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Now that I’m back at home in Cincinnati (but still recovering from jetlag), here are my last highlights from this year’s Y Conference, which focused on how, as designers, we can be more aware with our work when it comes to the environment and world in general:

Brian Dougherty of Celery Design made the compelling point that our job as designers isn't to prevent costs—it's to provide value. That's what we're good at and often, to provide premium value, will often mean the exact opposite: spending more. We shouldn't be afraid of spending more, because the extra value is worth it—to the client, too.
Eric Karajaluto was a speaker, and he created the website Design Can Change, which is full of resources to help you think about and make your design do good.
Marc Alt from the AIGA Center for Sustainable Design brought up a good point: electrons aren't free—the answer to our wastefulness is not simply to take everything online. (That was in response to the fact that when we’re thinking about green design, we often pose paper as the villain when that isn’t the case; there are many elements to take into account and balance.)
Susan Szenasy said that the idea of sustainability shouldn't be something that's tacked on to design, but should be an inherent aspect—it should be integrated into our design process from the very beginning, not an afterthought.

All in all, it was a great trip and really gave teeth to the green design movement—from something that we often think about and want to do, to something that we actually can do.

See all my notes from the conference here.

Posted by Carmen

Events

Wednesday, April 02, 2008 6:45:36 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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2008 Y Conference: Day 2

Often when you're talking about green design or sustainable design (or whatever you choose to call it), it's often hard to come across solutions that really make an impact and step beyond simply switching the papers and inks you use. It's hard to drill down and do more than merely scratch the surface of the issue.

But at this year's Y Conference, which focuses on how design can play a part of this movement, they've actually been able to integrate that idea down into many of the details of the conference--including my favorite, which is a detail that you wouldn't otherwise notice: the main banner backdrop for the conference sessions is made entirely from used paper. What makes recycled paper worth mentioning? The fact that the papers used are the planning notes that the conference committee made as they planned this year's Conference. Look closely and you can see brainstorms of logos for the event and logistics notes.

That attention to detail--particularly when it is so well done that it probably goes unnoticed--is what we are called to do and is what today's sessions encouraged. Some highlights from today:

Many of the speakers stressed that the key for designers to embrace going green is the tool that inherently makes them a designer: their ability to communicate. Even though they talked about the paper choice and trash and waste in designers' day-to-day, they stressed the great impact that can come by designers simply raising awareness. We have the ability to take these statistics and educate the public about them, and the power from that comes because those messages will multiply as they reach the public.
For instance, one speaker who's in the fashion industry shared a simple approach that a clothing manufacturer took, which was to print on their clothing labels the directive, "Think Climate: Wash at 30 degrees C." A simple change that gets people thinking.
One of my favorite speakers today was Sue Redding, a designer and California College of the Arts professor, who talked about the idea of "Style Obsolescence"--basically the modern philosophy where we buy new even if the old version isn't worn out. She traced this idea back to Henry Ford's Model T car where new lines of cars were introduced each year to encourage people to keep purchasing, even if their current one is still working--the new one is just trendier or different. At the time, that concept was novel--Sue pointed out that people had to actually be taught how to throw things away. But today that concept is so ingrained that everything is designed as disposable and not to last. So, she says, we must rethink the way style works. She gave various tips to do this, one of which being the pragmatic but counter-cultural idea of stretching the use of things out as long as possible. This is something to be considered as a lifestyle change, whether in your own shopping habits or in every design project you undertake.
Along that vein of "Well then, what can we do?", other speakers spoke up to note that paper is not the only villain to going green; there are many alternate steps and elements to take into consideration. However, reconsidering the way you use paper is a great starting point. Speaker Eric Karjaluoto (who spearheaded Design Can Change) has since stopped doing so much print work at his firm, smashLAB and within their office, they reuse all their notes and sketch paper.

Posted by Carmen

Events

Saturday, March 29, 2008 2:11:09 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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2008 Y Conference Begins

I arrived in San Diego this afternoon for the annual Y Conference, which I was also able to attend last year. This year, they were able to add another day to the conference, so it kicked off tonight with an opening keynote speaker. Unfortunately that speaker, Paul Hawken, wasn't able to make it because he became very sick. Instead, Metropolis editor-in-chief Susan Szenasy took up the torch and presented a session about green design. (The entire conference is dedicated to the subject of green and sustainable design.)

Susan's presentation focused on some very inspiring, cutting-edge (albeit architecturally-focused) projects that are embracing and pushing the movement forward; projects like planting crops on rooftops in China or examples of schools and colleges where every architectural detail means something. Project after project, each was an innovative take on how to better our environmental--and living--situation through architecture.

Which got me thinking: How can we, as designers, do things like this? How can we apply our talents in such ways? How can we raise that sort of awareness?

That kind of kick-start thinking is the stuff keynotes are made of. And something tells me that this vein will run deep throughout the conference's next two days.

The giant Y sculpture greets attendees as they make their way into the Conference.

Susan Szenasy presents the keynote session at the Y Conference.

Posted by Carmen

Events

Friday, March 28, 2008 11:58:57 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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