Adding The Planet To The Composition: Out look on sustainable graphic design

+ +

General Practices

Carbon Footprint

Adding The Planet To The Composition Outlook on Sustainable Graphic Design.

+

Adding The Planet To The Composition

+

Adding The Planet To The Composition Outlook on Sustainable Graphic Design.

ii

+

Preface The making of this book started when I first googled “Sustainable practices in graphic design.” The search results were upsetting. It is bothering how less this topic is spoken and written. Almost all the fields are far ahead in sustainable practices, while the graphic design industry remained orthodox. To find out about the knowledge among the designers, I started putting together a descriptive research report. The findings showed no significant relationship between knowledge and implementation of sustainable practices.

Younger generation designers have more knowledge about these practices than the older generation designers. Although they have basic knowledge, research materials and resources make it difficult to implement these practices. This book is an attempt to close the existing gap between knowledge and resources.

iii

Note This book should be printed with low-VOC vegetable inks on 100% post-consumer recycled paper by an FSC certified printer.

iv

+

Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my research supervisor, P Vidhusekhar, professor at Kannur university. He taught me the methodology to carry out proper research which led to the existence of this book.

I am extremely grateful for the unconditional support and guidance provided by my faculty mentor and CC, P.Abhilash Balan. I would also like to thank my professor, Divya P.R for constantly guiding me and having faith in me.

v

CONTENTS

+

1

2

What are we designing?

How should we design?

Adverse impacts of graphic design on the environment.

Designing circularly to optimize elements and offset waste.

2-3

6-9

5 Sustainable graphic design in different branches.

3 Materials & Making

Sustainable labels and certifications to identify legitimate organizations and vendors.

12-23

Special tools and practices that are indigenous to various branches of graphic design.

39-43

4

Green graphic design in practice.

Using elements and principles of design to minimize and optimize the usage of resources.

26-35

viii

+

ix

+

01 What are we designing?

+

We are designing trash

Chapter 1

01

Every day we walk past numerous graphics, admiring the aesthetics, unaware of the damage they cause to the planet. Every last piece of print is associated with a graphic designer starting from the posters on the wall to chocolate packages. While all the other business fields are way ahead towards sustainability in their practices, the state of graphic design has been no way near to it. We still devote ourselves to the delusional thought that if the design reaches the consumer, then the purpose is served. Thus, leading our designs to end up in the landfill.

Paper waste E-waste Incineration VOC Emissions 2

+

Right now,

Graphic design- Communicating through visuals, typography, illustrations, and photography. Paper, ink, solvents, packaging are the primary material used to make a creative, and producing this material requires a lot of energy, water, trees, electricity, and other nonrenewable resources. After exhausting all these resources, the design ends up in a landfill. Which is not a great place.

To top it all, we have to be guilty about the workplace and work process as well.

Workplaces consume electricity, energy, and the number of electronic devices that cause damage. Digital graphics are not any less; they consume enormous amounts of energy and emit immense amounts of radiation. Ultimately graphic designers are held responsible for this process.

most of a graphic designer’s work is a oneway ticket to trash on a

Waste Generated By Industry

planet that is

136,760 The total average emission amount of CO2 is 136,760 metric tons per year. These emissions are from the incineration of the landfills, increasing the ecological footprint.

In 2019, the world generated a striking 53.6 metric.tons of e-waste, an average of 7.3 kg per capita. India generated 1,014,961 ton e-waste between 2019-20

Graphic designers need to consider sociocultural appropriations, follow design ethics, and should know the effect of their design decisions. For the user to follow sustainability, the designer should provide them the choice to be sustainable. Graphic designers need to educate themselves and the users. Having creative minds, graphic designers can and should figure out new ways to reduce the adverse effects. It’s high time we change the destination of our design.

Metric Tonnes Per Year

1,014,961

dying fast.

80 million Paper makes up to 40% of landfill waste.

Currently, based on the calculations by the World Bank, 80 million tons of paper waste is created every year and India is the largest contributor to this waste.

3

+

02 How should we design?

How should we design?

02

1.Seed (Material)

Design

In the design process, the seed is the material and medium you use to make a deliverable. This step determines the destiny of your design. All the materials have to be Bio-degradable (compostable), Bio-renewable (should have the ability to convert into biofuel), environmentalfriendly (should not contribute to air, water, and land pollution), If possible, recycled and upcycled material. Further exploration in the chapter materials and labels.

should be like a seed. It has to transform

Chapter 2

and come back to where it started.

The usual design process starts with ideation and ends with a final deliverable.

