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?

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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:

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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.

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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. . .

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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.

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Interview with Studio 7 Designs‘ Aran Down.

You are an award-winning, environmentally friendly design firm. Tell us what your clients come to your company for and what makes Studio 7 Designs different from other ‘green’ design firms.

We started out about five years ago by providing non-profit groups with free consultation and web design. Originally, we focused on helping out local companies ─ it was our way of giving back to the community. After about two years of helping about 50 non-profit organizations, including many universities and UN chapters, we were getting offers for corporate branding through our contacts. At that time, Studio 7 Designs was run by me and some part-time designers, so it was a natural evolution to move towards being a full-time design and development company. Our roots are based in real ethics. Our site doesn’t have a green theme; we wanted to try to capture the beauty of the natural world and use artistic creativity to show who we are as a whole.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 making our world a little bit better, and when I’m feeling down about what’s going on around me, GOOD usually perks me up. It’s a rare magazine that doesn’t need an annual "green" issue: sustainability has been a priority since the magazine was founded.

The latest issue (Sept/Oct 07) is no exception. The issue, which commemorates their one-year anniversary, focuses on design solutions. A topic I covered a while back, green schools, gets a feature nod from Eva Steele-Saccio. Steele-Saccio highlights different schools’ efforts to reduce their footprint and become more energy efficient, and acknowledges that there are benefits beyond energy savings: "Green schools create a healthy atmosphere for learning that has measurable results. The combination of natural light, fresh air, open plans, and multi-use facilities that encourage community involvement has helped student test scores rise by 20% and reduced asthma rates by 39%."

There’s also a feature about a village in England that launched a community effort to reduce their carbon footprint, with the ultimate goal of becoming the first carbon-neutral village in the U.K. GOOD’s product reviews almost always include items produced with sustainability in mind, and in this issue, they create a proposal for better CFL packaging: create a package that can be used to ship burned-out bulbs back to the producer for proper disposal. There’s also a profile of Rogan Gregory, founder of clothing company Loomstate, who was virtually responsible for bringing organic cotton to the fashion industry though his work with Loomstate, and his other two companies, Rogan and Edun

Even subscribing to GOOD can make you feel good: 100% of your $20 subscription costs goes to your choice of twelve charities, including the World Wildlife Fund and Oceana. Good is printed on 30% recycled post-consumer paper that is EcoLogic certified, and 100% offset by projects Good is actually involved in.

The September/October issue of GOOD is on newsstands now.

Since the green market has become so competitive, companies are beginning to consider additional steps towards total embodied sustainability in order to differentiate themselves and back up their claims. These services are rooted in the marketing and design of the businesses product or service. As a result, the services they employ (graphic designers and marketing firms) can make their product/service more sustainable. The hierarchy of sustainable practices involved in the process of taking a concept to product/service is important, and every consumer should be aware of this.

When a product is designed with sensitivity to its ecological impact, the way it is a marketed will certainly be affected. Hopefully this translates into the physical marketing propaganda as well. The Royal Mail UK, for example, is a certified carbon neutral direct mailing program helping companies to minimize the impact of door-to-door mailing. First, they evaluate the company’s current mailing practice based on certain material criteria such as recycled paper content, origin, inks, paper treatments, packing material, etc. Once the company has met the material standards, they help it select a target audience to reduce overmailing. The company is awarded a green mailing label, to make the consumer aware of the company’s choices and to help the consumer make their own choices. This service requires us to look at the impact of not only our marketing industry, but the practice of graphic design as well.

As a result, many graphic designers are beginning to market their service as sustainable graphic design to businesses that need to convey their personalized message to the public. This graphic design community generally defines these motivations as design for positive change. Since so much of graphic design is the sociology of an ad, they have the opportunity to instill social responsibility towards sustainability. For these designers, there are a slew of services that educate them on sustainable design in order to add depth and breadth to their service. This also promotes a more common understanding of current activity and responsibility within the design community.

