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?