This is the email that I've sent out to some existing sustainable graphic designers, that should hopefully help me with this research for my FMP, but also my dissertation as well.
I'm not too sure if I'm totally happy with the questions I've asked and how helpful the responses might actually be, but it'll be something to go on!
If I receive any emails back from the people I've sent this one out too, then I'll reply with a few more questions that might be more appropriate. But they might also reply with some useful information that might feed some more questions that I might be able to ask them.
Hello
I'm Emma and I'm currently in my third and final year of the BA (Hons) Graphic Design course at Leeds College of Art and Design.
I have based my dissertation and final major project on the subject of sustainable design and was wondering if you might be able to help me by answering some questions...
From looking at your website I have noticed you are taking into consideration a designers effect on the environment...
1. Is it something you have always been aware of as a subject, or was there a life changing event that made you consider your environmental footprint?
2. What changes have you made to work in a sustainable manner?
3. Do you encourage your clients to use environmentally sensitive processes and materials whenever applicable to a design?
4. Do you think it is important for the educational institutes to inform us about sustainable practice, making it a compulsory subject?
5. As a student who will be venturing out into the big wide world of design in a few months, do you think it is important that I have a good understanding of working sustainably?
6. How might you define sustainable practice within graphic design?
7. Do you think graphic design can be sustainable?
8.Do you think there's anything else you think I need to consider, or have any helpful advice to help me along the way?
Thank you very much for your time
Emma
x
Fingers crossed I get a reply!!
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Stuff-O-Meter - Brief One
I've found the first brief I want to do as part of my FMP. I found it whilst searching new and old D&AD briefs, this one being one from 2007, but it's prefect! Relating to my subject of 'Sustainability within Design' that I'm going for.
It's called 'Stuff-O-Meter' and the brief is to create a visual representation of any household product's lifecycle, from 'cradle to grave'.
This 'Stuff-O-Meter' D&AD brief has been sponsored by DOTT 07 (DESIGNS OF THE TIME).
Dott 07 (Designs of the time 2007), was a year of community projects, events and exhibitions based in North East England, explored what life in a sustainable region could be like – and how design could help us get there. Dott 07 projects aim to improve five aspects of daily life: movement, health, food, school and energy.
The focus of the initiative was on grassroots community projects; but there were also projects involving more than 70 schools, plus exhibitions and events in museums, galleries and rural sites. All events explored how design can improve our lives in meaningful ways.
DOT 07 is a thing of the past, but the website is still there, and has loads of information about sustainability and the benefits and the projects that they were involved in during this year. So something that can prove useful to me in the times ahead with this FMP...
It's called 'Stuff-O-Meter' and the brief is to create a visual representation of any household product's lifecycle, from 'cradle to grave'.
This 'Stuff-O-Meter' D&AD brief has been sponsored by DOTT 07 (DESIGNS OF THE TIME).
Dott 07 (Designs of the time 2007), was a year of community projects, events and exhibitions based in North East England, explored what life in a sustainable region could be like – and how design could help us get there. Dott 07 projects aim to improve five aspects of daily life: movement, health, food, school and energy.
The focus of the initiative was on grassroots community projects; but there were also projects involving more than 70 schools, plus exhibitions and events in museums, galleries and rural sites. All events explored how design can improve our lives in meaningful ways.
DOT 07 is a thing of the past, but the website is still there, and has loads of information about sustainability and the benefits and the projects that they were involved in during this year. So something that can prove useful to me in the times ahead with this FMP...
Saturday, 24 January 2009
Sustainability and Cradle to Cradle Design - Podcast
I'm not too sure how relevant this theory work might be to my design context, but I found it interesting to listen to anyways.
Basically, these are some notes I made yesterday whilst listening to this podcast by Matthew Sweet, the director of Dott07 (Designs Of The Time), this also being the sponsor for the Stuff-O-Meter brief I'm responding to at the moment.
Discussion between Matthew Sweets and Michael Brownguard, a German scientist who had a vision of the future in which nothing ever ends up in a land fill because, as in nature, no waste product is ever truly wasted.