The Canadian graphic design firm smashLab started out by seeking simple ways to make their practice more responsible. They ended up with a designer’s resource site to promote positive change through design. Designcanchange.org hosts a list of designer members, a blog spot, and a growing log of research. Through simplifying information yet constantly receiving more, they hope help designers define and communicate our environmental problems in as simple terms as possible.

The AIGA Center for Sustainable Design is a site loaded with case studies and reports that seek to educate the designer about different sustainable business practices, and to equip them with the information to make responsible design decisions. Another resource forum for graphic designers is Design By Nature- an Australian-based source that seeks to educate designers on how they can create change.

With all of these educational resources for designers, we hope that companies will respond by hiring those designers who are actively encouraged by these resources. The next topic is how to educate companies that these graphic designers are working hard to promote positive change and that they exist in the first place. In order to do this we might anticipate a sustainable graphics license such as that achieved by architects through the USGBC for a LEED practice license. Just something to think about…

For you business owners, here are a few links to sustainable graphic design firms and individuals:

Design Archy
Metropolitan Group
CS Design

Remember the logic word puzzle from middle school: “Which is heavier, a ton of feathers, or a ton of lead?” Some of us answered with the obvious response: they are of the same mass. Others of us got stuck on the materials under reference. For those of you who relate to the latter, I’m here to tell you it’s ok, and there is help.

Many factoids that we hear throughout the day are hard to process and comprehend. These numbers are originally relative to the individual. Yet when multiplied by the masses, they result in dramatically long numbers that are supposed to represent our collective actions on a daily basis. We commonly hear them on the radio, on TV, and in conversation, are we really expected to have the capacity to visualize 6+ digit numbers in our head on the fly?

Photographer Chris Jordan is working hard to help us comprehend these numerical conundrums. “Running the Numbers” is his new photographic series presented to rescue us more visually-oriented folks. These “digitally stitched” images effectively depict these number problems based on our collective consumption. Since our individual experiences are incomparable to these numbers-of-the-masses, it is hard to create a mental picture of massive amounts. For example, 426,000 cell phones are disposed of in the US every day. When the majority of us dispose of one every one to two years, it becomes difficult to understand the collective numerical value. Well, if you agree with me and really love to visually understand what these numbers look like, then Chris has already decided to help you.

In this image are 426,000 cell phones, the number disposed of every year by US residents.

This image is made of 106,000 aluminum cans, the number of cans used in the US every 30 seconds.

This is what 60,000 plastic bags looks like, the number used in the US every 5 seconds.

Now grab this last image, drag it to your desktop 30 times, and open up each one next to another. This is equal to the number of plastic bags we consume in the US every minute! (For you number people, that is 1,800,000.) With this image, it is easier to imagine what this amount looks like taking up space in our designated drop spots (aka landfills), and how they might be affecting our congested ecosystem.

“If we can more deeply feel the meaning behind numbers like these,” says Jordan, “maybe that will enable us to make more conscious choices about the behaviors that lead to them.”

Chris Jordan: Photographic Arts

As a young aspiring designer myself, I have made a keen observation of the design industry this year. Many of the call-for-entries and competitions this year have been for solutions related to sustainable development, energy, climate, biodiversity, environmental degradation, etc. Naturally we would expect these type of call-for-entries to come through the EPA grant programs, the NRDC, and other governmental organizations for the environment. Instead the call for action is coming from design firms, architecture magazines and other NGOs alike.

Allow me to take this opportunity to highlight some of the forthcoming competitions and competitions past that have sparked interest in publications of all sorts. The entries to these competitions not only alert us to solutions most of us have never thought of, but through the venue of these competitions many will have the opportunity to be realized! The following are just a few examples of the aforementioned. Look out world, great solutions are coming!!!