Designs made this way are thrown away after a while, and that is sad. After all, that excitement and frustration added with sleepless nights, your designs deserve better treatment. So, ensure your design is cycling. Nature is the finest example of a 360-degree lifecycle starting from ecosystems to bio-diversities. Fruits and vegetables are a great inspiration source to make a biomimicking design. Design your project like a seed. Design should be a seed that grows into a young plant, then advances into a mature plant, produces flowers that give fruits, and finally, the seeds from the fruits continue the cycle.

2.Seed-Sapling (Usage of material) For a seed to become a sapling: it should have enough water, sunlight, and nourishment. For the material to advance to the next stage of the design process, you should be conscious of material usage.

Make sure to right-size the material for the design process has zero waste. Include a plan for optimizing the quantity and quality of the material while deriving ideas from your brainstorming.

6

+

4.Fruit-seed (Conversion of material) This step is crucial to redirect the user from throwing your design into the trash.

And this should be controlled indirectly.

Check how your design gets to the user.

Design the distribution. It’s the designer’s responsibility to educate the user about sustainability. Give them directions- How to use the design, where to use the design and what to do with the design once it can no longer be used (the last step should include the reuse, repair, and recycle)

Circular design

3.Sapling-Tree (Design production) Here we think about the impact of design environmentally, economically, and socially.

Think about how to use the design elements to reduce material wastage and minimise the energy required for recycling.

Workspaces also contribute to pollution, so ‘greenify’ your workspace and use the least amount of energy to produce your design. Spend some extra time and make sure your design gets approved at once to avoid test print wastage.

7

Chapter 2

Clients & Workplace

Clients

Workplace

If clients don’t see eye to eye with you, then your sustainable plan falls apart. Being a designer, you have better knowledge of the industry and have the upper hand in design decisions. Educate your client about sustainability, tell them your design is ecologically and economically friendly.

Choosing sustainability printers, use project calculators to reduce all kinds of print wastage. Refer sustainability scorecard and choose wisely.

There is no point in following a sustainable design process while your workspace is the hazard. Since sustainability is the buzzword of marketing, picking any host is not ideal so, check the rating guides of these firms before establishing a connection.

Energy compliant electronics- Energy efficiency is measured in terms of energy stars by EPA. Efficiency differs from device to device. Computers have energy stars till 7.1, Version 3.0 Energy Star specification for Enterprise Servers. There are different standards for heating and cooling devices.

Computer Room Air Conditioners & other HVAC should be more energy efficient.

Virtual proofing system- Automating review and approval through online means like email, photos, and interactive pdfs will reduce the print waste that usually comes from this process. Web designers, photographers, marketing agencies, and video production companies, among others who work virtually follow this method. Due to the pandemic world has transitioned to this stage, and everyone is familiar with the process.

8

+

H

Choose a design for re-use/longevity?

A

Choose to design cyclically and not linearly?

Choose recyclable/non-toxic materials?

Managed to eliminate the waste?

V

Managed to minimize ink coverage?

Taken care and shown respect for the community?

E

Helped improve the quality of life?

Helped to minimize the depletion of non-renewable sources?

U

?

Helped to enable a change in personal attitudes and practices?

9

+

03 Materials & Making

Materials & Making

03

There are 2 main labels that recognise sustainability in paper production. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a non-profit organization that focuses on the sustainable management of forests.

A chain-of-custody certification issued to companies, generally printers, so they can track that the origin of a particular paper is from an FSC-certified source.

Chapter 3

Millennial designers in India have better awareness about sustainability than early generations and are willing to become climate designers. However, the gap in knowledge, resources, and existing industry structure are holding them back. While designers are aware that bio-degradable, bio-renewable materials are sustainable, they lack the knowledge of what to look for in printing, paper, Ink, Binding, plastic flex, and finishes. To choose genuinely sustainable materials and labels, we need to understand what causes pollution and what alternatives are available.

Choosing FSC-certified paper for your project means helping the environment and showing support to the highest social and environmental standards in the market. The purchase of FSC-certified Paper contributes to the conservation, responsible management of forests and benefits the communities living near the FSC forests.

Closing the gap between knowledge & execution of sustainability in graphic design.

Paper

Green-e is an independent certification program to recognize companies who chose to use renewable energy derived from wind, water, solar power, or bio-gas.

The Green Seal is also a non-profit organization that provides certifications to companies who produce responsible products that hold up to a solid set of environmental standards. The Green “Seal of Approval” has become known for reliability, fairness, and integrity.

Paper Pollution is refuse created in paper mills and paper discarded into landfills. The process of manufacturing paper releases nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and carbon dioxide into the air, contributing to pollution such as acid rain and greenhouse gases. The scale is large and it should be kept under control. Some organizations and labels help you track and identify sustainable papers.

12

+

Types of Sustainable Paper Recycled papers, the percentage of postconsumer waste in recycled paper also varies. There are papers with 25%, 50%, and even 100% post-consumer waste.

