Abstract:
“Designers, manufacturers, and consumers all over the world are starting to look beyond the way products look and perform, to consider what goes on when products are made and what happens when they are eventually disposed of.” - (from ‘Sustainable Products’ by Edwin Datschefski)
Ethics in design is a topic that we are made more aware of each day. Sustainability, green design, civil branding…they’re all conscientious objectives that designers now seem to be taking into account more than ever. I’m interested in this ‘green’ phenomena and what impact you can have on the world as a design student and a ‘creator of stuff’.
The area of ‘green design’ that interests me most is the recycling and repossessing of materials and objects and reusing them for an entirely new purpose. There is so much waste produced everyday and I’m interested in researching how artists and designers alike can get creative with recycling, and redefine their ‘waste’.
Consumption is a word used to describe acts of acquisition – generally, the acquisition of things, in exchange for money. Unconsumption is a word used to describe everything that happens after an act of acquisition:
“Unconsumption means the thrill of finding a new use for something that you were about to throw away.… Find[ing] a new home for the functioning VCR you just replaced, rather than throwing it in the garbage.… Enjoying the things you own to the fullest – not just at the moment of acquisition.”
- (Nick from the blog ‘Design Less Better’)
This report will look into new and innovative ideas that challenge people to take on a more responsible relationship with the "stuff" in their lives. As well as looking into ethical and green design companies such as ‘Lovely As A Tree’, ‘Thomas Matthews’, and ‘Zerofee’ for a general overview on ‘how to be a greener designer’; the report will investigate designers and artists that redefine their waste, and what their philosophy is on the subject. Examples include the likes of; Nek Chand, Sara Fanelli, Michael Reynolds, Kurt Schwitters, Evan Dublin, and companies such as reestore.com.
Hopefully I’ll get to creatively recycle as well. Experiment and see what I can make and how I can incorporate it into my own graphic projects in the first term. I could even have a more light-hearted approach to my report and incorporate a ‘How To’ for the readers – ‘how to create your own household pets out of your unwanted trash!’…or something along those lines.
Possible chapters headings:
- Ethics & Green Design:
Introducing the topic with information on the ‘green design’ phenomena, the impact graphic design has on the planet and what designers can do about it. Research into ethical and ‘green’ companies such as: lovely as a tree, Thomas Matthews, three trees, zerofee etc. What is their ethical standpoint and how go they achieve greener design? Are designers in a wonderful position in terms of changing things? Can they revolutionise their own industry once they’ve understood it? The report could perhaps include interviews from people like Caroline Clark, who could help people to understand her philosophy and give advice on how to be green.
- Consumption & Unconsumption:
“Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption…we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.”
A chapter on the wastefulness of today’s society and the rise of consumerism. Why are things the way they are? Perhaps some ‘frightening statistics’ on waste and consumption. Introduce the idea of ‘unconsumption’ and how people can get creative with their waste. A revolution?
- Creative Recycling:
Research into artists, designers, and architects who redefine their waste by using it to create something else. Example:
Michael Reynolds is an architect, innovator, and founder of Earthships. For more than three decades, he has been using recycled materials to build self-sufficient, off-the-grid housing. When he looks at "waste" Michael sees raw materials for sustainable living -- structures that might someday shelter large numbers of people.
Examples of their projects, and a little about their green philosophy.
- Redefining your waste:
A chapter on my own creative recycling. Documenting my projects and see how many interesting things I can come up with using recycled/repossessed materials. Are the designs successful? From this maybe I can produce a ‘How To’ for the reader/other designers, a more light-hearted approach to the report.
The report could also include research into where you can get your creative materials from. As well as using your own waste, is there a way you can ‘help out’ by taking rubbish or waste away? Charity shops? You’re helping a good cause by taking it. Freecycle.com is where people advertise their unwanted stuff and you can take it for free if you want it. Should there be something like this created for graphic designers? Unwanted ink, unwanted paper etc.
- Postponing the inevitable?
Summarise the report with Q&A’s. Questions like: is this creative recycling really helping, or is it just postponing the inevitable? Things will get thrown away eventually, surely?
Is this kind of recycling actually green, or does the process actually accumulate more waste and use unethical methods to create it (glue etc.)?
Can this ‘creative recycling’ be achieved on a large scale to benefit us and the planet? Is green design too idealistic? Or can it really change things?
Action Plan:
- Places I need to visit: Design Council, The V&A, Conway Hall, Design Museum ,Tate, Science Museum – the museums and galleries might have interesting or innovative products that I can look to for inspiration when doing my own recycling. I think it’s important to get a look at things first hand so you can get to grips with the project.
- People I need to research: Nat Hunter, Caroline Clark, Stefan Sagmeister, Sara Fanelli, Kurt Schwitters, Nek Chand, Andy Goldsworthy, Michael Reynolds, Evan Dublin etc.
- Perhaps see if I can interview a few ‘ethical’ designers and ask about their standpoint on the topic. This is a good way of gathering my own primary material to work with. Maybe they could offer advice or tips on how to be green?
- I need to collect some statistics or facts on consumerism and waste – for the ‘shock factor’. I’ll accumulate most of this on the internet, I imagine. I need to research a good source for this kind of information first though.