Design 21: the Social Design Network, is a mainly internet based collaborative project between the global design and merchandise company- Felissimo; and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (known as UNESCO). They seek to inspire social activism through design- design for the greater good. “We connect people who want to explore ways design can positively impact our many worlds, and who want to create change here, now.” Design 21 has been hosting international competitions since 1995 mostly based around social themes.

This year, one competition called Heated Issue, was a call for an environmental campaign; another was for an educational “Childs Play” toy that encourages children to cultivate their own imagination; and the third, Shelter Me, is for a new design of a natural disaster temporary relief shelter. The competition award recipients were voted on by the public, and the winners were just announced! So go ahead, view the future!

Metropolis Magazine: an architecture, design, interiors magazine has strongly directed its focus towards sustainable development in design over the last few years. Annually, they host a design competition called the Next Generation Design Competition that awards $10,000 to the winner and they choose a list of runner-up proposals that get published as well. This year the competition focused on solutions for ENERGY reduction, consumption, efficiencies and alternatives. The award recipients this year designed a city streetlight that conserves urban energy based on the lunar cycle. Check it out. Metropolis also just announced next year’s theme: WATER.

Droog Design: an international design collective based in Amsterdam, seeks to “create innovative concepts that change perspectives." This past month they had a call for entries for concepts based on Climate Change. As a result of picking a winner, they hope to develop a product that pushes boundaries, changes perspectives of environmental issues, and invent new experiences, interactions, and participations… How exciting. Droog will select the top 10 designs, and the public will be able vote online to pick the winner. Public voting begins in September, so look it up and get your vote on.

Aside from the competitions calling specifically for sustainability conscious and socially responsible entries, many award recipients of internationally acclaimed annual design competitions are being recognized for their environmental awareness. Competitions such as the ID Annual Review, the Red Dot Design Award and the Spark Awards. This interesting progression is to be noted among the design circuits as a landmark in sustainable development. Lets hope that this is not the trend of the year but an annual progression towards more socially and sustainability conscious design and cradle-to-cradle conscious products.

We wrapped up our discussion on sustainability in the design industry by summarizing the challenges facing green design and how we might handle them, and discussed new ideas for bringing about change in our field.

One of many hurdles to the graphic design industry "going green" is a lack of comprehensive resources for designers to turn to. This is slowly beginning to change as sites like Design Can Change and renourish emerge, and little by little, the list of good green design resources is growing. We discussed that there may be a lot of information out there, but much of it is difficult for designers to dive into. Resources for designers seem to work best when they come from designers, and are also well-designed and easy to understand.

There is no specific set of criteria for certification of green design businesses. Jess mentioned that she is having her business certified as sustainable locally, but that the certification process definitely isn't catered to the communications industry, and some of the criteria don't make much sense to her business. Also, such certification really isn't available on a nationwide scale; only certain local entities offer it. Another problem with certification is that, as Dani mentioned, "there isn't one set standard; every designer and every business is going to have their own set of challenges," or even their own definition of sustainability. And, as Eric B pointed out, it's difficult to define standards for green design that are measurable when we don't even seem to have an accepted definition of design within the profession.

Dani brought up a good point during our talk: "In order to actually accomplish sustainability, it's important that people have a system that they can a) commit to, and b) they can do in stages, without feeling like they have to do everything at once." The lack of a system like this is perhaps what intimidates designers when they first learn about sustainability. The topic just seems so overwhelming that many don't know where to begin. Change needs to be incremental so that sustainability is more accessible. If people can commit to just a few changes a year, they would be less likely to be overwhelmed and steady progress toward a greener design industry would be made. As Eric K said, "Perhaps we have to extend the notion that you don't have to do everything perfectly, but you really should do something."

From this discussion we moved into a novel idea of Dani's suggestion: "An action plan for sustainability. What can you commit to this year?" This would be some sort of checklist for design businesses with different tiers of commitment as they make changes. The list of changes to implement could be checked off as they are completed, and the challenge would be to make a small number of changes each year, gradually greening the business in a way that isn't overwhelming or intimidating.