Processed Chlorine Free (PCF) paper is made of post-consumer waste and is either left unbleached or bleached without using chlorine, a harmful chemical.

Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) and Totally Chlorine Free (TCF) use the same concept; the bleaching process includes chlorine alternatives.

There are alternative materials in papers, such as fast-growing renewable bamboo fibers and by-products from the food industry. Companies like Innova Art offer a broad range of good quality sustainable paper focusing on fine art and photography.

Carbon balanced paper involves carbon balancing, where the carbon impacts of the paper are equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide either prevented from being released into or absorbed from the atmosphere.

Apart from these, there are papers made of agricultural substrates instead of wood substrates. Prominent among them are hemp and wheat straw.

Using one tonne of 100% recycled paper instead of virgin fiber paper saves the equivalent of 1,231kg of the landfill, 3,794 kWh of electricity, 29,800lof water, 2,000kg of wood, and 295kg CO2 and greenhouse gases. Even after following the above, if the transport consumes a lot of energy, it is useless. So, try to choose a certified local green manufacturer and use renewable energy for transportation.

13

Paper

Chapter 3

TCF (Total Chlorine Free) Paper

PCF (Processed Chlorine Free) Paper

The impact is above and beyond.

14

+

Choose wisely.

ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) Paper

100% post consumer recycled paper

15

Chapter 3

Inks

Inks

Printing inks are made of colorants (i.e., pigments or dyes), additives, adhesives, and a medium to accommodate other elements. In the past, this medium was vegetable oil.

Due to the difficulty in supply, its replaced by a petroleumbased medium which is a non-renewable resource. That is not the case anymore, so we can switch back to using vegetable oil as the medium. Aromatic Petroleum-based printing inks pose several environmental hazards. They release a large amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere. It can lead to all sorts of disturbances in the ecological balance Aren’t these enough reasons to switch to sustainable inks?

Types of eco-inks

One can’t be too careful while choosing sustainable inks.

To call an ink sustainable, the colorants, additives, and adhesives present in ink must be compostable, produced from renewable energy without disturbing ecosystems.

An ink is bio-degradable when the raw materials such as resins, gums, oils, waxes, solvents, and other polymer building blocks are from natural resources such as trees, plants, insects, and animal materials. Vegetable oil-based inks are the best substitute for petroleum-based inks and have been there for ages. Soy, linseed, tung, cottonseed, and china wood oils are some of the sources.

The ink from the vehicle soot. The highest contributor to climatic chaos. Anirudh Sharma, the founder of Graviky Labs, made an air-ink called Kaalink. This technology filters vehicle soot and collects pure carbon-based pigment and turns it into ink. 2500 hours of driving one standard diesel vehicle produce about 150 liters of ink. Few graphic designers in Hong Kong got to use this ink and, they said the quality is remarkable, and the product is a genius.

Creators around the world have been innovating and have created inks using the most bizarre items. This plant needs no fertilizers, seeds. The abundance of this plant is considered a nuisance. This plant is the Algae. Scott Fulbright and Dr. Steve Albers in 2013 have innovated this ink. Forget about Low carbon footprint. This ink has a negative carbon footprint. This ink is sustainability at its peak.

16

+

Kaalink source: Graviky Labs | www.graviky.com

Living ink made from algae source: LivingInkTech | livingink.co

17

Printing

Printing

Toxic substances used in printing pollute soil, water, and air. Paper waste is the core source of pollution while printing. When bleached paper decomposes, it releases methane gas which is 25 times more toxic than CO2.

Quickening the drying process while eliminating setting powder or seal coat can reduce the CO2 emission levels.

LED UV printing makes this possible, and the final print has much sharper and smoother colors. It consumes much less power compared to the traditional printing and dyeing process. It allows instant on/off between 2 jobs and reduces standby power consumption.

Chapter 3

Carbon balanced printing involves measuring the amount of CO2 emissions during the printing process, and they figure out a way to minimize and offset the emission.

Printers do it by using simple methods such as double glazing the windows and using electric vehicles.

18

+

Digital printing uses less water, less time and less CO2 emissions but consumes more energy. It costs more for larger volume jobs, and an immense amount of energy is exhausted while printing large volumes. The toner used in digital printing should be bio-renewable and eco-friendly.

Quantity of the job, the time required, and the type of printing act as variables while printing. Digital printing is economical and ecological only if the number of copies needed is under 500. Digital printing is feasible when color is needed (low volume). Digital printers can print up to 4800 copies per hour which saves a lot of time.

You cannot call your product sustainable if you use custom paper sizes. Using sustainable inks, finishes, and paper goes in vain if there is cutting waste. Custom sizes create an insane amount of cutting waste. It is ideal to use standard sizes like A4, A3, A2, A1 to achieve zero waste after printing.

