14 December 2015
Sustainability - an ability or capacity of something to be maintained, supported or to sustain itself; the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance (Environmental Science);
Sustainability is defined as a requirement of our generation to manage the resource base such that the average quality of life that we ensure ourselves can potentially be shared by all future generations. ... Development is sustainable if it involves a non-decreasing average quality of life.
[Geir B. Asheim, The World Bank, 1994]
Greenwashing - disinformation disseminated by an organisation etc., to present an environmentally responsible public image (Oxford English Dictionary) it is showing positive environmental actions layered on other negative ones (selective disclosure) and leaving misleadingly positive impression
Globalisation - process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected as a result of massively increased trade and cultural exchange; it has increased the production of goods and services (BBC, 2015);
the act of globalizing, or extending to other or all parts of the world; worldwide integration and development which has resulted in the loss of some individual cultural identities (English Dictionary)
I have started from looking at the definitions of those three key words to the lecture by Gill Morgan today. Globalisation itself is a very complex topic. The whole presentation has touched many different areas within those title definitions and it relates to numerous issues, such as consumerism and overconsumption, technology and mass production, ecology and environmental issues, life styles, utilisation etc. There was a lot of things to be questioned within own life style and care for culture or natural environment. Working in the art and design industry requires deeper consideration indeed. It's the way of doing things, moral spine and using particular sources or materials.
Do I care? Should I take responsibility for it as an artist/designer? Well the answer to both questions would be yes. As I have mentioned in my previous posts I would like to make designs sending a good message and be environmental friendly. I want my design to be ethical as well. I am aware that it won't be always possible but I will try my best and I don't think I could cross the ethical boundaries for money. I will try to as responsible as I can. It's important what designs do, not just what materials are used. I believe in sustainable design. I think it is also trendy and many companies actually care for it while trying to reach people's attention. Well...others seem to not care at all, for instance packaging companies using three types of wrapping for few chocolate bars. However it should be considered as the condition of Earth and future of next generations relies on all of us. It's our shared responsibility as humans.
Consumerism is a continual circle we live in. We need and we want stuff to live or to live entertained and comfortable. But with general progress and technology comes waste and smog threatening the planet we all live on. Our needs and luxuries are changing. Just about couple of decades ago, for example, healthy life style was much easier. Ecologic and organic goods were nothing unusual. Nowadays it's in high demand and costs much more... It is also more effort to find good quality products and while food industry overloads our food with chemical supplements, it is necessary to read the labels properly. As a mother I'm trying to do it as well as I can sadly very often finding something unhealthy in majority of products. Often happens that you actually pay for a brand not its quality at all. Sometimes cheaper doesn't mean worse. Advertising is all about the brand and does massive encouragement campaigns for things that are useless or valueless. As a designer I would like to make a good impact and possibly make sustainability beautiful visually and more desirable. Design definitely matters and it's all about the creative invention. It's all about making appearance of things desirable for buyers. In fashion industry particularly, words like 'eco' and 'green' don't work as much. People are not prepared to pay more just because ethical issues unless they just want the product/garmont itself (they prepare to save money and pay more). It's making sustainability cool. Nothing exists in complete isolation and it's important to see the connections. One thing leads to another. All areas of design and art relate to economies, consumerism and the environment state in the end which directly connects with our health.
''The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) estimates that 75% of UK consumers' carbon emissions come from the use of products and services. We also know that 80% of the environmental impacts of those products and services are determined in the early stages of design.'' (Morgan, 2015)
''Victor Papanek, godfather of sustainable design, in
1972 accused designers of creating useless, unnecessary and unsafe products and
“stuff-lust”, which promoted materialistic lifestyles.'' Today it seems like more creators, designers and users think about the issue.
During the lecture we've looked at the Guardian website and their list of recent sustainable product design which I think could make a difference. All different little things, public effort and initiative put together can change the future for better.
Here are the projects that got my attention:
NEST: a learning thermostat which learns user's behaviour and adjusts household temperature settings to particular usage patterns (by ex-iPod designers)
New refillable household cleaning products packaging/bottle with concentrated recharging cartridge screwed into the bottom (95% of it is water which can be added from the top). It enables saving waste and materials, along with the transport emissions from shipping water (by Replenish)
Water Cones: an easy-to-use and portable one-person solar still, which transforms saltwater into purified drinking water simply through sunshine (by Stephane Auguston)
Multi-functional clothing design offers a ten-piece wardrobe for 365 days, including a 4-in-1 coat/dress/jacket/skirt made out of natural and recycled materials (it can be returned after a year for upcycling with given discounts on the next year's range)
511 Commuter range jeans designed to encourage cycling by making it easier and more comfortable: strap, handy for easier locking, nano-coating for waterproof feature, crotch support for longevity of jeans, reflective strips for safety (by Levis)
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| Levis, 511 Commuter range (2011), Photograph: PR |
Besides using environment-friendly materials and processes which can be a big concern within companies, as graphic designers and creatives we can also make it look cool and advertise it simply by doing it ethically and sustainably or work on the product, services or awareness campaigns which make solutions to the problem.
It's surely worth to mention some other examples of designs, companies or actions mentioned today, such as:
Conscious Exclusive 2016 by H&M (fashion collection in collaboration with Louvre, Paris inspired by the museum's archives);
working on water saving strategies in textiles/fashion production by H&M and WWF;
MINK shoes (custom designed and hand crafted from only the finest quality non-animal products, extremely unique and limited);
Patagonia production/mission (simple and functional product design); Snap Donate app (image recognition for easier charities donations); Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) new generation design entry: eco-friendly and energy saving (however the problem are tiny bits of mercury used in the production which cannot be safely disposed with normal litter); Clever Little Bag campaign by Puma (reusable bag instead of shoe boxes) and its eco product development.
