Sustainable Design Culture


7 Principles for Sustainable Design Thinking

  1. QUESTION EVERYTHING: Don’t just copy last year’s solution, focus on solving the problem. When it comes to repeat projects, often the client and designer are of the mindset that the parameters remain the same, but that’s not the case. Does this piece HAVE to be the old size? Do we HAVE to use the same printer? Does it HAVE to be full color? Do we HAVE to print it?

  2. THINK BACKWARDS: Once you’ve figured out what the constraints are, make smart decisions about what you can do within those parameters. Low print quantity and strict budget? Design in two color so that you can afford UV inks and recycled paper. Massive print run? Ask if the client can poll their list for who would prefer to receive the materials online or in e-book format so that they can reduce the print quantity.

  3. SIZE DOES MATTER: Everyone knows about right-sizing – making sure the packaging around a product is as small as possible. But few designers try to right-size a press sheet to minimize waste. If you know the size of your print piece, find out the press sheet size and mock-up how the printer will layout the project. If there is a large waste of paper, see if the size can be adjusted to conserve paper (and your client’s budget), or see if the client needs something else printed that can be added to the press sheet. We’ve created plenty of client business cards out of excess packaging folding board.

  4. BE MATERIALISTIC: Think of the full lifecycle of a material before you use it. Can you buy a material that’s made of recycled waste? Made overseas at a certified ethical factory? Once it’s been used, how easily can the consumer recycle it? If it’s biodegradable, can they backyard compost it, or do they need to have access to an industrial composting facility?

  5. CLEANER IS BETTER: Toxins are in almost every part of the production process, but sometimes you can remove them if you just ask. Metallic inks, foil stamps, and most varnishes create toxic runoff and contaminate the paper recycling process. Most glues are synthetic resins that release VOCs and also contaminate recycling systems. Water based adhesives exist, but you have to ask for it. Knowing where toxins exist in the production process helps you eliminate them in your design.

  6. REINCARNATE: Plan beyond the project’s expected lifecycle. Could you make that package reusable for refills or some other handy purpose? If not, how will it be disposed of? If the client is selling to a small local market, find out about the waste system there, use materials that can easily be recycled, and clearly label the product with recycling instructions.

  7. REFLECT: There’s no such thing as a perfect project because there are always limitations. Think of what you would do differently if you had a chance. What materials you couldn’t use or didn’t yet exist. Evaluating whether your design was able to meet the above criteria can set you up for better success on the next project.

It’s our hope that someday sustainable practices are a part of every design schools’ curriculum and that all designers consider the full life cycle of what they are creating. Until that time though, if you are interested in learning more about sustainable design on your own, here is my recommended reading list:

 
 

Building a Sustainable Design Culture

From a packaging industry perspective, designers must take a more active role in production and manufacturing in order to develop a sustainable product cycle. It’s important to ask what energy sources a printer or data center uses, to research alternative inks and materials, to question everything you do. It just takes time and practice to make these practices the standard, not the exception. For example, we’ve covered these ideas in this post (also about Green Graphic Design), and this series on event planning, and in this post about the Green Design and Print Production Handbook.

But beyond checklists and internal industry tools, what are other ways to build a long-lasting sustainable design culture within your workplace? 


Rethinking innovation 

You’re probably already receiving messaging about your company’s mission and values. But if climate action doesn’t already exist at the center of everything your company does, ask - why not? If this innovation isn’t good for people or the planet, then consider how you can change it. What could possibly be more important than preserving all life as we know it? Metrics? Profit? (I’ll let you answer that question for yourself).

With new technologies and systems emerging to accommodate the speed of innovation, it is critical to keep sustainability at the forefront of every conversation. As Dougherty explains in Green Graphic Design, sustainable design “attempts to answer the call of our global environmental crisis with innovation and creativity,” which companies are especially well-positioned to do right now (46). If the climate crisis is the ultimate design problem, then consider how your company can bring its creativity to help solve it.

Encouraging individuals

Having a conversation about office sustainability is one of the first steps you can take to reduce your business’ carbon footprint. (For a list of specific steps, see the blog posts I linked above.) Individual action may not yield the fastest results, but it is effective in changing your mindset to begin systems thinking on a larger scale - after all, we’re trying to change the way we think about everything here.

In order to develop a culture around sustainability, there are a few different strategies depending on your position in the company. As a manager, support and encourage team members who are taking an interest in sustainability or climate action. As an employer, provide time for volunteering or activism. Create systems that make it easier for your employees to get involved. As a designer, in your next packaging project, consider what would make it easier for a consumer to dispose of your product. Maybe you add recycling instructions on the label, or suggest ways to reuse the container. Dougherty explains that “[w]e can’t know what others will do, but we can do our part by creating designs that won’t necessarily end up in a landfill” (62). 

Something we do within the Modern Species workplace is to ask if we have already have something we can use before buying something new. For example - do we need to buy a new ream of paper when we have these paper samples we haven’t used yet? Do we need to buy new nametags when we have this old set we haven’t touched in ages? It’s not just reduce, reuse, recycle anymore. Now, we have to refuse, rethink, and (sometimes) rebel.

Vote for planet & employee wellness

A sustainable design culture has to recognize that the design industry doesn’t operate in a bubble. Studios and offices are affected by workplace regulations, renter laws, transportation access, nearby construction, and more. The systems that make it possible (or difficult) to actually get to work impact the well-being of employees, and thus the well-being of a company. 

As a result, designers must be tuned in to local politics. Now, you don’t have to be running or office or anything, but when election season rolls around, consider: how can you make it easier for your office to vote or be informed on what’s on the ballot? Whether you close your office to allow everyone to get to the polls or host a canvassing outing, make it a priority to engage your office in the political process. 

Over the past few years, a handful of states voted on measures to mitigate environmental damage, whether from a transit, housing, or jobs perspective. Spreading awareness, voting, and campaigning for these measures is one of the easiest things a designer can do for climate change action on a large scale. With national and local elections happening every year, consider what you can do to activate your workplace and local community to get out the vote.

The climate crisis is a reminder that everything as we know it will need to change if we stand a chance of having a habitable planet. It’ll take all of us, working together to preserve the place we call home. We need to rethink everything, and isn’t that what designers are best at?