We have to be careful when 'recycling' other peoples designs. Whats to say that we are not simply using their designs for another purpose? We would have to design something that was original, even though the focus is re-using others work.

Or how about not using the designs of someone else? How about using the left overs of design? Design has a carbon-footprint, just like everything else. Just like using the waste of the drinks industry (bottles, tins etc) could we use the left overs of lets say the print industry. This theme of using the unwanted and of 'happy-mistakes' has been touched on before, Anna Gerber talks about it in 'All Messed Up: Unpredictable Graphics'. See my original post on this.

Perhaps this would be a possible answer to a set of cards for example, that would not use any resources. The challenge would be to make something that was graphically appealing out of the waste of the print industry. This idea is also reminding me retro graphics and vintage and nostalgic styles designers have being using recently. More on this here.

10/10/10 Campaign

So following the last post, this post will be about the 10/10/10 campaign.

http://www.1010global.org/101010

First things first, the design is great. Its got a really 'socially-appealing' look to the site/campaign, and this obviously is a vital part in the graphics playing its part to get people involved. I think that the website functions very well to get others interacting -through the use of the mini game and resources section of the website- and in turn getting involved within the campaign. One thing that interests me is the way the designers have purposely avoided the use of the normal 'green' colour pallet. Which is heavily used in 'sustainable graphic design'. I think the pink they have used gives a fresh take on these issues, and makes the event more socially engage-able, especially for youngsters. I would say they have targeted the younger audience with parts to the campaign like the stickers in the resources section. This almost reminds me of graffiti and tagging, I think this could be very effective.

This to me, is is a great example of how graphic design can be used to graphically enhance a campaign towards sustainability. By making the cause more socially appealing, it is maximizing its potential. Everything works better when advertised well, and I think is an example of how graphic design can be part of the solution to environmental awareness.

Of course, as a designer we are only responsible for the tip of the ice-burg, it is the organisations that co-ordinate these events and put together the background work that make the difference. It is for these reasons I feel graphic design still has its place in advertising 'green-issues', even though it is part of the problem.

This also touches on themes of self-empowerment, helping non-designers to design posters to help the cause. This idea as an abstract is quite interesting, what if the solution to sustainable graphic design is more down the route of designers developing designs/design tools to help others design. We have already seen a huge amount of this type of work developing in web-design. Where organisations are developing more and more means for which general members of the public, are able to design and build websites themselves.

E-Posters

Found an interesting article on 'Green-posters'.

http://jorth.blogspot.com/2009/08/clever-green-design-posters.html

The posters are a great example of how although graphic design is part of the problem, it can also act to try and raise awareness to the issues and promote change.

I particularly like the 'sign-to-save' poster, and the 'tradition-kills'. I think these are powerful statements and effective posters.

Taken from the site http://makewealthhistory.org/

This website has loads of information on different articles, campaigns and books related to sustainability.

In fact check this out... http://www.1010global.org/101010, its tomorrow! I think that this site is a great find worthy of its own post.

Companies with Environmental polocies.

Looking at a few design companies that have environmental policies,

http://www.thegoodfolk.co.uk/index.html

I like the design of the website, they detail all their environmental policies for in the work-place and for the work they produce. I wonder where these guidelines have been used in their work though. There are a few projects on the site, but none of these go into detailing any environmental considerations.

http://www.green-creative.net/

Same again here really. I think that although what these companies are doing is a first step, I don't think they are contributing to producing designs that are E-friendly, and this is the problem. They are all simply trying to please their customers. Don't get me wrong that's their job as graphic designers, but at the same time I think they are failing their job as Environmentalists. (which is largely what their E-policies say they are).

I think I should give the companies a chance to tell me more about their projects.

But the big question - are you an environmentalist first, designer second? Or vise-versa?

Interesting report to start

Found this report by London based design agency Johnson Banks.

http://www.johnsonbanks.co.uk/thoughtfortheweek/index.php?thoughtid=248

The topic is whether or not graphic design (branding in-particular) can help or hinder climate change.

Some really interesting views and information being discussed here.

"Trouble is, tap “sustainable graphic design” into Google and you get a thousand suggested links. But tap “Helvetica Movie” in, and guess what, you get fifteen thousand. So in cyberspace at least, that makes people 15 times as interested in a movie about a typeface than how to design responsibly. Great."

I would personally agree with the majority of the views here, however when the author is talking about packaging and reducing the use of card sleeves etc...

"In the current climate, reduced packaging equals cheaper packaging, which often equals less sales. Mies van der Rohe may have preached less is more, but I suspect too many British shoppers are closet post-modernists and would adhere more closely to Venturi’s maxim, less is a bore."

I would argue that it is the designers challenge to engage these issues to design products that not only appeal graphically to an audience but also follow the strict outlines of a brief (in this case to reduce packaging and reduce carbon emissions thus helping sustainability). Graphic Design is all about problem solving and good design means challenging conventions.

Nat Hunter writes in Graphik magazine,

"Designing with environmental issues in mind doesn't mean you are restricted in what you do. In fact, it makes you look at things in a new light and brings fresh ideas.When it comes to combating climate change designers are exactly the right people to innovate and communicate the results."

Nat Hunter 2010. Graphik Magazine, issue 86 page 72.

I would agree with Hunter on this one, however it also poses a few further questions. Can Graphic Design -despite its constant effect on consumerism, and its pivotal role in designing desirable products, for a market that constantly strives off of social greed- in turn actually promote awareness to these issues and become the solution to the problem it plays such a large part in?

I think the answer is maybe. Here Johnson Banks is talking about the possibilities of how graphic design and advertising could be used to make a difference and the approaches that could be taken.



An example.



Interesting theories, but this is simply commenting on how graphic design could be used to raise awareness in its current format. Can we not create designs that make the environmental issues disappear all together? Would it be possible to use these issues as inspiration?

MRP Introduction to the blog.

Because a lot of the research I have found regarding the subject of my MRP, has been majority internet-based. I have decided to set up a blog to discuss my findings. I think this is particularly suitable considering the nature of my subject.

So what is my subject? ...Sustainability.

In this research project I will identify Graphic Designs environmental responsibility/ irresponsibility. I will pose the following questions;

1. If graphic design is part of the problem in over-consumption, how does it then become the solution?

2. Is it possible to design something with graphic appeal and effectiveness that avoids consuming new materials and compelling purchase?

Through social empowerment, personal autonomy and negligible consumption?

I will research the effects graphic design and over-consumption has on the environment. How designers are trying to produce new products with E-friendly appeal promoting awareness of these issues. But how this is simply 'green-wash' and only the tip of the ice-burg.*** revise ***