It also reminded me of the visit at the Design Museum in London last year. At the time I went there the selection 2015 of 76 thought-provoking design works was held to showcase. I has offered various individual eco-friendly solutions of all sort of categories, including many designs that promotes or deliver change or improve lives.
This French posters, with their bold and playful approach, confident vibrant colours and large scale, definitely called my attention. I think irregular and extraordinary shaped fruit and vegetables is a great graphic advertising idea. It's different and brings more interest. It impacts on our thinking. These images also play with viewer's imagination, so they're interactive in some way (easily humanised; they seem to be active, in some sort of movement/pose which developed own type of body language). The posters are nicely balanced through with colour (captions match the image0 while solid typeface brings up confidence of what they're saying. It's also quite humorous in the same time. The campaign was a response to the European Union's year against food waste in 2014 (each year 300 mln tonnes of fruit and veg are thrown away , with 57% due to their irregular shapes). The aim was to influence the customers' shopping habits and perceptions, to convince them that these taste exactly the same as the regular ones, additionally offering great money value: 30% cheaper. The campaign was very successful and the project was adopted by other supermarkets. It integrated film, store posters and window stickers, billboards, radio, TV, PR and social media to celebrate ''ridiculous potato, the hideous orange or the failed lemon.''
''People should not consume without thought, buying up stuff all the time. Buy less and make it last; if you love something, wear it all the time. Find things that suit you.'' (Vivienne Westwood) It's surely worth to mention some other examples of designs, companies or actions mentioned today, such as:
Conscious Exclusive 2016 by H&M (fashion collection in collaboration with Louvre, Paris inspired by the museum's archives);
working on water saving strategies in textiles/fashion production by H&M and WWF;
MINK shoes (custom designed and hand crafted from only the finest quality non-animal products, extremely unique and limited);
Patagonia production/mission (simple and functional product design); Snap Donate app (image recognition for easier charities donations); Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) new generation design entry: eco-friendly and energy saving (however the problem are tiny bits of mercury used in the production which cannot be safely disposed with normal litter); Clever Little Bag campaign by Puma (reusable bag instead of shoe boxes) and its eco product development.
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Strategy (Fuseproject 2010)
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Yves-Behar, Fuseproject
Clever Little Bag campaign (2010) for Puma
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It also reminded me of the visit at the Design Museum in London last year. At the time I went there the selection 2015 of 76 thought-provoking design works was held to showcase. I has offered various individual eco-friendly solutions of all sort of categories, including many designs that promotes or deliver change or improve lives.
This French posters, with their bold and playful approach, confident vibrant colours and large scale, definitely called my attention. I think irregular and extraordinary shaped fruit and vegetables is a great graphic advertising idea. It's different and brings more interest. It impacts on our thinking. These images also play with viewer's imagination, so they're interactive in some way (easily humanised; they seem to be active, in some sort of movement/pose which developed own type of body language). The posters are nicely balanced through with colour (captions match the image0 while solid typeface brings up confidence of what they're saying. It's also quite humorous in the same time. The campaign was a response to the European Union's year against food waste in 2014 (each year 300 mln tonnes of fruit and veg are thrown away , with 57% due to their irregular shapes). The aim was to influence the customers' shopping habits and perceptions, to convince them that these taste exactly the same as the regular ones, additionally offering great money value: 30% cheaper. The campaign was very successful and the project was adopted by other supermarkets. It integrated film, store posters and window stickers, billboards, radio, TV, PR and social media to celebrate ''ridiculous potato, the hideous orange or the failed lemon.''
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Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables campaign (2015)
Designed by Marcel for Intermarche, France
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Buying new little treasures is really nice time to time. I have to admit, shopping not for anything in particular usually relaxes me. However, a lot of people, including me, have possibly few pieces of fashion for years and even they get really worn and useless we often keep them, we get attached to them things because how we feel wearing them or due to memories they bring. Obviously we all want good quality clothes but also in price we can afford. It's not always our choice. Sometimes we simply can't choose more expensive option.
Vivienne Westwood, one of the world's most influential British fashion designers, got really involved in the issue of dangerous climate change and planet Earth has become her priority. With concerns about mass production and very strong ecological beliefs, she focuses on quality rather than quantity.
Dame Westwood supported EJF charity with ''No Place Like Home'' campaign raising awareness of climate change and refugees forced from their homes because of that. She was also really involved in ''Save the Arctic'' campaign for Greenpeace and she designed a T-shirt with a heart-shaped globe. Believing that the message can be sent across more effectively through celebrities (more responsive public opinion), many well-known faces feature on campaign's portraits.
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| No Place Like Home campaign, Environmental Justice Foundation |
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Save The Arctic campaign, Greenpeace
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References:
Dictionary.com, (2015). the definition of globalisation. [online] Available at: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/globalisation [Accessed 28 Dec. 2015].
Dictionary.com, (2015). the definition of sustainability. [online] Available at: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sustainability [Accessed 28 Dec. 2015].
BBC.co.uk, (2015). BBC - GCSE Bitesize: What is globalisation?. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/globalisation/globalisation_rev1.shtml [Accessed 28 Dec. 2015].
Morgan, G. (2015). Sustainability, Greenwashing and Globalisation.
The Guardian. (2012). Sustainable product design - in pictures. [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/gallery/sustainable-product-design-in-pictures [Accessed 23 Feb. 2016].
Thorpe, V. (2014). Vivienne Westwood: climate change, not fashion, is now my priority. [online] the Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/feb/08/vivienne-westwood-arctic-campaign [Accessed 23 Feb. 2016].
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