Resolved: practicing sustainability
The first part of this entry was about re-examining how we make climate-oriented goals as designers, namely, adopting to make goals that address the systemic nature of climate change through community and solidarity rather than by focusing on individual goals (though, as it comes to climate goals in general, even outside of design, this is a good approach). I’ve spoken with designers across a number of different industries about their goals for 2022—again, not for themselves, but what their goal or goals are for their industry, i.e., what does an educator feel that design education can accomplish in the space of this year? There were some common themes throughout the responses and the first theme revolves around sustainability. We’ll focus on this theme alone for the remainder of the entry.
Practicing sustainability
One common goal for this year was adopting more sustainable practices industry-wide. Sustainability looks different from industry to industry and what works for fashion design might not work for animation, but the aim is the same; how can we work with the planet when we create and not at its expense? “Gaining insights earlier in the process,” Jonathan White, a branding designer, says, “can help reframe the conversation towards a Planet, People, Profit methodology, [and] away from a flawed profit-first direction.” Reframing the conversation isn’t easy, but communities like Climate Designers are great resources for designers looking to do just that. In a similar vein, UX/UI designer Carly Schonberg told me that what she wants to see accomplished in 2022 for her industry is for them to start inserting the idea of “ecosystem-centered design” into their conversations. “In any company with a good design department, UX/UI designers are in a great position to assert problem statements and hypothesize solutions in the early stages of the product development process. Who better to broaden the set of problems to include social/environmental impact than those in charge of designing the experience?”
A sustainable mindset, though, can’t just reveal itself in the initial project conversations, it has to be a principle that is embodied from the first meeting with the client all the way through the hand-off at the end of our work. A systemic overhaul of how we quantify and qualify designers could be the answer; Tim Frick, a web designer, told me that “for 2022, it would be great to see certifications in sustainable web design become available. It would also be wonderful if sustainability and systems design were taught at more design schools. Our industry could also use standards related to digital responsibility and sustainability, similar to those that already exist for digital accessibility, for example.” Gerrit, another web designer, echoes this idea by calling for general awareness of the issue of sustainability. He says, “Even the more traditional industries can't deny the devastating effects of business-as-usual. The fact that if the internet [was] a country, it would be the fifth biggest polluter is mind-blowing.” These ideas could be implemented in more industries than just web design and would go a long way toward inculcating these ideas in the minds of designers, both in the present and the future. Holly Robbins, a design educator, wants to see “design for sustainability to become the standard, the norm. It is the most evolved approach to design today.” My particular industry, graphic design, could commit to sustainability this year by celebrating work that has a low impact on the environment; we love our awards shows, let’s show off the work that proves that eco-friendliness doesn’t have to come at a detriment to profits. There are many ways to be more sustainable from pledges to protests and not all of them may work for you, but our community is here to help you find your niche.
Leaving a legacy
We cannot truly move forward—as designers or as a species—until we learn how to better use and reuse the tools and resources that we create and extract. Waste is as much a particularly human trait as tool-making; after all, how do we learn about past cultures and civilizations? Isn’t our legacy defined by what we leave behind? We cannot avoid legacy—we’re simply too complex and too numerous, but the weight of legacy (in the age of the Anthropocene, no less) should direct our minds and intentions to what exactly we want to leave behind.
As designers, will we perpetuate the close relationship between our careers and the capitalistic tendencies to take, make, sell, purchase, and throw away? Or will we free ourselves from an existence where what we make now is always being subordinated by the need to make a newer version of it next year? Design is about communication. What does a culture that is obsessed with acquiring more and more—whether they need it or not, all to just impress others—communicate about the people who live within that culture? If our things are just disposable then aren’t we? Hasn’t the notion that we can just throw away what we’re done with influenced centuries of colonialism? These are big questions, sure, but designers are experts at turning ideas and questions into tangible products that influence and define culture. It’s like Carly said, “Who better to broaden the set of problems to include social/environmental impact than those in charge of designing the experience?”
So, call-to-action time
Are there sustainable practices that your industry can adopt this year? Head over to the Climate Designers community space on Mighty Networks and let us know what you think. I’ll leave you with this quote from writer and educator, Sarah Jacquette Ray:
“A perception of ourselves as powerless emerges not from our actual inefficacy, but from our ideas of what it means to have the capacity to shape social change. This view is caused by the instrumentalist conceit that the only actions that matter are the ones that make impressive, immediate, large-scale change. The problem is not that we have no power. Rather, the problem is that we don’t use the power we do have.” (A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety, pg. 64)
The next entry will focus on the second big theme to come out of my conversations with our community and it follows up on those questions of economy and culture we just posed: the next big goal is the re-think our profit-first tendencies as designers. So, be sure to check that out and head on over to our community to discuss these ideas further.
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This entry was written by
Matt McGillvray
Matt is a designer and illustrator living near Portland, Maine, and has been working for more than a decade doing branding, illustration, web design, print design, social media posts, and even a little SEO.
When not designing he’s usually reading, writing, or running. His current big writing project is a book about design and climate change. He is a chronic teller of puns and will not apologize for that.