Graphic Design For Environmental and Social Change

Posted on November 18, 2009 by itees

I just received an email where the ONE.org (organization) asked the members to send in their ideas for a new t-shirt. They received over 500 designs, and the expert (?) judges selected 3 finalists, followed by more than 58,000 people voting for their favorite. The winning t-shirt was designed by Valerie Strecker of Slidell, Louisiana. Okay, my first question is, is Valerie a graphic designer? I just googled her and I cannot find anything about her. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with her design, I’m just wondering if she’s done other things and I as a designer, would like to see them. If anyone can enlighten me, I’m awaiting the comments.

What is interesting to me is a quote by Chalya Shagaya (ex fashion model turned fashion stylist and holds a degree in Justice and another in Computer Information Systems; her company is Stickman Concepts), which cuts right to the heart of the original message I was was trying to convey when I first launched this site in 2006… which was to wear clothing that says something about yourself or helps spread a message, not just a brand or designer’s name. Chalya said,“What we wear says a lot about who we are…the right design has the power to go even further, and spark a global conversation. It starts with, ‘I love your shirt, what does it mean?’ and ends with greater awareness of the role we can all play in ending poverty and disease in some of the most vulnerable place on earth.”

Now, I must say that I’m very upset about this new arena for graphic designers. We are being watered down by a population growth in the industry and at the same time so many companies are outsourcing and driving the value of what we do down. Throw into the mix the new websites popping up where they’ve asked designers to enter contests for FREE, and compete against each other for a small winning fee. This is as shameful as the industry can get. We must start a campaign to close down this practice.

As a designer who has been working for almost 30 years, I know we deserve more respect and I’m horrified with new designers entering the profession each year and what they must think. If the only way for them to win assignments is to compete against their friends and the industry throughout the world for FREE, it’s a sad situation for the design industry.

100 bloggers, 100 green books, 1 day

Posted on October 25, 2009 by itees

Here’s the idea. 100 bloggers, 100 books, 1 day!

100 bloggers each selected one book from the list created by Eco-Libris and we will each review our book on the same day, at the same time!

Started by Raz Godelnik of Eco-Libris, he’s put together a list of 100 books that are meeting the “green” criteria (recycled or FSC-certified paper), with preference for newer books, that are good for children and/or adults. We each picked the book we wanted to review (first come, first served basis) and they asked the publishers to send us a review copy. All Bloggers will publish simultaneously their book review on Tuesday, November 10, at exactly 1:00 PM EST.

I chose, “Hope and the Super Green Highway” a children’s book by Helen Moore and Louise Rouse, published by Lollypop Publishing Ltd, UK.

We’ll ask participating bloggers and publishers to tweet these posts and use any other social network they usually use to spread the word on these reviews. We’ll provide further instructions later on about the best ways to magnify the effect of your post. As soon as the posts are published, we’ll release a post with all of the links so we can all interlink, comment and actively participate in this green lit conversation.

They’ll ask all the participating bloggers and publishers to tweet posts and use any other social networks, like LinkedIn and Facebook, to spread the word on these reviews.

As soon as the 100 posts are published, Eco-Libris will release a post with all of the blog reviewer’s links, so we can all interlink, comment and actively participate in this green lit conversation.

This is a wonderful concept, bringing attention to responsible, eco-friendly printing as well as “green” topics and having us all publish at the same time, gives this the importance it demands.

Green design, printing and vegetable inks

Posted on September 24, 2009 by itees

New “Green Graphic Design” book

A new book has come out that I’m going to get, asap! (amazon link) Green Graphic Design by Brian Dougherty and Celery Design Collaborative.
“This book begins by asking designers to look at the end result of their work – what will happen to it after it’s been used? It then challenges designers to “design backwards”, a process similar in concept to backcasting. In this case, designers would begin by considering where the piece will end up, what the user experience will be, how it will be distributed (including delivery and warehousing) and what the production process will be (including printing and bindery).”

Green printing

It’s important to recycle. As designers for our clients, we need to help them make the right decisions about what needs to be printed, the purpose, and judge the right quantity for less waste. We can also think of creative ways to reuse a piece. A few of my theatrical clients ask the audience to leave the programs on their seats after a show if they don’t need them, that way they can reuse them.

I see a reduction this year in print promotional products, because client’s budgets have been cut. There is a beneficial side to this in that it’s saving trees and producing less waste. However, they still need to promote, so there is an increase in e-mail campaigns.

What are vegetable and soy inks?

I found this very helpful site, GreenPrinter.com, and they explain about the different types of ink:

“Soy and other vegetable-based inks are less harmful to the environment than their petroleum-based counterparts. Soy and vegetable products are used in ink for their oils, which act as the vehicle for the ink pigments. There are several types of vegetable-based printing inks, including linseed (Flax), tung (Chinawood), castor, canola, and safflower.

Soy is popular because it is a very stable material that exhibits excellent “wetting” properties which enhance its ability to carry solid pigments. Most manufacturers of soy and vegetable based inks today actually “blend” ingredients, in order to take advantage of the unique characteristics of each oil.

Some portion of raw materials are emitted into the atmosphere during both the manufacture and printing of ink. The heightened environmental consciousness of recent years has resulted in a campaign to reduce VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) in inks.”