- Some possibilities that need to be considered, some changes that might work to help save the future of the planet...(sorry it's in note form, so very vague)
Cradle to cradle is about reshaping industry to make it mimic the processes of nature, it means ‘to reinvent everything’ so either that things can go back in a biological cycle like shoe soles, like brake pads, like food, like detergent. It’s designed to be good for the biosphere.
Mimic the process of nature.
Reinvent everything.
Look at how ants live, how they have order and how they use natural materials in everything they do.
Eliminate thinking of waste, we are the only species that produce it.
Define the use period of everything.
But it’s not about being less bad, it’s about being good. Right now we think we protect the environment when we destroy a little less
Discussion with Matthew Sweet, Hugh Pearman and Antonia Ward.
As I understand it means that there is no waste product at the end, so that products become infinitely recyclable.
It’s the idea that in nature waste equals food, and that can be food for animals or for systems or for society.
You have to then talk to the manufacturer and say “will you take this back when I’m finished with it?”
What’s embodied energy?
How much it costs to make the things that you…how much it costs in energy terms to make a brick say, or, you know, a steel beam or anything else like that, that’s in the building, concrete, a lot of energy is involved.
Consumers need to demand more. But knowing what to demand is where design comes into it. They need to know what to demand.
The government can help tip people towards wanting to do things more and generally speaking what that means is making people feel they can afford to make a step in this direction.
What we need though is the information to enable us to make a choice. We have labelling on food where we know where food comes from now because consumer demand for food miles has asked for it, you don’t know what its made of, you don’t know how to take it apart, you don’t know where to send the bits to be recycled or if they can, you don’t know how to upgrade it.
The idea of recycling that we know is down-cycling, it’s making worse quality products out of second hand materials. If you build things so that they can be remade and remanufactured you’re up-cycling, you’re making a new and better thing out of an old material.
Basically, these are some notes I made yesterday whilst listening to this podcast by Matthew Sweet, the director of Dott07 (Designs Of The Time), this also being the sponsor for the Stuff-O-Meter brief I'm responding to at the moment.
Discussion between Matthew Sweets and Michael Brownguard, a German scientist who had a vision of the future in which nothing ever ends up in a land fill because, as in nature, no waste product is ever truly wasted.
- Some possibilities that need to be considered, some changes that might work to help save the future of the planet...(sorry it's in note form, so very vague)
Cradle to cradle is about reshaping industry to make it mimic the processes of nature, it means ‘to reinvent everything’ so either that things can go back in a biological cycle like shoe soles, like brake pads, like food, like detergent. It’s designed to be good for the biosphere.
Mimic the process of nature.
Reinvent everything.
Look at how ants live, how they have order and how they use natural materials in everything they do.
Eliminate thinking of waste, we are the only species that produce it.
Define the use period of everything.
But it’s not about being less bad, it’s about being good. Right now we think we protect the environment when we destroy a little less
Discussion with Matthew Sweet, Hugh Pearman and Antonia Ward.
As I understand it means that there is no waste product at the end, so that products become infinitely recyclable.
It’s the idea that in nature waste equals food, and that can be food for animals or for systems or for society.
You have to then talk to the manufacturer and say “will you take this back when I’m finished with it?”
What’s embodied energy?
How much it costs to make the things that you…how much it costs in energy terms to make a brick say, or, you know, a steel beam or anything else like that, that’s in the building, concrete, a lot of energy is involved.
Consumers need to demand more. But knowing what to demand is where design comes into it. They need to know what to demand.
The government can help tip people towards wanting to do things more and generally speaking what that means is making people feel they can afford to make a step in this direction.
What we need though is the information to enable us to make a choice. We have labelling on food where we know where food comes from now because consumer demand for food miles has asked for it, you don’t know what its made of, you don’t know how to take it apart, you don’t know where to send the bits to be recycled or if they can, you don’t know how to upgrade it.
The idea of recycling that we know is down-cycling, it’s making worse quality products out of second hand materials. If you build things so that they can be remade and remanufactured you’re up-cycling, you’re making a new and better thing out of an old material.