19

Finishes & Binding

Finishes One notoriously harmful finish is the varnish which has petroleum-based substances which is non-renewable and release VOCs. This paper varnish is applied to give a smooth and consistent texture and seal the ink on the paper (you can see this on the paper that appears glossy or matte). Next in the row is lamination which competes with varnish in pollution.

Lamination is a plastic layer on top of the paper that gives sturdiness, waterresistance and is as harmful as varnish in the context of bio-degradability.

Next in the row is foil finish. This finish has extreme amounts of metal that can pollute the environment.

Their counterpart is UV varnish which uses UV gel and is dried using UV rays. It gives an equally smooth, glossy/matte finish or both matte and glossy on positive and negative spaces of a paper. This finish is bio-degradable, cost-effective, and energyefficient.

UV LED FINISHES

Chapter 3

Glossy

Matte

Glossy + Matte

20

&

Binding The binding process isn’t as hazardous as the printing process. However, you should always consider the material source, amount of energy used for the process, and destination.

There are three types of binding:

Stitch Binding

SUSTAINABLE BINDING OPTIONS

&

+

Mechanical bind (the source and destination are safe while energy consumption is a setback) Perfect bind involves PUA & EVA hot melt. Source, energy, and destination are comparatively not sustainable) Starch adhesive (perfectly falls in the safe zone of the three factors).

Stitch binding is also sustainable when the quantity is less since it is done manually.

Perfect Bind (safe when used starch adhesive)

Case Binding

21

D O

Use renewable energy to supply power to their equipment?

T

Complete everything in-house or use energy-efficient transport?

H

Use FSC certified papers?

E

Have all sustainable options for paper, ink, binding, and finishes?

Y

Are they local printers? (to facilitate sustainable transport option)

?

Have sustainable waste management system?

22

+

+

04 Green graphic design in practice.

Printing

04

Chapter 4

Sustainability in graphic design is much more than materialism. It is the value we give and take from society and challenge the dominant societal system prevailing.

It’s the ethics we build through our design.

It’s the story we tell through our design, the impact we create with design. If your materials are biodegradable, made using renewable energy, and are eco-friendly but are built without social sustainability, can you call them sustainable without being guilty? Design is for people, and it should be rational and empathetic.

Designing sustainably is to become aware of what

Graphic design should be an open dialogue rather than persuasion to establish a sustainable narrative. Line, shape, color, value, size, space are the elements of graphic design. Sustainable graphic design is about optimizing these elements. One might not make this process completely zero waste by only choosing sustainable material.

Designing should mandate the best use of sustainable material.

might happen there when I pull here.

- Meg Meller

26

+

Color

To use color to your advantage in print, you must understand how CMYK printing works. There are three basic inks Cyan, Magenta, Yellow to produce color. The white surface is considered white light. When one of the primary colors is absent from the white light, we get CMY. Cyan is the absence of red in white light.

Magenta is white light minus green. When blue is absorbed, it results in yellow. So, cyan + magenta = blue, magenta + yellow = red, yellow + cyan = green.

These colors are printed in dots and are not visible unless you see them with a pick glass. Half-toning of these pigments results in the rest of the colors. Halftoning is where these pigments have less saturation than the original pigment. Fully saturated inks can produce only seven colours-CMY and RGB. Halftoning allows the ink to merge, therefore different colors when layered. (think of it as having reduced opacity).

In theory, Cyan, magenta, yellow without halftoning will give black.

In practice, CMY gives a dark muddy color which is noway near pure black. It will also drench the paper, cause a bleed. Hence the addition Key (CMYK) makes it easier to print black color with accuracy and less ink. Equal quantities of CMYK produce rich black.

Choosing two colors that use three inks in total is better than choosing one color that needs three inks.

Angle - 0°

Angle - 75°

27

Color

Same amount of ink - 2 colors

Same amount of ink - 1 colors

> C: 50 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 50 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 50 M: 50 Y: 0 K: 0

Chapter 4

Choose pastel gradients over darker gradients

>

>

Two inks

One ink

Four inks

>

>

28

+

BlackThe black we should use.

KEY

Drenches the paper and is not proper black.

Cyan, Magenta & Yellow

Gray scale

Rich blackUnnecessary usage of inks.

Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & key

Low Resolution

Fluorescent and metallic colors have different inks which are generally more toxic with higher carcinogen levels and therefore are more hazardous to groundwater and hard to decompose.