The idea of action plans was well-received by the group, and we began discussing how something like it might come about and how it would create change in the design industry. Dani mentioned that there need to be a variety of choices for change because each designer has their own limitations and business dynamics. The action plan would need to be transparent and flexible enough to allow it to be adapted for each unique business. It is important to give people information and allow them to make their own choices based on their own circumstances. The system would need to be rewards based and there would need to be some way to track progress and keep people accountable to the changes they have committed to. We decided to develop this action plan idea in a future discussion, with the hopes that by making an accessible checklist for change, designers would jump on board and get involved in greening their practices.

As our chat progressed, we talked about how we define the term "green design." Dani's approach to green design focused on materials: sourcing local and sustainable paper, ink, and printing, reusing and reducing the use of materials, and just thinking about the green options available for each project. I found it difficult to define green design because it's such a broad topic, but basically it means trying to make each project as low-impact and beneficial as possible, and using the design medium to communicate messages of sustainability. Designers, as communicators, have an immense power to provoke thought and change, and that is one of the main reasons I became a designer. Jess mentioned the need to expand the definition of green design beyond materials, and to focus on processes and choices during each project.

At the end of our discussion, we summarized the challenges we face as green designers and how we may address them. Some of those challenges include educating consumers, clients, and designers about sustainable options, overcoming the intimidation factor of sustainability, removing the stereotypes associated with going green, and the American tendency to be overly competitive and see going green as some sort of contest. We need to begin by educating each other and making sustainability a focus in design education as well. Green designers need to constantly be learning and sharing what they learn about sustainability, and discussing it with their vendors and clients. This may require discussing sustainability as a business advantage and revealing how interconnected it is to success. Change happens from the bottom up and the top down, so we need to use every avenue available to educate about sustainability and bring about change.

The enthusiasm and energy we shared about green design has renewed my interest in sustainable design and my faith in the design industry. As the Green Design Dialogue participants showed me, sustainability is alive and well in my chosen field, and it will only continue to be more important. Designers are making big strides in the right direction, and the fact that we're discussing the issue and seeing so many resources pop up is a good sign. We hope to continue the Green Design Dialogues (and the action plan for sustainability idea) in the future. I want to thank each person who participated in our first discussion, and I hope other designers will catch on and join us!

In my first report on Green Design Dialogues, I introduced the six participants of our May 25 discussion on green design and summarized a bit of what we talked about. Obviously, sustainability and design is a huge topic, and one these green designers love to talk about, so here is a continuation of our first Green Design Dialogue.

The energy of our conversation was rising as we discussed changes in the design industry. It is clear that designers are slowly beginning a journey towards a more sustainable way of working. Eric K said, "We're crawling, but it may be a little messy before we really work things out." Sustainability really offers a great opportunity for the design industry, and we all agreed that it's taking hold and will be very important to design in the future.

The paper industry is one example of a growing consciousness of green practices. Paper companies are big contributors to pollution and greenhouse gases, and they're slowly realizing it. There are now many sustainable paper options designers need to be aware of as greener papers evolve. Paper distributors, printers, and ultimately, designers, are all starting to pay attention to the chain of custody and all the effects of their paper choices. Of course, many of us agreed that part of the challenge of green design was moving beyond paper.

Eric K said, "The paper issue is a key one, but I keep asking how we can move past that paradigm as the key method of communication. There are more intelligent ways of reaching our audiences…. We've been saying 'solutions, not stuff.'" Graphic designers do tend to be stuck in the realm of the printed page. Reducing our dependence on paper and expanding our offerings to include other media are certainly great ways to design more sustainably. But, as Dani mentioned, there is still a need for print. Printed pieces do have a role to play in design and communication, but design as a strategy and process can be applied much more broadly than to just brochures, packaging, and magazines.

Some designers feel a bit threatened by this talk of moving beyond paper and print and making something intangible. It probably scares a lot of printers as well! As Bryn puts it, "for years, design has been all about the artifact, not the thinking." This is slowly changing as we begin to place more value in the intangible (think mp3s or other digital media).

