Design Can Change is an initiative encouraging graphic designers not only to consider the environment when they design projects but to think strategically about sustainability.
Design Can Change is an initiative encouraging graphic designers not only to consider the environment when they design projects but to think strategically about sustainability.
Attached is a Sustainable Design Checklist to help you focus your decisions through the design process.
And below are some additional ideas from
Design Can Change that will supplement the
Checklist and which should get the ball rolling toward change:
Design and strategy:
- Design for re-use
- Maximize the shelf-life of your design
- Scrutinize the efficiency of your selected method
- Compare the impacts of each concept you develop
- Employ targeted efforts instead of mass mailings
- Do your proofing on-screen
- Encourage rich PDFs for annual reports
- Eliminate blank pages in your booklets and brochures
- Use office scrap paper or a tablet for sketching and brainstorming
- Learn about greenwashing, promise never to engage in it, and call out any product guilty of it
Production:
- Use local vendors who are committed to the environment
- Print on PCW (Post Consumer Waste) stock
- Try running your next project on cotton or kenaf fiber if it's available to you
- Maximize use of the entire press sheet
- Minimize ink coverage
- Learn the words chlorine-free and vegetable-based and insist upon them
- Choose products that are manufactured with renewable energy
- Keep tabs on the latest printing and production technologies
- Avoid transporting printed proofs by using printers with synched and calibrated monitors for review
Your Business:
- Make best use of your website and limit your reliance on printed promotions
- Provide preferential pricing to organizations who embrace sustainability
- Treat your commitment as a competitive advantage in marketing efforts and when bidding on projects
- Become an expert, and counsel your clients on how to become more sustainable in their practices
- Get connected with local environmental groups and pool resources
- Go paperless: invoice digitally or sign-up for online bill notification
Around the Studio:
- Use your knowledge of green design in revamping your workspace
- Recycle all of your computer equipment and ink cartridges
- Use rewritable formats and web services instead of disposable media
- Turn off the lights on a sunny day
- Go vegetarian at lunch
- Get a filter and drink water from your tap
- Walk to meetings, ride a bike or take transit
- Limit use of motorized couriers
- Consider buying energy credits
- Embrace a green lifestyle when you leave the studio
As we all approach sustainability from a different perspective, the best advice is take what you want from this list and leave the rest.