Test prints cause a considerable amount of wastage. Few ways of minimizing this waste is to take a print of all the fonts, weights, sizes, and colors on one sheet before production. By doing so, you are reducing the waste that comes from taking multiple prints at the end. To check the proportion and space, print your design in grayscale with low resolution (low res=less no. of pixels and fewer shades of colors) Colour works differently for the web. We should consider the chances of the graphics being print. (See UI/UX for web color)

29

Font

Font Ink is 15 percent of the carbon impact of a printed page. Fonts have fascinating and limitless sustainable possibilities. Font family, weight, size, serif, kerning, tracking are the parameters to be considered to calculate the impact of fonts. All these are chosen based on the reading distance and not the dimension of the output. Font

Eco Fonts

Chapter 4

are Fruitful, Fun & Free.

There is a new category of fonts called eco fonts which save relatively large amounts of ink. One way of creating an eco font is by punching holes into the font. These holes in the font will diminish when used at point sizes. The ink naturally bleeds into the holes while printing, making it sustainable. Vera sans version of this eco font showed 18% of ink savings. When tried with Arial, it showed 28% ink savings.

These types of eco fonts are ideal for body text. They save a considerable amount of ink when used for newsprint and books, which are text-heavy like novels.

There are eco fonts for titles and typography. There are posters, hoardings, and titles where fonts have heavyweights and sizes. Ryman Eco is a font that has chiseled strokes which allows readability while saving 33% less ink than anyother sans serif font at the same weight. This font is rated as the most sustainable font so far.

30

+

Ecofont

Vera Sans Ecofont Vera Sans (originally called Eco Sans) was developed by SPRANQ in the Netherlands in order to reduce ink consumption when printing. When used as body text, the sustainable version of the font saved 18% ink compared to the original font.

31

Font

Ryman eco

Chapter 4

Ryman Eco, a new font by stationary brand Ryman uses a third less ink and toner than standard fonts such as Arial, Times New Roman, Georgia and Verdana

32

+

Futura MdCn BT

CONDENSED

Futura Md BT

ROUND

over

The glyphs are narrower and accommodate more text without affecting readability

Titles and typography

The glyphs are round. They take up unnecessary space for fewer glyphs.

LIGHT over REGULAR

DejaVu Sans

Arial Body text/ text heavy pages

Using light, extra light, thin, book weights for body text will save a considerable amount of ink.

Morva

Arvo

HAIRLINe

over

SLAB

Using light, extra light, thin, book weights for body text will save a considerable amount of ink.

Garamond

34 pt

Times New Roman

also

34 pt

Body text/ text heavy pages

Few fonts are petite compared to the typical ones. 12 pt Garamond is bigger than 11pt Times New Roman and smaller than 12pt Times New Roman.

Bodoni Bk BT

Calibri

SANS SERIF

over

SERIF

For any hierarchy

A serif is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter which adds extra ink. Sans Serif doesn’t have the strokes.

FoglihtenNo06

Typefaces with

LIGATURe

Typography

a ligature occurs where two or more graphemes or letters are joined as a single glyph..

33

Space

Space

Crowd and clutter may save paper and ink but cannot sustain visually. It compromises readability and legibility, destroying the sole purpose of graphic design. In the end, it all comes down to the planet, people, and profit, where none should be compromised. We use space to improve readability, Decluttering text, and bringing a sense of rhythm, movement, and direction. Spacing builds up the character. When the positive and negative space is symmetrically balanced, it becomes passive and boring, leaving no room for movement. When space is asymmetrically balanced, it stays active and more dynamic.

Micro space is the space that connects elements. It is the space between a picture and its caption, leading between sentences, logo and title, and so on.

Chapter 4

Macro space separates entities, like the space between a paragraph to other, a paragraph and picture, title and body, etc.

If there is right amount of breathable space between the elements, then the design becomes sustainable. We are substituting lines and shapes with space to separate and connect. Therefore, eliminating the usage of ink.

We use Micro space Macro space

to replace shapes and lines.

34

+

Gestalt’s law of closure and proximity and closure brilliantly explains the perception of space. The principle of proximity states that the things close to each other appear to be more related than things that are farther apart. This law can help you understand how to connect entities using micro space. The principle of closure explains how we tend to look for recognizable patterns or shapes. Thus, ensuring the optimal use of macro space.

Leading, kerning, and tracking come under micro space. Leading is the space between 2 lines of text. 120% is an ideal amount that gives enough space without choking the text. Kerning is the space between the Glyphs (letters, numbers, symbols). We do not need an equal amount of space between all the letters in a word. For example, the space between the letter- V&A can be lesser than the space between the letter-V&W. Tracking is the space between letters throughout the sentence. Tracking helps the words spread with equal distance between the letters. This paves way for sustainable approaches in typography.

Spacing photographs: full spread picture with bleed not only consumes ink but also make it hard to de-ink the paper while recycling. So, we reduce the dimensions of the image which will increase the white space and deinkability (The process of removing ink from the paper while recycling). Macro space also includes background and borders. More the white space, less the energy required to recycle.

