Green Options

When Eric Wilson launched Artevist last autumn, he knew the t-shirt market was saturated.  “But on closer inspection”, he explains, “you soon realize that the vast majority are in the business of churning out the cheapest, often sweatshop, products possible.”

But Artevist is a community of artists, not just another graphic tee company. There are no mass-produced designs, sweatshop garments, pesticide-laden cottons, or plastic inks here.  Artevist shirts are made in America from sustainably grown organic bamboo and cotton fabrics, and are printed without using pthalates or PVCs. Each unique limited-edition design is created by an eco-conscious artist, not a corporation.

How does the Artevist model work?

One of my favorite publishing companies, Chronicle Books, is holding its biggest sale of the year through August 5, with 35% off your purchase plus free shipping when you use the promo code FRIENDS at checkout.

I like Chronicle Books for a lot of reasons, some of them a little random–their e-postcards, their manuscript submission policy, and the awesomeness of their craft and graphic design books.

One of the really cool things about the book selection at Chronicle is that so much of it is eco-friendly, and so much of it emphasizes the DIY lifestyle over mass-market consumer culture.

Here are some of my favorites:

Talking with Corey Szopinski, Principal and Founder of Core Industries.

Your firm has worked on some pretty cool projects like Live Earth and Pepsi, 1% for the Planet and the Volkswagen Carbon Neutral Project. Tell us what your clients come to your company for and what makes Core Industries different from other interactive strategy, design and development firms.

We’re the next evolution of a boutique interactive marketing firm. We are one of the few very high end development shops that has a clear mission of focusing on the triple bottom line: people, planet and profit. Clients come to us because they know that we get invested in their projects, their company, and their people, because we care about what we’re doing… we not out to make a quick buck. In fact, our overall mission is to help foster the emerging green economy. Our way of doing that is by using graphic design, computer science and marketing strategy to help our clients be more “sustainable”. And for us sustainability has a dual meaning: it means being responsible for our environment, but it also means making sure the business is sustainable. In other words, we help our clients thrive, not just survive.

When we think of greening print marketing, we often think about the production of printed pieces—the printing process, the consumables, the recycling. But greening print marketing starts much earlier, with the design of the piece itself.

Design Can Change, an initiative designed to help green print marketing from the very earliest design stages, now offers a “Sustainable Design Checklist” to help marketers and designers think through how they can make simple changes that move them forward to a more sustainable future.

Some of the suggestions are obvious, such as moving toward targeted marketing and choosing paper with a high percentage of postconsumer waste. But others may not be so obvious. For example. . .

1. Jill, you are an artist, designer and crafter. Tell us about what you do and what you create.

First and foremost I create detailed native nature drawings. With these, I create an eponymous line of paper goods and fabric accessories. I’ve been an “indie-craftpreneur” since 2001, selling my goods on my retail website and in boutiques worldwide. I also create murals, take on custom art commissions, and the occasional graphic design project for like-minded businesses.

We live and breathe design 12 hours a day, and are involved with many top designers…The future of green branding is going back to the earth. Nature and the photo-realistic incorporation of real elements are coming in the next year or so to the mainstream.

AIGA Chicago is organizing an event called Incite / Insight 2008: Responsible Design 101, November 20 in Chicago that addresses the significance of green design. AIGA, the professional association for design, is the oldest and largest professional membership organization for graphic & communications design. The organization has been at the forefront of promoting the shift to sustainable design practices through their Center for Sustainable Design.

Green business owners are realizing that green marketing and design is a business asset that’s here to stay as momentum in the green movement builds. The graphic design industry is responding by opening more and more dialogues about sustainability and greening their practices. In this vein, Incite / Insight 2008 in Chicago focuses on the importance of green design.

In life, as in business, it’s important to have role models. Having people to look up to and guide you along in your career is one key to success. Admiring other businesses can help you understand the market and your competition, and can give you ideas for your own business.

Now, since I need a little motivation and inspiration while starting my green design studio, I present a smattering of my business role models in the field of green graphic and web design.

Starting a business takes a lot of time, effort, and planning. An entrepreneur has to wear many hats, juggle several tasks at a time, and be incredibly organized. So why would any business owner want to add protecting the environment and saving the planet to their already endless to-do lists? It’s all about the dream.

Which brings me to my dream. It combines two of my favorite things, graphic design and the environment. My goal is to start my own graphic and web design studio that focuses on projects that have a positive impact on people and the environment. This is why I wanted to become a designer in the first place. Good design has the power to communicate in ways that nothing else can. It can educate, open minds, inspire thought, and incite change. An image is truly worth a thousand words, and I want the graphics that I create to have real meaning and a positive message. It would be nice to make a living doing it, too.

When Amy wrote about green magazines, she mentioned GOOD as being one of her favorites. I, too, a self-described magazine junkie, am a big fan of GOOD since it’s inception last year. With all the depressing news out there on any given day, GOOD always reaffirms my faith in humanity. Its focus is, like its name implies, good stuff: those things that are

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Last week I wrote an article about the new private “green” labels that electronics companies are tacking on their more energy-efficient products. Some companies are using their own labeling systems; others are employing third-party certifications. After discussing the effect of said third party vs. internal labeling systems, we can begin to ask how deep the environmental awareness of the businesses goes, and how much information do they want

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