Efficiency and choosing the right media and materials for the message are a large part of green design. Another important aspect is the idea of simplifying and using less "stuff." This is a challenge, especially in such a competitive capitalist environment. Our culture is fixated on materialism, and it is largely by design that this has happened. So the question of how we can get by with less needs to be answered for consumers. As Jess said, "We need to educate consumers on how to shop and consume all over again. AND we need to educate businesses on how to produce appropriately."

We began discussing the idea of no-waste solutions, which is what we agreed every design should strive for. Nature is a great example of beautiful no-waste design, for it recycles everything. Sometimes this may require going beyond what the client asks for and choosing a medium that will solve their problem without creating waste. It can definitely be difficult to convince some clients to try unconventional ideas in their marketing, so designers need to make a business case for more sustainable solutions. Eric K says that his company has had to become more creative with how they pitch ideas to clients to convince them that sustainable solutions are in their best interests. In this way, designers are becoming more strategic and consultative, and less likely to be just "making stuff." Green design requires asking more questions and digging deeper into truly effective and efficient communication.

So, we know that the industry is changing, but how can we help bring change about and make design sustainable? It begins with education, of both designers and consumers. As Eric B said, we need "influencers" in the profession to lead the way. We also need to be able to convince our clients (and fellow designers) that green design makes sense from a business and economic standpoint. Change will come about when designers really think about the effectiveness of their efforts and consider new ways of communicating. Learning what is effective, from a marketing standpoint, and carefully considering your audience, lead to design decisions that minimize waste and communicate well.

This big-picture thinking leads to design being used more as a process or a system than a tangible object. Graphic designers face the challenge of having to expand past visual, tangible design to "designing" ideas and solutions. We agreed that visual design will always be relevant, but it may be just one tool in a designer's toolbox. Design is, after all, mostly about ideas, but it seems that many designers are more focused on just making things pretty. Green design is deeper design - focused on solving problems and creating meaning.

In my next post I will finish summarizing our first Green Design Dialogue, covering our discussion of challenges facing the design industry and how we might address them, and some ideas for stimulating thought and action on sustainable design.

Sustainability is becoming a pressing concern to the graphic design community. Designers are buzzing about it as they try to green their own practices and make sense of it all. In order to tap into this buzz, I organized a round table virtual discussion with several people involved in the design industry to chat about green design and the growing sensibilities of sustainability in our field.

"Green Design Dialogues" was born as a way to build the green design community and learn from each other. Our first discussion, via instant messaging, was May 25th. We touched on a broad range of topics relating to green design, which I will report on in a series of "Green Design Dialogues" posts in coming weeks. This week, I'll introduce the crew involved with our first Green Design Dialogue and relay each designer's experience with green design before summarizing our discussion.

Involved in the chat were designers from various backgrounds. Bryn Mooth joined us from HOW magazine, a wonderful graphic design magazine that has recently started covering more green topics. Dani Nordin, founder and principal designer at The Zen Kitchen, brought to the discussion her experience with running a small design studio that focuses on green design. Eric Benson is a Professor at the University of Illinois and the creator of the wonderful green design resource renourish. Eric Karjaluoto works at the interactive services firm smashLAB in Vancouver, and was involved in creating Design Can Change, an excellent call to action for the design community. Jess Sand is an independent designer and writer at her communications studio Roughstock Studios, who also writes a great blog on "sustainability for the rest of us," Small Failures. And of course, your humble Green Options design writer, Megan Prusynski, brought everyone together for the chat.

We started off our dialogue with a quick introduction and by sharing our own experiences with green design. Eric K began by explaining, "At smashLAB we simply started out by trying to find ways to make our studio more sustainable. Along the way, we realized that there were many like that, and as a result tried to make some information available that we could share with others in the community." Thus, Design Can Change came about from the firm's efforts at greening their own practices and desire to share what they learned.