35

+

05 Green graphic design in different branches.

Branding & Identity

05

Branding & Identity design Branding and identity design looks at building a brand’s identity and branding strategies for brands. It is a tool to bring awareness and change. Sustainability in branding is the value-driven practice that forms a community with meaningful connections. Logotype, logomark, color palette are the elements that make a brand’s identity. Sustainable brand identity has all these elements, along with consistent visual language which is authentic and timelesss since rebranding many times costs environment and money.

Chapter 5

Graphic design is applicable in different forms of visual communication. Sustainable practices vary from branch to branch because of the differences in materials, tools, scales, and end-use. Publishing, Branding, UI/UX design, Packaging, motion design, print design are the prominent ones. The publishing sector deals with printing, and all the general sustainability practices and materials apply to them.

“An identity should sustain environment and time.”

38

+

When an identity is designed, it should be timeless and true to the brand. Trademarks and identity system designed to fit trends are most likely to become fads after a while and there comes a need to redesign putting the brand at stake.

A sustainable branding and identity design that lasts for decades.

It should be fluid and adaptable. Design an identity that will grow along with the brand through physical and digital platforms.

A sustainable logo should be recognizable even without its original color. It should be adaptable even when the brand extends the product line or service.

Apart from these, tone of voice, missions, and visions of the brand should also align with environmental sustainability. Brands have been taking conscious decisions. Their branding goals should also align with it accordingly.

Here are few Iconic trademarks that remained relevant and sustained trends.

Apple

Mc Donalds

American multinational technology company. Logo form used since 1976

Chanel

American fast-food company. logo form used since 1968

French luxury fashion house. Logo form in use since 1925.

Nike

Coca cola

Multinational corporation that is engaged in footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, & services.

Logo mark in use since 1978.

Multinational beverage corporation. Logo mark in use since 1941.

39

Packaging

Packaging

Innovators are going beyond materials and designing to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Educating consumers about sustainability is a designer’s responsibility. Tell them the general recycling process for the particular materials in the package. To make the consumer guilty conscious, you also need to tell them why they have to recycle. You can use recycled materials for the lightweight cardboard boxes while shipping. Cut down layers of packaging to make the shipping package smaller.

Plastic bubble wrap can be replaced by Corrugated bubble wrap.

Chapter 5

Packing is the foremost contributor to waste. There is an insane amount of plastic in the landfills and seas which mainly comes from packaging. That is why sustainable packaging not an option but a dire necessity. Packaging is the only branch of graphic design that pollutes directly, and fortunately, designers and brands are reflecting on it. Global companies have taken initiatives to make their packaging bio-renewable, recyclable and bio-degradable.

40

+

Corrugated bubble wrap

Source: Hexcel Wrap

Edible Cutlery

Source: Indiatimes

Take inspiration from fellow designers and study different brands that are doing sustainable packaging.

Mycelium Packaging

Source: Wildsmith

Plant-based packaging material is made from a wide range of sources like hemp mycelium fungus, mushrooms, corn, food waste, and many more which are 100% home compostable.

There is plantable packaging embedded with seeds and plant nutrition, which will start growing into a sapling when planted.

Edible tableware and cutlery replaced single-use plastic. It is highly nutritious, made with various materials at home, and companies mass produce it.

Naked packaging is also a new emerging trend started by beauty and wellness brands. Soaps and bath bombs are sold without any packaging in the store.

41

Digital Sustainability

Digital

That’s about the tangible and hardware part of it. Here is the intangible part where the design elements come into play.

Accessibility comes from clean and clear aesthetics that are not confusing, sharp content formatting that allows the user to use the interface faster, and an experience so smooth that it is almost invisible. Good accessibility means the user spends less time searching for what they need. The user needs to take the least number of actions to the final destination. It means less data transfer which in turn reduces the tasks managed by the server.

Sustainability

Chapter 5

It is absurd to believe the internet and electronics don’t pollute the environment.

The digital carbon footprint is the number of carbon emissions in everyday digital life, including production, consumption, and disposal. The designer’s part is to design to minimize the impact.

A question to ask while using colors for web ‘Is it going to be printed by any chance?” Although we design dark themes to reduce user’s eye strain, those pages need insanely large amounts of ink. Brands use fonts created just for their trademark.

These fonts increase page weight when are used throughout the website, consuming a lot of energy. Hence it is good to use google fonts which are accessible through almost all devices.