Friday, 23 January 2009
ecofont...cont.
Since discovering the 'ecofont', I've since found an article on The Guardian website, showing off the invention by SPRANQ.
Below is a collection of interesting comments that might be useful. Some positive comments, some not so positive!
The link to the page is below...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2008/dec/22/waste-ethicalliving
Below is a collection of interesting comments that might be useful. Some positive comments, some not so positive!
The link to the page is below...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2008/dec/22/waste-ethicalliving
Thursday, 22 January 2009
ecofont
Since the tutorial the other day, it's got me thinking about where I can go with my Final Major Project (FMP) and what briefs I might want to look for or create myself.
As the theme/subject of my FMP is Sustainability Within Design, I have considered the ways in which a designers works, their ways of working within the studio and also the way they actually work, how they go about answering briefs. Choosing whether to use recycled paper, whether the brief is worthy of being produced.
I had thought of creating my own typeface, that uses less ink when going through the printer, that prints most appropriately on recycled stock etc..
But looks like this has already been done :(
I discovered the 'ecofont' whilst gathering some research for my dissertation. It's developed by SPRANQ Creative Communications.
"The prints we make for our 'daily use' not only use paper, but also ink. Your ink cartridges (or ink toner) could last longer.
Appealing ideas are often simple: how much of a letter can be removed while maintaining readability? After extensive testing with all kinds of shapes, the best results were achieved using small circles. In the picture you can see how the Ecofont is created by omitting parts of the letter. At the shown size, this obviously is not very nice, but at a regular font size it is actually very usable. Naturally, the results vary depending on your software and the quality of your screen. Using up to 20% less ink" - ecofont.eu
Discovering this isn't going to stop me from looking at creating my own sustainable typeface as part of the FMP. Reducing the amount of ink used in some other way...fingers crossed!
As the theme/subject of my FMP is Sustainability Within Design, I have considered the ways in which a designers works, their ways of working within the studio and also the way they actually work, how they go about answering briefs. Choosing whether to use recycled paper, whether the brief is worthy of being produced.
I had thought of creating my own typeface, that uses less ink when going through the printer, that prints most appropriately on recycled stock etc..
But looks like this has already been done :(
I discovered the 'ecofont' whilst gathering some research for my dissertation. It's developed by SPRANQ Creative Communications.
"The prints we make for our 'daily use' not only use paper, but also ink. Your ink cartridges (or ink toner) could last longer.
Appealing ideas are often simple: how much of a letter can be removed while maintaining readability? After extensive testing with all kinds of shapes, the best results were achieved using small circles. In the picture you can see how the Ecofont is created by omitting parts of the letter. At the shown size, this obviously is not very nice, but at a regular font size it is actually very usable. Naturally, the results vary depending on your software and the quality of your screen. Using up to 20% less ink" - ecofont.eu
Discovering this isn't going to stop me from looking at creating my own sustainable typeface as part of the FMP. Reducing the amount of ink used in some other way...fingers crossed!
Sustainable Graphic Design Widget
Divided into three sections; "paper", "print" and "more info", the sustainable graphic design widget delivers basic information about the environmental impacts that design methods and techniques have.
Created by 57 design + illustration, by a graduate called Becky Green, from Australia. This widget is available over at Apple’s Dashboard Downloads.
A really clever and useful download, that is always at hand to clarify some questions or problems a designer might have when heading to the print and production of a piece of design.
Includes a few stages on how to get involved with becoming a more sustainable designer, with a good list of useful links to other sustainable design practices and sites that provide help and advice and further information about sustainable design.
Created by 57 design + illustration, by a graduate called Becky Green, from Australia. This widget is available over at Apple’s Dashboard Downloads.
A really clever and useful download, that is always at hand to clarify some questions or problems a designer might have when heading to the print and production of a piece of design.
Includes a few stages on how to get involved with becoming a more sustainable designer, with a good list of useful links to other sustainable design practices and sites that provide help and advice and further information about sustainable design.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
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