Sustainable Design

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN A CAMPAIGN DESIGN RESEARCH PROPOSAL / MDES DESIGN COMMUNICATIONS PATRICIA QUIGLEY

The initial concept for sustainable design came from wanting to be a good and ethical designer. Also after working in the design industry for over 10 years I have become frustrated with the amount of wastage in the printing process.

Sustainable design is becoming increasingly important as climate change has become ever present in our daily lives with record rainfall levels and temperatures being reached this year.

Researching “Being a good designer” I came across Dieter Rams who has emerged as one of the most influential industrial designers of the late 20th century. Rams as head of design at Braun, the German consumer electronics manufacturer, defined an elegant, legible, yet rigorous visual language for its products. His Ten Principles of good design can be applied to all design disciplines.

DIETER RAMS’ TEN PRINCIPLES OF GOOD DESIGN: Good design is innovative.

Good design makes a product useful.

Good design is aesthetic.

Good design makes a product understandable.

Good design is unobtrusive.

Good design is honest.

Good design is long-lasting.

Good design is thorough down to the last detail.

TP 1 radio/phono combination, 1959, by Dieter Rams for Braun.

Good design is environmentally friendly.

Good design is as little design as possible.

ITERATIVE

SOLUTION

RATIONAL

PLAN

A CAMPAIGN FOR SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

MULTIFACTORIAL

PROCESS

CREATIVE & NOVEL

The process of this project will cover all of the above. I have a clear plan to investigate sustainable design, focusing on the materials and the processes that will be used along with the ever important message.

The process will be will take the form of a creative design solution which will be multifactorial and rational. There will be a start a middle and an end result. This project will be created and crafted taking influences from research material, illustration, photography, printing and experiments under taken by myself.

DESIGNERS ARE TRAINED PROBLEM SOLVERS WHO PROVIDE CREATIVE DESIGN SOLUTIONS. Urgent attention must be paid to environmental issues and graphic designers have the skills to significantly cut production, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase recycling potential.

From observing current trends, printing is often restrained by budget and a required finish, clients often request a certain look(usually full colour gloss) at the minimum cost. Designers need to constantly remind their clients that there is a more sustainable way.

Even by simply switching from coated, glossy paper to uncoated paper will reduce our carbon footprint. Graphic designers must look at the bigger picture, it is not just a case of using the right paper and processes, environmental sustainability and the social justice of the message that they portray is essential.

Considering technical application as the first layer, and content or message of the design as the second layer, then the third, and deepest layer of sustainable graphic design is the application of graphic design skills as an agent for change to sustainability on a global scale.

(Bedrossian, 2005).

THE USERS: Young, old and in between, anyone with an interest in reducing waste.

Report shows that although the quantity of waste that was recycled increased between 2005 and 2006, in Ireland, so too did the total quantity of waste generated. So rather than reducing our amount of waste it is actually increasing.

We are not on target for 2010.

This week our world leaders are meeting in Copenhagen to discuss the climate change, scientists are convinced the world must stop the growth in greenhouse gas emissions and start making them fall very soon. To have a chance of keeping warming under the dangerous 2C mark, cuts of 25%-40% relative to 1990 levels are needed, rising to 80%-95% by 2050. So far, the offers on the table are way below these targets.

THE CUSTOMER: Designers, local authorities, county councils, environmental organisations, schools, companies who have a conscience and wish to do the right thing while advertising and promoting their company.

Tiny Little Horse a design company based in Dublin, are an inspirational company who have produced limited edition screen prints for many companies across the globe including Absolut Vodka. Their clients express an interest in sustainability by choosing them to advertise their events, products, company.

INSPIRATION TINY LITTLE HORSE

I intend to take influence from the work by Tiny Little Horse and develop my own creative style using screen prints and recycled paper. I have sourced facilities in Enniskillen and Omagh for screen printing. I have spoken to Rivermedia, who produce The Post Newspaper titles, who are happy for me to use their waste paper for printing.

I also intend to create my own paper from shredded paper, this paper will become an independent product taking on a number of forms such as scented paper for lining draws, carrier bags or greetings cards. Some of the paper will have seeds embedded in it where by it will take on a life of its own.

INSPIRATION ANDY GOLDSWORTHY

Andy Goldsworthy is a brilliant British artist who collaborates with nature to make his creations. Besides England and Scotland, his work has been created at the North Pole, in Japan, the Australian Outback, and in the U.S. He makes art from the material he finds to hand: twigs, leaves, stones, snow and ice, reeds and thorns.

Goldsworthy regards all his creations as transient, or ephemeral. He photographs each piece once right after he makes it. His goal is to understand nature by directly participating in nature as intimately as he can. His work has a zero carbon footprint.

REFERENCES Books Papanek, Victor, The Green Imperative: Ecology and Ethics in Design and Architecture. Thames and Hudson, 1995.

Documentaries Rivers and Tides released 7 March 2002 (A portrait of Andy Goldsworthy working with time.)

The Age of Stupid; http://www.ageofstupid.net/ Magazines Coast, Issue 45, December 2009 - January 2010 Reports CEWEP Briefing Paper July 2008 Green, Rebecca, Sustainable Graphic Design, What can be done to promote the use of sustainable graphic design in Brisbane? Design Research Project, 2007.

Pranayama, Aristarchus ,The Signification of Ecological Awareness in Visual Communication Design Education. (NIRMANA Vol. 7, No. 1, January 2005), 2005 CEWEP Ireland’s Reliance on Landfill, Briefing Paper July 2008 Websites http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/society-and-environment http://www.epa.ie http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/10/copenhagen-climatechange-summit http://www.tinylittlehorse.com http://www.vitsoe.com/en/gb/about/dieterrams/gooddesign

DESIGN RESEARCH PROPOSAL / MDES DESIGN COMMUNICATIONS PATRICIA QUIGLEY