Although we don’t deal with frontend web development, understanding hosting servers is necessary. Data saving and transferring through thousands of computers is done by servers. These hosting servers should be sustainable because they run on coal-based electricity, which is non-renewable. As the internet is growing, the servers also grow. In fact, in 2005, Jonathan Koomey reported that the cost of electricity to run these servers worldwide is 7.2 billion US dollars. 1,000 kWh of energy consumed, and 630 kg of CO2 is emitted annually by a server.

Choosing green web hosting services will help reduce wastage.

Page weight and page readability are the parameters to measure performance. Page weight is the amount of energy used to load a page, and readability is how well the content is formatted. For a page to have less page weight and good readability, the page should be minimal with less content and distinguishable color usage. Content includes videos, images, text, icons. While adding the content, assess the importance of the content. Think about what happens when you remove that particular content from the page. Does it make any difference or change the impact? Try to reduce the weight of the content as much as possible.

Finally, take the initiative to educate the user about sustainability.

Green web hosting uses eco-friendly technologies to reduce environmental impact and offsets carbon levels. Since sustainability is the marketing buzzword, not all services are genuine. Some Green-e certifications and labels recognize green web hosting services. The Gold Standard, Green Power Partnership, VCS (Verified Carbon Standard), and Climate Action Reserve are a few.

42

+

43

Final thoughts Graphics and imagery are omnipresent on this planet, and there is an urgent need to add them to our composition. Since it is a part of our everyday lifestyle, it should be sustainable. The only way to close the gap of knowledge is to increase awareness among the newgen designers. It can happen when there are open dialogues, talk shows, and media participation. Educators should start practicing and lead their students on a sustainable path. This book gathered much data on the current state of sustainability within the graphic design profession. The book presented as much information as possible and identified common themes, highlights, and initial analyses. However, there are many ways to look at these data sets and many more ideas to be pulled out. The book opens further scope to explore ideas presented here and find ways to share interesting bits of information with graphic designers.

I hope that others will also continue to expand upon this foundational research to advance further conversations around and the practice of sustainable graphic design. It is not too late to integrate sustainability, other design disciplines and businesses are already embracing sustainability, and the graphic design industry appears ready for change. Graphic designers could wait for business clients to demand sustainable graphic design, or they could instead advocate for sustainability and show relevancy and leadership. If graphic designers believe they have the power to influence people, behaviours and change culture, then helping businesses and brands make the transition into sustainability will be the next big challenge.

44

+

Appendix Eun-JuLee et.al(2020), ‘How to “Nudge” your consumers toward sustainable fashion consumption: An fMRI Investigation’, Journal of Business research, 117(642-651) Brian Baldassarre, Duygu Keskin, Jan Carel Diehl, Nancy Bocken,Giulia Calabretta(2020), ‘Implementing sustainable design theory in business practice: A call to action’, Journal of Cleaner Production, (123113) ZhenyuLi(2019), ‘Application research of digital image technology in graphic design’, Journal of Visual Communication and Image Representation’, 65(102689) Ginn Assibey Bonsu, Alettia V. Chisin &Johannes Cronjé (2019), ‘Challenges to Sustainability in the Graphic Design Practices of a Developing Nation’, Design & Culture, 12(57-81) Simon Laing, Mark Apperle & Masood Masoodian(2017), ‘Investigating the effects of client imagery on the ideation process of graphic design’, Design Studies, 53(78-98) Andrea Di Salvo,Silvia Barbero,Andrea Gaiardo &Giada Rivella(2017), ‘GreenTeam. A new educative approach to sustainable design’ , The Design Journal, 20(1807-1816) Katrina Sandbach(2016) , ‘Graphic Design and the Aesthetics of Place’, Journal Iridescent, 1(148-159) Maria Cadarso(2015), ‘Sustainable Communication Design Principles - 2.0 Version’, Procedia Manufacturing, 3(5993 –6000) Phil McCollam (2014), ‘Redefining Design Ethics Why Graphic Design Needs Professional Self-Regulation’, Design& Culture, 6(315-325) Martina Keitsch(2012), ‘Sustainable Design: A Brief Appraisal of its Main Concepts’, Sustainable Development 20(3) Graham, Lisa M(2012), ‘Towards a More Sustainable Graphic Design Philosophy’, International Journal of the Arts in Society, 6(169-176) B. Bramwell, B. Lane(2008), “Editorial: Priorities in sustainable tourism research,” Journal of Sustainable Tourism,16(1-4)

46

+

Glossary

A

Adhesives

A substance used for sticking objects or materials together; glue

Aesthetics

a set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty.

Asymmetrical balance

The two halves of the work of art are different, however, try to create balance.

B

Biodiversity

The variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to be important and desirable.

Bio-degradable

Substance or object) capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms and thereby avoiding pollution

Bio-renewable

Bioenergy is energy made from biomass or biofuel. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change defines bioenergy as a renewable form of energy.