Bryn from HOW magazine mentioned that she has noticed a shift from talking the talk to walking the walk in the design community. She said, "It seems like we're starting to move beyond the theoretical discussion of making design sustainable (a la the AIGA conference a couple of years ago) and more towards actually DOING things about it." HOW magazine has seen an increase in promotions from paper companies touting their new FSC certifications or green power usage.

Both Jess and Dani's journeys into sustainability began with their own lives and moved into their businesses. Jess mentioned that she began with trying to live more sustainably on a personal level, and started sharing her experiences because as a writer, it was important for her to do so. She also recently earned her certification in sustainable business management. Dani began her professional life as an environmental activist and discovered graphic design through her activism. She began a career as a freelance designer and noticed from places she worked how wasteful offices were and how little attention was paid to the environmental impact of projects and business practices. Her studio is now a green certified business.

My interest with green design began in college while I was studying art and graphic design and trying to meld what I was learning with my love of nature and my inner environmentalist. I wrote many a paper about design ethics and my thesis topic was socially and environmentally conscious design. However our interests in green design began, we are all now seeing an awakening in the industry and a focus on sustainability and change, which makes us green designers very happy!

Over the past few years, green designers have started out by doing their own research. Most of us had jumped into green design by simply immersing ourselves in it. Dani noted the importance of reading a lot for her, so that she knew a lot about the subject before getting started. Several of us have noticed that there are more resources about green graphic design now than just a couple of years ago, and, as Jess said: "With so much out there (some good, some junk), we're going to see a few places rise to the top. I just hope they're good ones" like renourish and Design Can Change.

Each designer's journey to sustainability is unique, and we've all had our stumbling blocks along the way. We discussed that each person approaches green living and green design differently, making different tradeoffs and decisions. It was certainly apparent to all of us that our industry was changing, and the green design movement was certainly getting traction. Eric K suggested that the surge of interest in green design stems from An Inconvenient Truth. What began as a grassroots movement has become a mainstream dialogue that is leading to action and change.

Businesses have begun taking an interest in sustainability as a strategy and a competitive advantage, and sustainable options are something designers are starting to offer their clients. Designers and communicators are taking responsibility for their work. We all agreed that sustainability was very important for the design industry because creatives are the makers of many things and communicators with many people. We are responsible for putting messages out there, we have the power to communicate, educate, open minds, or incite change. Graphic designers also use a lot of paper. As Jess pointed out, "Paper use has increased 20-40% since the advent of the paperless office." Dani mentioned her aversion to creating direct mail pieces since the beginning of her career.

Overall, people are beginning to take responsibility for their environmental impact and be more conscious of what they can do. As Eric K put it, "It's simply an issue of responsibility. We don't drive recklessly, and we shouldn't be living so either." Many industries are making changes as they learn more about environmental responsibility. The paper industry has recently made a huge push to go green and the design industry is changing along with it. The momentum is only going to grow from here… and designers will certainly play a role.

In the next post on Green Design Dialogues, I will share more about our May 25th discussion. We discussed the next steps for green design, working with clients towards sustainability, paper and beyond, and ideas for spreading sustainability within the design industry and the world.

Sustainability has become a buzz word in the design industry. Graphic design industry magazines such as HOW and Communication Arts are publishing articles (and even entire issues) devoted to green design regularly. Designers are starting to pay attention and change the way they work.

Sustainable and eco-conscious design has been a long time in the making, but the proliferation of web sites and resources on the subject in recent years and months shows that momentum is building. One growing resource, AIGA Center for Sustainable Design, represents, to me, a benchmark in the green design movement.

AIGA, the professional association for design, is a major force in the design industry. The fact that they have begun paying attention to green design represents a big step in the right direction. AIGA is the oldest and largest membership association for professional designers. Accordingly, designers tend to pay attention to AIGA, and hopefully to its sustainability resources.