- Research more in-depth into methods of sustainable graphic design - examples of stock, inks, printers, production and finishing techniques. The ethical design companies’ websites are a good place to start for this kind of thing.
- There are a tremendous number of blogs and websites that provide information, facts and advice on my topic of interest and they’re always linked to other places that provide even more information. This is a good way of accumulating potential companies and designers that practice good, green design.
- Of course books will also play a big part in providing general information on ethical design, and books about sustainable or green eco products (eg. ‘The Eco-Design Handbook’ by Alastair Fuad-Luke) will definitely be helpful when writing the report. Esepecially when searching for practising green designers.
Bibliography:
(Things I have looked at, and things I have yet to look at)
Books/Publications:
Brower, Cara. (2009) ‘Experimental Eco-Design: Product, Architecture, Fashion’. RotoVision.
Berman, David B. (2008) ‘Do Good Design’. Peachpit Press.
McDonough, William and Braungart, Michael. (2009) ‘Cradle to Cradle’. Vintage.
Fuad-Luke, Alastair. (2005) ‘The Eco-Design Handbook’. Thames & Hudson
Heller, Steven and Vienne, Veronique. (2003) ‘Citizen Designer’. Allworth Press.
Datschefski, Edwin. (2001) ‘The Total Beauty of Sustainable Products’. RotoVision.
Sagmeister, Stefan. (2001) 'Made You Look'. Booth-Clibborn Editions.
Sagmeister, Stefan. (2007) 'Things I Have Learnt'. Harry N Abrams.
Berger, John. (1972) 'Ways of Seeing’. BBC Books.
Papanek, Victor. (1985) ‘Design for the Real World’. Thames & Hudson.
Dougherty, Brian and Celery Design Collaborative. (2008) ‘Green Graphic Design’. Allworth Press.
Roberts, Lucienne. (2006) ‘Good: An Introduction to Ethics in Graphic Design’. AVA Publishing.
Wilhide, Elizabeth. (2004) ‘Eco: An Essential Sourcebook for Environmentally Friendly Design and Decoration’. Quadrille Publishing Ltd.
Websites/Blogs:
http://www.reestore.com
http://www.superuse.org
http://www.designlessbetter.com
http://www.eco-age.com/press
http://www.whatiswaste.com
http://www.lovelyasatree.com
http://zerofee.org/goodthinking
http://greenupgrader.com
http://blog.newspaperclub.co.uk
http://www.endsreport.com
http://forumforthefuture.com
http://www.biothinking.com
http://www.cfsd.org.uk/journal
http://www.learningtoloveyoumore.com
http://freecycle.com
http://www.ted.com
http://www.civilbranding.com
http://www.thinkpublic.com
http://threetreesdontmakeaforest.org
http://www.storyofstuff.com
http://www.greenyouroffice.co.uk
http://www.beunpackaged.com
Hi Liz,
ReplyDeleteThis is starting to read like a proposal – good work. You need to remove/reword the bits that are “I think…”. For example your opening statement could read:
‘The green phenomenon is making designers consider what impact they can have on the world as ‘creators of stuff’. One area of green design is the recycling and repossessing of materials and objects and reusing them for an entirely new purpose. Millions of tonnes of waste are produced everyday [put a statistic in here to be as precise as possible]. This report will investigate how artists and designers alike can get creative with recycling, and redefine their ‘waste’.’
I know you are primarily interested in creative recycling but I am a bit unclear about who you are aiming this at? You have identified architects/artists/product designers who employ these methods in their work – but is this report for graphic designers? If so, what relevance does it aim to have to the work of a graphic designer (who most often works behind a computer screen, not with actual objects)?
Perhaps the aim is to investigate the world of creative recycling in order to devise a series of creative recycling awareness-raising workshops for designers/design students – getting them to be aware of the amount of junk they produce and where it ends up? So that they reduce the amount they create and actually make environmentally responsible design decisions in the first place.
This would lend your report a focussed direction, and ensure that it doesn't end up as another vague 'green design is good' article. It would also mean you could have some fun making objects, gathering design waste and enabling other people to make stuff!
Catherine
You’ve got loads here and you’ve gathered lots of potentially useful material – a very strong position to be at this stage. I do feel you need to focus in on an aspect of recycling that really interests you personally as a designer however. We chatted during your tutorial about how can an illustrator recycle or be ethical? This would be a good area to focus on – obviously some illustrators use collage like Martin O’Neil and Sara Fanelli – the role of an illustrator is to tell stories and ‘illuminate’ people with insights into the world with their personal voices - have a think of how you can narrow this all down to something that deals with the whole green thing in a new way.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment your scope is much to wide – I’d be very brief about the whole ethical aspect/history etc and get very quickly to the essence – designers and artists reusing and repurposing stuff.
Have a look at Raw Vision http://www.rawvision.com/ lots of the artists it features use recycled materials. Also cultures such as Mexico, India and Africa have traditions of reusing materials in innovative ways. What can we learn from them?
Maybe make a decision about do you really just want to ‘recycle’ all the stuff that’s out there about green design or do you want to do something smaller yet more poignant and punchy and practically rewarding for yourself?
Liz,
ReplyDeleteSign up for this:
http://greengaged.com/articles/view/greengaged-at-the-design-council-for-the-london-design-festival-2009/
Also google 'RCA Sustain' - might be of interest.
C