Bleach

cause a paper to become white or much lighter by a chemical process or by exposure to sunlight.

Brainstorming

Group discussion to produce ideas or solve problems

C

Carbon footprint

The amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular individual, organisation or community.

47

Chiselled

Shaped or cut with a chisel.

CMYK

Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key.

Compostable

Composting is the process of recycling organic waste so that it can eventually be reused.

CRAC

Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC) are cooling units for computer rooms

Cotton seed

Cottonseed, seed of the cotton plant, important commercially for its oil and other products.

D

Decluttering

Remove unnecessary items

Deinkability

The process of removing ink from the paper while recycling.

Double glazing

Windows which have two layers of glass with a space between them, designed to reduce loss of heat.

E

ECF

Elemental Chlorine Free.

Ecosystem

A community or group of living organisms that live in and interact with each other in a specific environment.

Edible tableware

Edible tableware is tableware, such as plates, drinkware and glasses, utensils and cutlery, that is edible.

Energy compliant electronics

Energy Star is a government-backed labeling program that helps people and organizations save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by identifying factories, office equipment, home appliances and electronics that have superior energy efficiency.

48

+

Environmentally friendly

Not harmful to the environment.

F

Fonts

A font is a collection of characters with a similar design. These characters include lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and symbols.

G

Glyphs

A character or symbol.

Graphic design

Graphic design is the art, profession and academic discipline whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages.

Green web hosting

Green hosting or eco-friendly hosting is Internet hosting which involves green technologies to reduce environmental impact.

H Half-toning

Halftone is the reprographic technique that simulates continuous-tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size or in spacing.

Hemp mycelium fungus

A mycelium- based material is a composite consisting of a natural reinforcement or filler, such as hemp fibers.

Hosting servers

Server hosting is an infrastructure delivery model that provides IT users with remote access to server resources (CPU, Memory, Disk, etc.) in order to power applications and store data without the hassle of buying, configuring and maintaining the server hardware themselves.

HVAC

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the technology of indoor and vehicular environmental comfort.

49

I

Ideation

It describes the sequence of thoughts, from the original concept to implementation.

Illustrations

A picture illustrating a book, newspaper, etc.

L

Lamination

Lamination is the technique/process of manufacturing a material in multiple layers, so that the composite material achieves improved strength, stability, sound.

Linseed

The seeds of the flax plant, which are the source of linseed oil and linseed cake.

Logotype, logomark

A logotype is a logo centered around a company name or initials, while a logomark is a logo centered around a symbolic image or icon.

M Mechanical bind

A binding (as for a notebook, catalog, price list) holding pages together by spiral wire, plastic combs, or metal rods.

Methane

A colourless, odourless flammable gas which is the main constituent of natural gas.

Motion design

Essentially, motion design is a discipline that applies graphic design principles to filmmaking and video production through use of animation and visual effects.

N

Nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and carbon dioxide

Chemical compounds environment.

Non-renewable resources

A nonrenewable resource is a natural substance that is not replenished with the speed at which it is consumed. It is a finite resource.

50

harmful

to

+

O

Offset

A consideration or amount that diminishes or balances the effect of an opposite one.

P

Page weight

Page weight – aka page size or page bloat – refers to the overall size of a particular web page, including all of the files that are used to create the page.

PCF

Processed Chlorine Free

Pick glass

A pick glass also known as a piece glass is a magnifying glass helpful in counting thread count.

Pigment

A substance used for colouring or painting, especially a dry powder, which when mixed with oil, water, or another medium constitutes a paint or ink.

Polymer building blocks

The building blocks that make up polymers are called monomers. Thousands or even tens of thousands of monomers connect to form a polymer.

PUA & EVA

Polyurethane Reactive (PUA) and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EUA).

R

Radiation

The emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles, especially high-energy particles which cause ionization.

Readability

The quality of being legible or decipherable.

Resins

A sticky flammable organic substance, insoluble in water, exuded by some trees and other plants.

51

S

Sans serif

A style of type without serifs.

Serif

A slight projection finishing off a stroke of a letter in certain typefaces.

Solvents

Able to dissolve other substances.

Sustainability

Avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance.

T

TCF

Total Chlorine Free.

Tone of voice

Tone of voice is how the character of your business comes through in your words, both written and spoken.

Trademark

A symbol, word, or words legally registered or established by use as representing a company or product.

Tung

Chinese tree bearing seeds that yield tung oil. synonyms: Aleurites fordii, tung tree, tung-oil tree.

Typography

The style and appearance of printed matter

U

UI/UX

User Interface, User Experience.

V

Varnish

Rresin dissolved in a liquid for applying on wood, metal, or other materials to form a hard, clear, shiny surface when dry.

VCS

Veritas Cluster Server.

52

+

53