Last Thursday was the final night of four compostmodern meet-ups through the Baltimore AIGA. The final video for discussion was of Nathan Shedroff who addressed a few key strategies for becoming a more sustainable designer. Here is a brief sum up of some of the biggest points to consider for your next design project:

1. Design things to be useful :: simple enough… consider finding the need before finding a solution. Our designs need to first and foremost address functionality.

2. Dematerialization :: Design something smart. He used the example of the iphone; we no longer need to carry a watch, gps, pda, mp3 player, camera, phone, etc. It can all be contained in one small product, increasing usability and convenience for the user and decreasing the number of products that will eventually end up in our landfills.

3. Substitution :: Consider your materials. Does that chair need to be built from fresh chopped wood from the northern Boreal forest or is there an opportunity to utilize recycled or sustainable materials? For print designers there are no excuse not to consider recycled, fsc or sfi certified paper options anymore. Recycled stock costs and quality have improved dramatically over the past few years to make them equally competitive beside a conventional stock.

4. Transmaterialization :: Turn products into services, the hybid taxis being a perfect example for this strategy.

5. Localization :: Reduce transportation, support your local providers and keep your money local. See Andrea’s May local challenge below to get started on this strategy today!

6. Informationalization :: Research is essential to design. A building designed to works in downtown Baltimore may not be appropriate on the flood plains of Africa. Consider the variables that effect design and open you thoughts to the input of outside opinion and research.

7. Design for “intended” reuse :: As artist, we often feel as though we can turn any hunk of trash into a worthy piece of artwork but the average consumer may not have the creativity or interest to go this extra step. Why not design products that are intended to be reused when their original intended use is through. Shedroff used the example of Maille Condiment Jars. When finished with the product you are left with a classy drinking glass.

8. Design for durability :: design a product to be serviceable, repairable and upgradeable. Our designs should also be something that people want to have around. I like the example of OXO. If you look at the products on their site they have their own unique distinctive look but the style is attractive, timeless, and puts the demands of function first. You will even find a section on their site for refills and replacement parts – why replace the entire product if it is only a small piece that is no longer functional.

9. Design for disassembly :: Why is it so difficult to figure out if the water bottle or lunch container you just ate from is recyclable or not? And what is the meaning of the filled in symbol verses the outlined symbol. If a product is intended to be recycled why make it such a mystery. Be intentional with your design and don’t make the user question the capabilities of a product.

10. Redesign the system itself :: Our economic models stink (in Shedroff’s words describing the GDP) We need new ways of thinking because decisions we are making on the old ways are unstable and detrimental.

For more on ways to be a sustainable designer he recommends the following books:
* Design is the Problem by Nathan Shedroff and Hunter Lovins
* Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
* Nature Capitalism by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins
* Leading Change Toward Sustainability by Bob Doppelt
* The Next Sustainability Wave Bob Willard and Hunter Lovins

—EJ
www.orange-element.com

At Orange Element, we use photography and illustration as often as possible in our work.

For the past 6 years, we’ve been using Masterfile as one of our premier resources for finding and purchasing unique photography.

In September of 2008, Masterfile released a publication entitled ‘Green World’. The magazine-style piece holds great imagery, interesting environmental facts, statistics and compelling reasons why companies across the globe must make sustainable initiatives central to their brands.

From their press release:

“With ‘Green World’, Masterfile tackles the topic of environmentally compatible living – a trend that will dominate and define our futures as no other. In fact, ‘green’ consciousness is no longer simply a trend. Environmental awareness has gone mainstream, and ecology minded thinking will necessarily play a key role in the actions of all people from now on. This has recently become very apparent in the field of advertising and media, where the topic is more and more prevalent…

…’Green World’ was produced carbon-neutrally and printed on 100% recycled paper. At masterfile.com/city there will be a link to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) website where visitors can learn all about their important initiatives. Any resulting monetary donation made to the FSC to assist them with their efforts in conserving the world’s forests and diminishing climate change will be rewarded with a newly planted tree in Masterfile City , Masterfile’s virtual online world!”

Here are a few screenshots from the publication:

While there are no more 32-Deluxe or 8-page Standard Editions left, you can view an interactive version by visiting masterfile.com/greenworld.

This piece has inspired us. EJ Hall, a designer at Orange Element, completed her senior design thesis at the Rhode Island School of Design with focus on sustainable design. She is now developing a sustainably-focused piece for Orange Element that will soon be available for designers, firms, printers and business owners – so that they too may be able to initiate internal plans to improve their own best practices as they relate to more sustainably-driven thinking. Thank you, Masterfile, for using creativity to spread message and spark an idea.

In true Barack Obama fashion, the president-elect gave his weekly address and immediately posted it up on YouTube for all to see. These can be considered the ‘fireside chats’ of the new millenium and if his presidential campaign was any indication I imagine this type of access to the president will be something the world will enjoy throughout his administration.

While Obama’s address was a good one, there was one thing that was kind of shocking to me.  Can you see it in this picture?

While he is a president-elect who believes in change, his new transition office doesn’t appear to be singing the same song. The empty wooden walls, old books and green leather chair appear to be something inherited from presidents long ago – very dated. The whole set creates a strong visual disconnect from his campaign, which many have lauded as the most highly designed campaign in history.

My guess is that the set for the next address will be an updated one. Why? Because a president-elect this connected more than likely has people monitoring the Web to get their impressions of his address.  They could even be reading this blog post right now! 

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

Thanks Andy Bonner, for pointing me to the Veer Blog posting about an art installation at this year’s Wimbledon tennis tournament. HSBC, in an effort to highlight their partnership with the tennis tournament, hired artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey to create walls of photographic grass.

For those who have never heard of it, it’s where the artists create photographic images by projecting black and white negatives onto grass seedlings as they grow in a dark room for 12 hours per day for more than a week. Apparently, the grass grows in accordance to its exposure to light, thus the photo “develops” on a living canvas of grass.

Very cool, and it definitely opens the mind to all the possibilities:

Check out more AMAZING stuff by the artists on their site HERE.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com