 The Center for Sustainable Design provides a discussion forum, green design news, event information, case studies, and information on sustainability all in a well-designed, easy to digest web site. The site has grown from almost nothing to an invaluable tool for any designer concerned with sustainability. AIGA describes their mission in creating the site:

The AIGA Center for Sustainable Design is dedicated to providing designers with practical information regarding sustainable business practice. Through case studies, interviews, answers and discourse the Center will encourage and support designers as they incorporate sustainable thinking into their professional lives.

Sustainability is a growing concern for many designers. Accordingly, it will be examined from a wide range of perspectives: from the nuts and bolts of daily studio life to the larger marketplace dynamics and global concerns within which designers operate. This will be accomplished primarily through the community website, conferences and an online forum.

Currently the site has definitions of sustainability, downloads, industry news, and a great article on 11 questions to ask before you design, specify, or buy anything. You could literally spend hours on this site, which gathers many useful readings and web links in the resources section. New articles and features are being added every time I visit, so it's definitely one to bookmark and return to often. I hope that the Center can continue to serve as a comprehensive database. With the growing popularity of green design, it's good to have a solid resource to bring it all together and make sustainability the norm in the design industry.

You are most likely already aware of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and know that FSC certified lumber is preferred for use in green construction because it is sustainably managed and harvested. It also has a chain of custody reporting system that ensures that everyone in the processing chain is following the correct procedures with their materials sourcing and their handling of the material. However, construction is not the only place where you will find FSC certified products.

The printing industry is another huge user of wood and forest products. And, as with construction uses, FSC is heavily involved in promoting sustainable practices for printing and paper-making uses. In order to use the FSC trademark on a product, the producer must be a member of FSC. Every step of the way, from the management of the forest and the cutting of the trees, through the pulping of the wood and the manufacture of the paper must meet FSC guidelines, and the product produced carries a certificate that has been independently verified by a third-party source. For a printer to use the FSC trademark on a catalog, for example, they need to be certified themselves as FSC chain-of-custody certificate holders.

"It's what drove local faucet-maker Moen Inc. to ask St. Ives (a printing company) to print catalogs on FSC-certified paper. As a supplier to the construction industry, which is becoming increasingly green, it's important that Moen demonstrate it's doing its part." Another landmark coming this summer, Scholastic Inc. is also going to be using FSC paper for at least 65% of its initial printing of the seventh book in the Harry Potter series.

As more and more people are learning is the case with green building, printing with FSC paper is not necessarily more expensive. Many kinds of FSC certified paper also contain some recycled content, but because paper degrades as it is recycled, some virgin wood pulp needs to be used to provide the necessary strength. FSC works to ensure that the stock for that comes from sustainable sources.

According to the FSC website, "Over the past 12 years, over 84 million hectares in more than 82 countries have been certified according to FSC standards while several thousand products are produced using FSC certified wood and carrying the FSC trademark. FSC operates through its network of National Initiatives in 40 countries."

via: Ann Arbor News and Newhouse News Service

Links:
Forest Stewardship Council

FSC Paper

The design industry has come a long way. There are now many sustainable options for printing and paper, and even web hosting. With more sustainable materials and tools at hand, designers are able to explore greener options and lower the environmental impact of their work. And since graphic designers work hand in hand with the paper industry, which is the largest industrial consumer of water and the third greatest industrial greenhouse gas emitter, it's about time that sustainability became a bigger part of the industry. There is much room for improvement in design, and many changes are on the horizon.

When I was studying design in college, I became interested in socially and environmentally conscious design (it was even the subject of my thesis). It seemed that this consciousness was just beginning to take hold in an industry that had been mostly focused on commercial interests since the dawn of the advertising age. The fresh ideas coming from the industry excited me, and I predicted a future in which the role of the designer was that of a problem solver, applying the design process to more than just visual media, but to solutions that would have a positive impact on the world. I imagined that designers would begin going deeper, thinking more critically about each thing we create, and learning from the ultimate designer: nature. Slowly but surely, my dreams of a green design industry are becoming a reality.

Fast forward a few years, and I'm seeing even more exciting ideas propelling the design industry forward. I'm hoping it won't be long before green design is synonymous with good design, and designers are as concerned about the sustainability of their projects as the aesthetics. Design firms focused on environmentally conscious design are becoming quite common, and independent designers are beginning to realize that having knowledge of green design solutions is an asset to their businesses as well as to their clients. There is a hopeful air in the industry today and a call for change from designers themselves.

Visual design is one of the most powerful forms of communication. Designers have the ability to open minds to new ideas, explain complex issues, educate the public, persuade people to take action, and give ideas wings. As an image-driven culture, the ability to create and manipulate the images people are exposed to is an immense power. As designers realize this power and harness it, I am hoping that change on a massive scale will occur. I dream of a day when every step of the design process is accompanied by critical thought about environmental impact, when there is no trash because everything has been designed to be reused or recycled, when there's no such thing as virgin paper. I dream of all design taking a cradle to cradle approach, analyzing the consequences of every part of a product's life cycle. I dream of a redesign of our world to mimic the resourceful, beautiful, wasteless designs of nature. And I believe the design industry plays a big role in making these dreams come true.

We have a long way to go before design becomes a sustainable industry. But progress is being made, and minds are shifting in the right direction. As more and more designers realize the power they have to not only produce sustainable designs, but to change the world through their work, a greener future will be realized.

Links: Design Will Change on Business of Design Online, Cradle to Cradle, Design Can Change, my paper on The Future of Design

Editor's note: Welcome to the first installment of the Weekend Web Review, a series in which our writers will review blogs and websites that they believe will help you in your quest to "green the good life." First up: our design writer Megan Prusynski…

Design firms tend to have very well-designed blogs (of course!) and The Change is no exception. However, not every design firm is out to change the world. And certainly not every design firm blogs about green living, enlightening readers about everything from co-housing to green alternatives to tampons. Welcome to the wonderful blog run by The Change, a brand strategy and design firm focusing on non-profit organizations, environmental advocacy, and changing the world, The Tao of Change.

The main writer at The Tao of Change, Tracey "Tao" Oliveto describe the blog project as based on the ideas of Taoism, change, and sustainable living:

This blog belongs to The Change, a design agency born to help save the planet and all its inhabitants. The Tao of Change blog is something that effortlessly popped up - like most effortless things – after months of effort. Tao means “The Way.” It refers to aligning your personal life with the natural harmony and justice of nature. To follow the Tao is to see not only things but to see the way of things. And, because my initials happen to be TAO and I am part of The Change, a company trying to make the world better…well, you get the picture. The idea of this blog is to share a boots-on-the-ground view of the way things are changing in our communities and in the world. So, I think all of us should keep talking about the Way of Change. Join me and the other “Changers” I work and play with, to be inspired, informed and plain old impressed with the potential we all have to change the world through sharing information and conversation.

Learn more about the folks behind The Tao of Change, including their personal definitions of sustainability, on their About Us page. The design firm has offices in Chapel Hill, NC and San Francisco, CA. The people behind it are passionate about simple, sustainable living, opening minds, and being a force for change through their design work and their blog. As a fellow designer who's passions are very similar, I found the blog as intriguing as the people behind it.

Recent posts on The Tao of Change include a discussion of the bring your own (grocery bag, that is) eco-trend and how to join the revolution in style, ideas for living simply and traveling (and thus polluting) less while living more, news on sustainable yoga, and ode to thrift store shopping, and much more. The writing style is approachable and friendly, and posts are insightful and full of great ideas for living a green lifestyle. The blog certainly enlightened me on ways I could live more within my ideals in practical and enjoyable ways (and it also left me coveting a natural, sustainable yoga mat).

Check out the nicely designed, thoughtfully written The Tao of Change for inspiring thoughts and great ideas for living a greener and more fulfilling life.